| Teamname: | Wanderers FC |
| Fullname: | Wanderers Football Club |
| Shortname: | Wanderers |
| Nickname: | The Chaps; |
| President: | Neil Metchette |
| League: | AIL Div 2B |
| Pattern La1: | _wanderersrfc |
| Pattern B1: | _wanderersrfc |
| Pattern Ra1: | _wanderersrfc |
| Shorts1: | ffffff |
| Socks1: | 000000 |
| Pattern So1: | _hoops_white |
Wanderers Football Club is a senior rugby union club based in Dublin, Ireland, playing in Division 2B of the All-Ireland League.[1] It is one of the oldest rugby clubs in Ireland,[2] [3] however its exact date of foundation is open to question. In 1860 a team by the name of Wanderers played against Dublin University. However the current team gives its foundation date as 1870. While the link between the two teams is unclear, they both seem to have been founded by former Dublin University players.[4] [5] In 1879 Wanderers were among the founding members of the Irish Rugby Football Union. They have also regularly provided international players for Ireland, including five captains. In 1959, Ronnie Dawson also went on to captain the British and Irish Lions. They have also provided one captain each for both England and Australia.
Since 1880 Wanderers have shared Lansdowne Road with Lansdowne Football Club, with each club having their own clubhouse at opposite ends of the ground. However, since 1974 the ground itself has been owned by the IRFU.[6]
At least 87 Wanderers players have represented Ireland. These include the following:
As well as representing Ireland, several Wanderers players have also represented the British and Irish Lions. These include:
Three former Wanderers players and Ireland internationals have also been awarded the Victoria Cross. Crean and Johnston served with the British Army during the Second Boer War while Harvey served with the Canadian Army during the First World War.[8]
