Westmount Rugby Club
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The Westmount Rugby Club is a rugby club in Montreal, Quebec Canada, and the oldest active rugby club (excluding universities) in North America. The club was founded in 1878 under the title of Montreal Football Club, and played its matches at the McGill University grounds. McGill University and Harvard both boast rugby teams older than Westmount (and in 1874, the two universities plyed the first recorded rugby match in North America). However, Westmount claims the title of oldest independent rugby club on the continent. The oldest independent rugby club in the USA is the New York Rugby Club, founded in 1929.
The club later became associated with the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (known as the M.A.A.) - which was to become a premier sporting club in North Amercia, winning several Stanley Cups in Hockey, and Grey Cups in Football.
In the 1930s, the Rugby Club split from the MAA, and changed its name to the Montreal Scottish RFC, and had a Scottish-only player policy. In the 1950's this policy resulted in the creation of two new teams of non-Scots in Montreal: the Montreal Wanderers, and the Montreal Barbarians. Soon after, the club opened its memberships to non-Scots.
By the 1970s, the team had moved to Westmount, and had changed its name to the Westmount Rugby Club, officially incorporated in 1976.
The club continues to play in the 2nd Division of the Quebec Rugby Federation. The home field is Westmount Park field, in Westmount, part of a park designed by Frederick Law Olmstead.
