The Avenue, London Irish R.F.C., 1931-1999

On the southern banks of the Thames, between the famous tracks at Kempton Park Racecourse and Charles I’s old hunting ground, were once the grounds of The Avenue at Sunbury, the spiritual home of London Irish. 

At its peak, the ground could hold anywhere up to 6,600 supporters. Championed for serving a Guinness as good as any bar in Dublin, The Avenue was graced by the presence of Irish legends throughout the decades. The likes of Brendan Mullin, Michael Gibson, and John O’Driscoll have all supped a pint or two as traditional Irish musicians would have added to the jovial post-match atmosphere on victory days.

The club was first founded in 1898, following in the footsteps of the other two home nation’s exile teams. They played their first match against Hammersmith at the Herne Hill Athletic Ground. They won eight points to three, led by the likes of R S Dyas and Louis Magee, two men who would go on to have a huge impact on Irish’s early progress.

Under his leadership, they started to build a reputation as formidable opponents. Their fixture list soon included the leading London club’s of that era – with games against the likes of Rosslyn Park, Blackheath, Saracens, and Wasps towards the beginning of the 1900s. A decade on from their founding year, the side completed a season in which they played twenty-eight games, winning fifteen of them.

Like all European clubs, Irish were badly affected by the two World Wars, but they also had the added impact of the Irish Easter Rising in 1916. The end of the Great War did not mean a return to peace for Ireland. It was in 1923 that the Irish Free State was established, and the exiles were able to welcome players back to the club.

During the late 1920s, the club boasted their first homegrown international in S J ‘Cags’ Cagney, a forward who went on the play for his country thirteen times. With Cags as captain, Irish added the likes of Leicester and Cardiff to their fixture list and went on to topple both the other two exile clubs in the season of 1928/29.

As the 1930s began, the club were becoming one of the premier forces in the country, not just the capital. The growing fixture list brought with it the need for a more permanent home. In 1931, the twelve-acre plot at Avenue Road, Sunbury on Thames, was purchased for the grand total of £1,280. After five months of development, the ground was finally ready for its first fixture. On the 5th of December, the team played out an 8-8 draw against London Welsh.

The club thrived at Sunbury for the next ten years, but the beginning of the Second World War saw the land requisitioned by the Ministry of Agriculture. The posts were dug up and instead fruit and vegetables were planted to feed the population of the city.  

After the war ended, the grounds at The Avenue were left in a sorry state. Irish persevered in their efforts to make use of them, but in the 1946/47 season, Europe suffered one of its most brutal winters and a lengthy freeze meant that no more than twenty fixtures were played by the club.

The following year, Des O’Brien, one of the best backrowers of his generation, became the club captain. Under his leadership, Irish went on to win nineteen of thirty games, the most successful season in the clubs’ history and a great way to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary.

The combination of the war and the return to fixtures meant that The Avenue was dilapidated. This spurred the club’s decision to have the 1st XV matches played elsewhere, (this was only for first team matches) combining with Blackheath to share the facilities at Rectory Field. During this period, the club regularly fielded six teams, five of which still played at Sunbury, and cemented themselves as one of the thriving rugby hubs in London.

At the end of the ‘50s, the club were somewhat split, with their schoolboys’ section using the steadily improving grounds at The Avenue while the first team continued to play at Rectory Road. They decided that it was in their best interests to transform The Avenue into a first-class facility. The pitches were dug up and re-laid, and a stand and clubhouse were constructed in 1959.

With the new developments, the old wooden hut that had served as the original changing rooms was transformed into a bar, run by a man known as Fitzy. Fitzy’s bar earned itself a legendary status amongst the London Irish faithful, and its legacy lives on to this day.

The Avenue was a fortress for Irish in their first year back. The side almost made it through the entire season without losing at home. However, they fell at the final hurdle, when they agreed to play a previously abandoned game against Northampton, which they lost ten points to five.

Throughout the sixties, the club struggled for any amount of consistency. There were big wins against top clubs such as Coventry, but there were also many losses. But as the decade passed, the side began to build themselves up once more. With the famous hooker, Ken Kennedy, at the helm and players such as Mick Molloy amongst their ranks, they finished second in the London Division of the club merit tables in their inaugural season.

In 1980, London Irish found double success, making it to the final of the John Player Cup for the first time, as well as finishing top of their league. Throughout the 90s however, they struggled for form once more as many of the players were unavailable for training and matches due to work commitments. A new pavilion was built next to the main stand in 1986, thanks to the generosity of Eddie Lawlor.

Like all the clubs in the country, as the game transitioned to professionalism London Irish struggled to adapt. Financial issues meant that despite their promotion to the first division of the John Smith Merit Tables in 1991, the club were unable to get much of a foothold in the league. It was through the generosity of key benefactors at the time that the club were able to survive.

At the beginning of the 1995-96 season, there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the future of both club and international rugby. The issue of professionalism was at the forefront of the conversation, and it was evident there were changes in the pipeline. The RFU made the decision that the top two tiers of the national leagues should expand and become more competitive. This committed the clubs involved to becoming professional, a challenge that London Irish were willing to accept.

 On the 27th of June 1997, members of the club voted to accept an offer from several London Irish businesspeople to buy the club. London Irish Holdings Ltd. (LIH) took over the debts of the old club, ownership of the franchise as well as the ground at Sunbury-on-Thames. This decision would have a ripple effect for the club and in November that year, the first proposal to organise an amateur section of the club was rejected, but eventually the motion was passed, and London Irish Amateur RFC was born.

On the 1st May 1999, London Irish (first team) narrowly lost to Saracens, 21-26 in their final game at The Avenue. They relocated to the Twickenham Stoop, before moving to the Madejski Stadium in 2000. The amateur division of the club continued to occupy the ground at Sunbury, until they eventually moved to a brand-new rugby centre in Hazelwood alongside the professional setup.

Plans to demolish the clubhouse and facilities at The Avenue and build 400 homes were announced in 2009 but met with extensive protests from local residents and supporters. This battle lasted for all of two years, until finally the plans were accepted and a downsized number of 194 houses were built on the land.

Although London Irish have moved on and nothing remains of the former ground, it will remain the place that they built themselves into one of the premier teams in the country, and the many great memories are sure to live on.