This October marks the celebrations of the 175th anniversary of the Durham School Football Club, with the school being rightfully proud that it is one of the four oldest English schools to play the game of rugby. In preparation for this, I have been looking through the archives at the school's rugby history, and have also been fortunate enough to have been sent various interesting materials relating to rugby. One such item was sent by OD Alastair MacDonald, who attended the School as a Caffinite from 1946 to 1951, playing in the 1st XV from 1949 to 1951. It consisted of an exercise book in which he had compiled a record of both the Northern RFC ("the club I had joined in Gosforth for School's rugby in the holidays and obviously followed obsessively") and the School's 1st XV for the 1950-1951 academic year. 

The fixture list is as follows: 

September 27th 1950 v. Northern F.C. Home. Lost 0-18. H.T. 0-5

Oct 4th 1950 v. Dame Allan's School. Home. Drawn 8-8. H.T. 0-3 

Oct 11th v. St. Peter's School, York. Away. Won 14-9. H.T. 6.0. 

Oct 14th v. Leeds Grammar School. Home. Won 17.5. H.T. 9.5 

Oct 21st v. St. bees School. Away. Lost 0-3. H.T. 0.3 

Nov. 4th v. R.G.S, Newcastle. Away. Won 11-6. H.T. 3.3 

Nov. 8th v. Percy Park R.F.C. 'A'. Home. Lost 3-6. H.T. 3.3 

Nov. 15th v. Sunderland R.F.C. 'A' Home. Lost 3.9. H.T. 0.0 

Nov. 18th v, Ampleforth College. Home. Lost 11.21. H.T. 6.13 

Nov. 25th v. Giggleswick School. Home. Won 17-6. H.T. 11.3

Nov. 29th v. Barnard Castle School. Away. Drawn 3.3. H.T. 3.0 

Jan 24th 1951 v. King's College R.F.C. II. Away. Lost 0.8. H.T. 0.8 

Jan 31st v. Durham Colleges R.F.C. 'A'. Away. Cancelled (frost)

Feb 7th v, The Medical R.U.F.C. II. Home. Lost 0.3. H.T. 0-0 

Each game is accompanied by the relevant cutting from Durham County Advertiser. Proudly, a Durham School victory over the old rivals of St. Peter's York is noted, winning by "one goal, two penalty goals and one try (14 points) to three tries (9 points). The game marked the first success against St. Peter's since 1947. To quote the Durham County Advertiser: "For the first time this season Durham School's back line was at full strength when they played St. Peter's School at York last Wednesday. It was soon obvious that the attack was going to be more effective than previously. St. Peter's had a fairly well balanced side but were seldom able to heel the ball either loose or set scrums." 

The Durham County Advertiser was complementary towards the game against Percy Park on the 8th November 1950. "The best game seen for some time on Durham School's ground took place in perfect conditions against Percy Park 'A' last Wednesday. The play was fast and open, one indication of its quality being the fact that were only two penalty awards in the course of the game. The first-half was even, with both sides attacking in turn. Park were the first to score with a scrambling try by O. Bradbeer. The kick failed. School fought back and soon Perrott intercepted a pass and equalised. The score remained level until half-time… Though the School pack was not at full strength because of injuries, it heeled well throughout the game, although a quicker heel from their opponents' line might have given better chances to their backs." 

Judging by the 'D.W.L.' signature at the bottom of each of the newspaper columns, these were written by Donald William Limon, a School Monitor who attended the school from 1946 to 1950. Limon left in December 1950, and sure enough the two articles from 1951 lack his trademark style. "Limon's reports didn't spare us any criticism!" observed Mr MacDonald on the subject. 

The news clippings are not the only items found in the exercise book. The enclosed clothes list ("Please fill in number sent and return next term. All clothes must be plainly marked") demonstrate an individual preoccupied with rugby. 'Greatcoat or Mackintosh', 'House Shoes' and 'Cricket Boots' have been crossed out, while Macdonald requests 2 pairs of football boots, 6 grey socks, white football jersey, a striped football jersey, football stockings and football shorts. On the reverse, Macdonald lists more equipment: 4 towels, a scrum cap, 2 linen bags, 1 pair of 'north' socks. One photograph demonstrates a scrum in the School vs. St Bees Match of 1949, with St. Bees winning 6 points to 3. 

The book is a testament to the DSFC's long 175-year history. Happily, I am saved from An article in the 16th November 1961, helpfully enclosed in Mr MacDonald's exercise book, provides an overview of the history of the DSFC as part of a series on school rugby: 

 "Durham play St. Peter's, Leeds Grammar School, St. Bees, Dame Allan's Newcastle, Newcastle R.G.S., Ampleforth, Giggleswick, and Barnard Castle. Rugger s believed to have started at Durham in 1851 and the names of captains of football are preserved from 1854. The St. Peter's match is the oldest and was first played in 1882. Of the 32 matches played against Ampleforth, 13 have been won and 18 lost with one draw. The list of internationals goes back to 1886, with 18 English and two Scottish. The list of blues from 1883 is six Oxford and 13 Cambridge. There were not many more than 100 boys at Durham up to the first world war and the full strength is now 225. Durham claims probably to have the longest unbroken sequence of representatives on one side in a university match, Cambridge 1925-32, and also to share with Fettes the record of having four players in a single university match on two occasions."

It is this legacy that we will be celebrating on the 18th October. I would encourage any readers who have similar items of note to send them to the school archives.