History of Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby School, one of England's oldest and most prestigious public schools, rose to national prominence in the 1820s through the teaching methods pioneered by its headmaster, Dr Thomas Arnold, which contributed to a radical change in Public School education in England. Most of the present school buildings, near the centre of the town, date from this period. In 1823 William Webb Ellis is said to have invented Rugby Football when he picked up the ball and ran with it.
Gipsies Football Club
The first international rugby match was played between Scotland and England in 1871 and The Gipsies played a role in both its inception and in providing certain team members. It had come about following certain of the leading Scottish football clubs refusing to recognise the England v. Scotland match under Association rules at the Oval as an International meeting because they felt the dribbling game was less well known north of the Tweed. They published a challenge in Bell's Life to play a picked twenty of England under Rugby School laws, during the winter of 1870-71. This challenge was received just a few weeks before the Rugby Football Union was founded. At the forefront of those wanting to take up the challenge was Francis Luscombe, ""the energetic captain of the Gipsies, who was "spoiling for a fight,"". However, he felt that Blackheath, being the oldest of the clubs on point of foundation, ought to take the lead, and expressed this to Frederick Stokes the captain of that club. Soon after, B. H. Burns, the Blackheath secretary, promptly wrote accepting the challenge and the principal clubs in London, Liverpool, and Manchester were communicated with, and a committee formed to select the players, choose a uniform, and make the necessary arrangements. The Gipsies provided two of the 20 man team to face Scotland in the very first international rugby match in 1871. J. H. Luscombe (the older brother of Francis) and J. E. Bentley. Francis Luscombe played in the second match in 1872 along with J. E. Bentley and J. A. Body from Gipsies.