Kingston Athletic Club and Polytechnic Harriers
 | |
| Founded | 1883 |
|---|---|
| Ground | Kingsmeadow Athletics Stadium |
| Location | Kingston Road, KT1 3PB |
| Coordinates | 51°24′17″N 0°17′02″W / 51.40472°N 0.28389°W |
| Website | kingstonandpoly |
The Kingston Athletic Club and Polytechnic Harriers or Kingston & Poly AC for short is an athletic club based in Kingston upon Thames in England.
History
[edit]The club was founded by philanthropist Quintin Hogg in 1883, and they were known for four years as the Hanover United AC, and were the athletics arm of Quintin Hogg's Regent Street Polytechnic.[1] The Polytechnic Harriers were based at the Chiswick track and their history with racing events predated "the Poly" since they oversaw walking races from London to Brighton as far back as 1897.[2][3]
The club has long ties to what is now the London Marathon. In 1908 they oversaw the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1908 Olympics, the Game's marathon, and played a large part in the development of the Polytechnic Marathon, which ran from 1909- 1996.[4][5][6][7]
In 1920, Harry Edward became Great Britain's first Black medalist at the Olympic Games.[8]
In 1985 The Polytechnic Harriers merged with The Royal Borough of Kingston AC, a women's club founded in 1982, to become the Kingston AC and Polytechnic Harriers (Kingston & Poly). The Royal Borough of Kingston AC had been formed when Surrey AC disbanded that year. The male athletes from Surrey AC joined Belgrave Harriers.[9]
The Polytechnic's Kinnaird and Sward Trophies are still contested annually at Kingston & Poly's home track, which was originally constructed as a cinder track in 1961[10] and is adjacent to the football stadium at Kingsmeadow. The Polytechnic Marathon is no longer held, having been superseded by the London Marathon. Kingston & Poly's men now compete nationally in the British Athletics League and, at area level, the men and women operate jointly in the Southern Athletics League, although they were relegated to lesser divisions in 2016.[11]
Olympic athletes
[edit]
| Athlete | Club | Games | Medals/Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| Henry Barrett | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908, 1912 | |
| Jack Butler | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
| George Nicol | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908, 1912 | .svg){kind=icon} |
| James Barrett | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
| Michael Collins | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
| Charlie Davies | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
| Oswald Groenings | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
| George Hawkins | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
| Guy Holdaway | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
| Georg Lind | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
| Henry Murray | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
| Edward Spencer | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
| Jimmy Tremeer | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
| Timothy Carroll | Polytechnic Harriers | 1912, 1920 | |
| Willie Applegarth | Polytechnic Harriers | 1912 | .svg){kind=icon} |
| James Barker | Polytechnic Harriers | 1912 | |
| Victor d'Arcy | Polytechnic Harriers | 1912 | |
| Percy Mann | Polytechnic Harriers | 1912 | |
| Douglas McNicol | Polytechnic Harriers | 1912 | |
| Clive Taylor | Polytechnic Harriers | 1912 | |
| Arthur Treble | Polytechnic Harriers | 1912 | |
| Larry Cummins | Polytechnic Harriers | 1920 | .svg){kind=icon} |
| Harry Edward | Polytechnic Harriers | 1920 | |
| Albert Hill | Polytechnic Harriers | 1920 | |
| Eric Robertson | Polytechnic Harriers | 1920 | |
| Guy Brockington | Polytechnic Harriers | 1924 | |
| Fred Gaby | Polytechnic Harriers | 1924, 1928 | |
| John Odde | Polytechnic Harriers | 1924 | |
| Richard Ripley | Polytechnic Harriers | 1924 | |
| Frederick Chauncy | Polytechnic Harriers | 1928 | |
| Cyril Gill | Polytechnic Harriers | 1928 | |
| Jack London | Polytechnic Harriers | 1928 | |
| Arthur Muggridge | Polytechnic Harriers | 1928 | |
| Lorna Frampton | Polytechnic Harriers | 1936 | |
| Bert Norris | Polytechnic Harriers | 1936 | |
| Aubrey Reeve | Polytechnic Harriers | 1936 | |
| Stan West | Polytechnic Harriers | 1936 | |
| McDonald Bailey | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948, 1952 | |
| Paul Crosfield | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948 | |
| Charles Denroche | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948 | |
| Rene Howell | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948 | |
| Stan Jones | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948 | |
| Leslie Laing | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948, 1952 | |
| Ron Pavitt | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948, 1952 | |
| Martin Pike | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948 | |
| Doug Wilson| | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948 | |
| Arthur Wint | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948, 1952 | |
| Peter Hildreth | Polytechnic Harriers | 1952, 1956, 1960 | |
| Brian Shenton | Polytechnic Harriers | 1952, 1956 | |
| Jeannette Bailey | Polytechnic Harriers | 1960 | |
| Tim Graham | Polytechnic Harriers | 1964 | |
| Colin Campbell | Polytechnic Harriers | 1968, 1972, 1976 | |
| Alan Pascoe | Polytechnic Harriers | 1968, 1972, 1976 |
Archives
[edit]The Club's archives are still held at the University of Westminster.[13]
References
[edit]- ↑ Kingston Athletics Club & Polytechnic Harriers History of the club 03-07-2007 Archived June 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Bryant, John (17 April 2009). The Marathon Makers. Kings Road Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84358-228-1. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
- ↑ Clapson, Mark (1 November 2014). "Global Sport in the Suburbs: The Regent Street Polytechnic's Sports Facilities at Chiswick, 1888–1938". The London Journal. 39 (3): 265–280. doi:10.1179/0305803414Z.00000000052. ISSN 0305-8034. S2CID 144590927.
- ↑ Polley, Martin (1 July 2009). "From Windsor Castle to White City: The 1908 Olympic Marathon Route" (PDF). The London Journal. 34 (2): 163–178. doi:10.1179/174963209X442441. ISSN 0305-8034. S2CID 162023260.
- ↑ Hill, Dave (23 April 2016). "London Marathon: 35 years of change in 26.2 miles". the Guardian. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
- ↑ Usborne, Simon (23 October 2011). "Timeline: The marathon". The Independent. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
- ↑ "Poly History – Harriers Athletic Club – Polytechnic Football Club". Retrieved 2 July 2021.
- ↑ Dawkins, Sarah (16 October 2020). "Harry Edward: The Berlin-born POW who became Britain's first black Olympic medallist". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
- ↑ "Remembering Surrey AC". Kingston AC and Polytechnic Harriers. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
- ↑ https://kingstonandpoly.org/archive/id28-History%20of%20the%20Club.html Retrieved 14 December 2024.
- ↑ "Athletics: Kingston & Polytechnic Harriers fall at final British League hurdle". Your Local Guardian. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
- ↑ "Polytechnic Harriers, Westminster (GBR)". Olympedia. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
- ↑ "Polytechnic Harriers Athletic Club - University of Westminster › Records and Archives". westminster-atom.arkivum.net. University of Westminster. Retrieved 2 July 2021.