Our History 5 of 8

5. Old Boys


The creation of The Gentlemen of New York was a logical step of the temporal progression of the playing life of C.A. (“Jacko”) Jackson. Following his creation of Les Vieux, ( Manhattan) and the globe-trotting Over Thirties ( XXX), the Gents was created in 1979.The GONY , like the XXX , was an invitational club but now for anyone over age 40, with an intent to host and visit other like teams, and with an inexplicable “XC” on its letterhead and first batch of club ties.

Early games were played in Ireland ( Bohemians) and Canada ( Toronrto “XL”) but were quickly followed by hosting teams from Canada ( Ottawa Senators) South Africa ( Cape Town), Ireland and London.
The coincidental launching of the World Golden Oldies Tournaments provided the perfect venues for major tours overseas. Thus the Gentlemen traveled to those tourneys at Long Beach in 1981, Sydney and New Zealand in 1985 and London in 1989. Several major on-field victories ( never lost a game !) and off-field camradie at these events led to many follow-up visits from/to teams met at these events including Japan (Wak Waks) and the California Bald Eagles ( decided by ‘Jacko’ as deciding the American Championship).

The Gents were revived in 2001 by combining the old boys of Les Vieux, New York and Monmouth with other old boys from the New York City area joining for one game or more. Our jersies even reflect our mixed rugby pedigrees. The current Gents play a short season in the spring and fall and continue to provide a rugby outlet for guys still willing to lace on their boots and continue playing the game we love. As we say in old boys, "The older we get the better we were."