History - the 1880s
Alnwick was originally formed on December 8th, 1880, following a meeting in the Star Hotel, when they adopted the name of "The Hotspur" with W.Newman being elected as Captain.
A field on the outskirts of town known as the Wagonway was offered to them by Mrs Rennison of The Star Hotel, whilst the first match under Rugby Union rules was played against Rockcliffe on November 5th 1881 when "The Hotspur" team won by one goal and three touches down. Further matches were played that year against Jesmond and Gosforth.
In 1882, Messrs Hackett and Finlay were elected to represent the club on the committee of the Northumberland County Club whilst on the fixture list for that year were Rockcliffe, Gosforth, Northern, Boldon, Tankerville and Northern Gypsies - these fixtures continue today apart from Boldon and Tankerville. A further interesting item occurred when an exhibition game between Hotspur and a Newcastle Select was played at Morpeth. Few records exist after that game and it appears that in February 1884 that the club changed codes and became the founder members of the Alnwick Association Football Club.
A newspaper report of the first match:
HOTSPUR (ALNWICK) v ROCKCLIFFE November 12th 1881
This match was played at Alnwick on saturday last, in the presence of a very large number of spectators who were anxious to see the rugby game, this being the first match played at Alnwick under Rugby Union Rules. Although the day could not have been more suitable, the ground was very wet and slippery owing to the recent heavy rains which prevented much good play being exhibited. The game was divided into four parts, viz, two 20 minutes and two 15 minutes. The Rockcliffe captain having won the toss elected to play with the wind and kicked the ball off at 3.45 p.m. A very pleasant and hard fought game was brought to a close after 70 minutes play leaving the Hotspur team victorious by 1 goal and 3 touches down.
The next match is against the Gosforth team which will be played at the Hotspur ground on Saturday , November 26th.