Eton Manor takes its name from world the world famous Eton College; which from the late 1800’s had run a “mission” to raise living standards in the East End of London.

In 1909 a philanthropically minded group of Old Etonians: Arthur Villiers, Gerald Wellesley, Alfred Wragg and Sir Edward Cadogan founded the Eton Manor Boys’ Club to provide support and sporting facilities around Hackney Wick with with a view to raising the standards for the East Ends “poor” – how times have changed!

In the 1920’s the club converted an old rubbish tip into a new sports ground – this was known as “The Wilderness”.

Amongst other facilities there were two rugby pitches. In 1946 when reforming after World War II the club purchased a set of metal posts; understood to be only one of three sets in the UK (the others were at Cardiff Arms Park and Murrayfield) – we are proud that these posts are still in use today…having been moved and installed on our First Team pitch.

The Charitable Trust set up in 1924 to run and support Eton Manor Boys’ Club still continues today albeit with different aims and a new name, Villiers Park Educational Trust. Whilst four sports clubs (including ours) originating from the Eton “mission” still exist!

Today Eton Manor RFC is proud to be at the centre of the local community and play a part, The “New Wilderness” just off Nutter Lane in Wanstead is a thriving club of the people, with our facilities used by many and varied visitors in addition of course to our Rugby.

Circa 100 children below age 8 alone “run around” Sunday mornings; further teams at each age up to u17 inclusive plus a growing girls section sees upwards of 400 young people involved learning Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship.

We are proud to see these young people feeding our senior sides (of which we will soon run 5) which briefly took us last season to the highest levels the club has ever achieved by reaching the National Leagues. So we are amateurs of a (fairly) high standard!

So although it not so much about necessarily about helping the “poor” of London’s East End today, the club remains humble and quietly raises the standards of the local community through “Rugby Core Values” which benefits all ages, ethnicity and beliefs. In the past like many community sports clubs we have struggled to make ends meet and were it not for hosting a campsite during the 2012 Olympic Games for games makers and visitors. This was a great success helping the club financially and putting us on the map.

Whilst initially the (Olympic campsite) idea was not to everyone’s approval we delivered what we promised to ensure our neighbours were not disturbed or effected negatively; which today has earned us a great deal of trust and goodwill and as you will see from our resident’s association that we enjoy a positive and responsible partnership.

Today we continue to manage our monies carefully, looking to external support and whilst also reducing our overheads internally. We have focused on sustainability using renewable energy, source heating and cost effective use of water to irrigate our pitches during the off season; all this has reduced our bills and provide us with improved grounds for our members to use throughout the season; an expensive outlay for which we are currently fund raising throughout the club with events etc.