A Victorian rugby trophy: The Inter-Hospital Football Challenge Cup of 1896, in the form of a glass-bottomed pewter tyg set with a silvered crest of S
£200 - £300
A Victorian rugby trophy: The Inter-Hospital Football Challenge Cup of 1896, in the form of a glass-bottomed pewter tyg set with a silvered crest of St. Thomas' Hospital and inscribed INTER-HOSPITAL FOOTBALL CHALLENGE CUP, 1896, further inscribed with the names of the playing XV, height 17cm., 6 3/4in., glass bottom damaged The present day merged Guy's, King's & St. Thomas' Hospitals RFC is accepted by both the Rugby Football Union and the Guinness Book of Records as being the oldest rugby club in the world with a history than be traced back to 1843. The present trophy for the Inter-Hospital dated 1896 bears the crest of that year's winners St Thomas' Hospital and is an interesting example of an early rugby trophy. The competition was inaugurated in 1874-75. The line-up on the present trophy includes the name of Arthur Rotherham who would later play for England in 1898-99.