# United Hospitals Athletics Club

The United Hospitals Athletics Club is a historic athletics club that used to host the annual United Hospitals athletics competition. Since the disbanding of the club, London Universities and Colleges Athletics has organised the competition within the LUCA Indoor Championships. The competition has been held since 1867.

## History

The club was formed on 31 May 1867 at the West Brompton running grounds. The club was set up by Mr. S. Edwin Jolly who held the position of treasurer during the early years of the club. The events held on 11 and 12 June 1869 at Beaufort House included; Flat Race 100 yards, Flat Race 250 yards, Flat Race 880 yards, Flat Race One Mile, Flat Race 2 miles, Hurdle Race 120 yards, Hurdle Race 440 yards, High Jump, Long Jump, Throwing the Hammer, Throwing the Cricket Ball, Putting the Stone, Three Legged Race and Consolation Race 250 yards. King's, Guy's, London, St Thomas's, University College, St George's and St Mary's Medical Schools took part. For the fourth annual meeting in 1870 the event had to be moved to cater for a crowd of over 3000 spectators to the A.A.C Grounds, Lillie Bridge with 127 entries across all the different races. The first presidents of the club were highly esteemed physicians and surgeons, Sir William Fergusson 1867, Sir Thomas Watson 1868 and Sir William Jenner 1869. The club required a physician and surgeon from each participating hospital to serve as vice-presidents of the club, this secured funding for the various prizes and ensured its continuation from year to year. By the end of the 19th century the club held events at Stamford Bridge

### United Hospitals Athletics Shield

The shield is given to the medical school with the largest number of points at the end of the annual event. The shield has been awarded since 1867. It is believed to be an electroplated copy of the Milton Shield, depicting scenes from John Milton's Paradise Lost. The current holders of the shield are St George's Hospital AC. Medals were also awarded to winning competitors, but are no longer handed out.

### Present state

The status and quality of the individual medical schools teams has varied considerably since their individual inception dates. Since the United Hospitals Athletics Club was formed, the institutions that are represented by the member teams have been through considerable change, and hand-in-hand with these changes in the institutions have been changes in the teams that represent them. Thus all of the teams except St George's are formed of more than one of the historical London medical schools. Furthermore, after being proposed for membership in 2008, The Royal Veterinary College officially joined the United Hospitals in 2009.
The club no longer exists as a functioning athletics club, but the shield is still awarded at the United Hospitals Athletics Championships. This event has been incorporated into the LUCA Indoor Championships and is awarded by LUCA.
The Bannister Cup, named after St Mary's Hospital alumnus Sir Roger Bannister, is the United Hospitals Cross Country Championships and is awarded at the third LUCA race held at Wimbledon Common in November. Scoring teams consist of the first three men and first two women from each university. The current holders are St George's Hospital AC.

## Members

| Charing Cross Hospital Medical School 1818-1984 | Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School 1984-1997 | Imperial College School of Medicine 1997- |
| Westminster Hospital Medical School 1834-1984 | Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School 1984-1997 | Imperial College School of Medicine 1997- |
| Imperial College School of Medicine 1997- ||
| Imperial College School of Medicine 1997- ||
| St George's Hospital Medical School |||
| St Thomas's Hospital Medical School 1550-1982 | United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals 1982-1998 | King's College London School of Medicine and Dentistry 1998- |
| Guy's Hospital Medical School | United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals 1982-1998 | King's College London School of Medicine and Dentistry 1998- |
| King's College London School of Medicine and Dentistry 1998- ||
| Middlesex Hospital Medical School 1745-1987 | University College & Middlesex School of Medicine 1987-1998 | The Royal Free & University College Medical School 1998-2008 renamed UCL Medical School 2008- |
| University College Hospital Medical School 1834-1987 | University College & Middlesex School of Medicine 1987-1998 | The Royal Free & University College Medical School 1998-2008 renamed UCL Medical School 2008- |
| The Royal Free & University College Medical School 1998-2008 renamed UCL Medical School 2008- ||
| St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College | Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry | Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry |
| The London Hospital Medical College | Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry | Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry |
| Royal Veterinary College 2009- |||

### Shield winners

1867 Guy's
1868 St George's
1869 King's
1870 King's
1871 Guy's
1872 Guy's
1873 Barts
1874 King's
1875 St George's
1876 St George's
1877 Guy's
1878 Guy's
1879 St Thomas's
1880 St Thomas's
1881 St Thomas's
1882 St Thomas's
1883 St Thomas's
1884 London
1885 Barts
1886 Barts
1887 Barts
1888 Barts
1889 Barts
1890 Barts
1891 Barts
1892 Guy's
1893 Guy's
1894 Barts
1895 Guy's
1896 St Mary's
1897 St Mary's
1898 St Mary's
1899 Barts
1900 St Mary's
1901 Barts
1902 Barts
1903 Barts
1904 London
1905 London
1906 London
1907 London
1908 Barts
1909 London
1910 London St Thomas
1911 London
1912 London
1913 London
1914 London
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920 Guy's
1921 King's
1922 Guy's
1923 Barts
1924 Guy's
1925 Barts
1926 Guy's
1927 Guy's
1928 Guy's
1929 Guy's
1930 St Thomas's
1931 St Thomas's
1932 St Thomas's
1933 Barts
1934 Barts
1935 Guy's
1936
1937 Guy's
1938
1939 London
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947 Guy's
1948 Barts
1949 Barts
1950
1951
1952 London
1953 London
1954 St Mary's
1955 London
1956 Guy's
1957 Guy's
1958 Guy's
1959 St Mary's
1960
1961 St Mary's
1962 St Mary's
1963 St Thomas's
1964 Guy's
1965
1966 Guy's
1967 Guy's
1968 Guy's
1969 Guy's
1970 Guy's
1971 Guy's
1972 Guy's
1973 Guy's
1974 Guy's
1975 Barts
1976 Barts
1977 Westminster
1978 Westminster
1979 Westminster
1980 King's
1981
1982 St Thomas's
1983 St Thomas's
1984
1985
1986 Guy's
1987
1988
1989
1990 St Mary's
1991 St Mary's
1992 St Mary's
1993 St Mary's
1994 St Mary's
1995 Barts
1996 Barts and the London
1997 Barts and the London
1998 Barts and the London
1999 Barts and the London
2000 Barts and the London
2001 Barts and the London
2002 Barts and the London
2003 Barts and the London
2004 ICSM
2005 ICSM
2006 ICSM
2007 ICSM
2008 ICSM
2009 ICSM
2010 ICSM
2011 ICSM
2012 ICSM
2013 ICSM
2014 ICSM
2015 ICSM
2016 GKT (King's College)
2017 St George's
2018 The Royal Veterinary College
2019 St George's
2021 St George's