1886 Southern Rugby Union Season

For the 1886 season, the Union decided to elevate 5 Junior clubs into the senior competition. Albion, Balmain Wellington, Glebe, Parramatta and Rosedale had performed well during the previous season. In addition, they also included 3 regional clubs from Newcastle, Bathurst and Goulburn. These clubs had successfully competed against metropolitan clubs prior to their admission. A new club, exclusively for New Zealand players, was formed and successfully petitioned to be included in the senior competition. This club took on the name Gordon. Many of their players had competed previously for other clubs. After poor performance during the previous season, the St. Leonards club was not reformed and thus did not participate in the Gardiner Challenge Cup.[1]

With the addition of regional clubs and the promotion of junior clubs, the Sydney Rugby Premiership saw sixteen teams compete for the Gardiner Challenge Cup. This increase in teams competing for the cup caused many of the senior clubs to limit their games to only those which would count towards the final results. Previous competitions between junior and senior clubs were thus rare. Growing crowd numbers saw games moving from the open Moore Park to more enclosed fields. The Royal Agricultural Society of NSW arranged for three fields to be available upon their grounds, however the third area was of poor quality. The Association Cricket Ground was made available from July.

In their first season of football, the Gordon Football Club performed well against the more established senior clubs. In fifteen games, the club was only defeated once by the Balmain team. Amongst their victories during the season, Gordon had defeated Sydney University, Redfern, Burwood and Wallaroo who were amongst the best teams. Much of their success was attributed to their captain, James O'Donnell.[2] At the conclusion of the season a committee of the union awarded Gordon the premiership with Sydney University recognised as coming second.[2]

In 1885, Balmain Wellington had been the premier junior club. Now in the senior ranks, the club performed well displaying improvement as the season progressed. Many of their games were played on inferior grounds with the club not once playing on the Association Cricket Ground. the club had the benefit of all of their players remaining fit for the entire season. Their game against Gordon was a highlight of the year.[3]

The new regional clubs that had been added to the premiership only played a handful of games. At a meeting of the Union in September, it was suggested that branch unions be formed in the Newcastle, Bathurst and Goulburn regions to deal with disputes.[4]

In 1886, a Sydney businessman donated a cup for the development of a Junior Rugby Football competition. The MacGregor Junior Challenge Cup was open to clubs not participating in the senior competition. Fifteen clubs submitted applications to enter the competition. The competition was due to begin May 24 and run each Saturday until August 1. Each club was balloted with a game for each weekend. It was planned that the best 8 clubs would then be matched up with another ballot.[7] The final for the MacGregor Cup occurred on 4th September between Oxford and Randwick. Oxford won the match 5 points to nil to win the cup.[8]

Balmain Loretto	Cammeray	Cleveland	Double Bay	Harrowgate
Imperial	Manly	Oxford	Parramatta Union	Petersham
Randwick	Strathfield	Summer Hill	Sydney Grammar	Victoria House

• Sydney Club Rugby History.