History

Rugby and Northampton Athletics Club – a history of two clubs

The Club is a merger between two former clubs, Rugby & District Athletic Club and Northampton Phoenix Athletic Club, each over 100 years old.

British Thomson-Houston were an engineering company based in Rugby and were first formed in 1894. The firms athletics team were called BTH Recreation Club, Rugby.

In 1928 BTH merged with Metropolitan Vickers, which were an electrical engineering company and then both of these were purchased by Associated Electrical Industries (AEI).

The two brand names however, still remained until 1960.  In 1955 BTH athletics section entered the Mens Birmingham Cross Country League for the first time and then in 1960 they got promoted to Division 1 just after AEI decided to rid themselves of both brand names and become AEI universally.

So, the club would now compete under their new name of AEI Rugby. In 1967 AEI were purchased by General Electric Company (GEC) and for a short period the athletics club were sometimes known as GEC/AEI Rugby. Members of this club, then independently changed their name in 1971 to Rugby & District AC.

They would compete under this name for over 30 years. The club would eventually base itself at the Ken Marriott Leisure Centre with their first synthetic track being built in 1993 after two years with a grass track.

Northampton & County AC were also formed in the 1800’s and were originally a Southern  Counties athletic club.

In 1897, S.J. Robinson won the Senior Mens English National Cross Country title representing the club and the following year the village of Horton in Northamptonshire hosted the Championships and Robinson successfully defended his title on home soil. The club first appeared in the Birmingham Cross Country League in 1962, but by 1970 the club had become extinct due to lack of volunteers.

In 1972 they rose again as Northampton Phoenix AC based at the British Timken track in Duston, Northampton. NPAC changed their headquarters twice more (Lings Forum in 1976 and with their first synthetic track at Sixfields Stadium in 1994), then after 30 years on April 1st 2002, Phoenix merged with Rugby & District AC to become Rugby & Northampton AC.

Through team spirit, dedicated athletes, committed coaches and loyal supporters the Club has achieved many team successes over recent years.