Trojans Rugby Club celebrates a century in Saint John

One of Saint John's oldest sporting franchises is celebrating 100 years with a party, and a sneak peek at new facilities.

The Trojans Rugby Club has been a fixture of the city's sports scene for over a century.

The rugby team started as just one of the many sports played by the then Trojans Athletic Club, including baseball, basketball and hockey.

"We're one of a handful of clubs in Canada that have a history that long," said Dave McPherson, co-chair of the club's centennial celebrations.

While the club is celebrating 100 years of play this weekend, they actually first took the pitch a little earlier.

In 1922 the Trojans and St. Peter's athletic clubs announced their intentions to start clubs, after years of neglect of the sport in the port city.

This had rugby fans in the city excited.

"The lovers of football should see some real contests here this fall as there is unlimited material in the city for two fast teams," said the Daily Telegraph on Sept. 9, 1922.

The Trojans would have their first match against the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton on September 30, 1922.

They would lose the match 5-0, but did their city proud.

"The visiting team was rather a surprise, showing better condition than was expected and being aggressive at all stages," wrote the Daily Telegraph on October 2, 1922.

McPherson said the club has seen several boom periods, including the interwar years of the late 20s and early 30s, and the 60s when a crop of British immigrants brought their love of the game to the city.

But the club is also going through a boom now with 350 members at all levels, and importantly a growing youth cohort.

"Rookie rugby, last year we had, I think it was about 40 members," said McPherson. 

"This summer we had 100.