The Old Boys teams at the end of the 19^th Century under the captaincy of Bob Poole, a long time member of the County side and an England player. The Clubs start as part of the Boys Brigade can be seen from the player’s jerseys, the sure and steadfast Anchor with the initials O & B on either side of the stock.

The fixture card for this season also shows a mix of clubs that still feature in the Hartlepool clubs various team lists such as Hartlepool Rovers, Wallsend, Rockcliff, Gosforth and Percy Park along with little remembered clubs such as Seaton Harlequins (they played on a field at the bottom of Stanmore Grove), Spennymoor, along with both South Shields (who later joined the Northern Union) and South Shield St Pauls. Interestingly they also played Tyne Dock who like themselves ceased playing in the mid 1900s, fortunately Old boys revived a few years later.

The left hand inset shows one of Hartlepools most eminent Victorians, Dr A E Morison, born in Castle Eden in 1863, he qualified as a Doctor and was prominent in Medical Circles and associated with Hartlepools Hospital. He founded and became first Captain of the Boys Brigade in 1884, a post he held til his death in 1924. When Boys became too old for the Brigade he founded Old Boys Institute from which stems the Hartlepool Old Boys Club, and of course the Boys Brigade sides that featured the game for some 40 years.  He served in both the Boer War and First World War and continued his work for Medicine, Rugby, the Boys Brigade and his Christian faith right until his sudden death.

Row 1   (Insets) Dr A E Morrison,               Tom. Rorrison,

1. W.A.Nicholson,

2. Tommy - How's your wind - Bunter (Trainer),

3. R.Scott.Pounder,

4. F. Emerson,

5. Sam. Irvin,

6. Frank Horsley,

7. F. Watt (Committee)

Row 4

13 John T. Carter (Linesman),

14 J.A.Reed,

15 J. White,

16 T.Bavage,

J.S.Brown,

17 R.W.(Bobby) Roberts,

18 E.W.Dyer (Hon. Sec)

Date (of image) : 1899

Donor : Hartlepool RFC

Creator : T.G. Gamlen, 47, Church Street, West Hartlepool

Part of the "Hartlepool RFC Collection" collection