Thames Ironworks F.C. had been suspended towards the end of the season. The Irons had not yet played London Welsh and as a result, and probably thanks also to Arnold Hills' presidency of the league and Francis Payne's drafting of the rules, Thames Ironworks F.C. were awarded two wins by default and finished the revised league as runners up. For their season in the London League, the club committee introduced players' insurance for the first time. This meant the players would be covered against loss of wages caused by injuries sustained from playing football. On 11 September 1897, in their first game of
Staines Rugby Football Club Staines Rugby Football Club Staines Rugby Football Club (trading as Staines Rugby Football Club Limited) is an English rugby union club founded in 1926 whose first team "The Swans" now play in the London & SE Division - Herts/Middlesex 1. The Club used to play at the 'Lammas' recreation ground in Staines-upon-Thames but relocated to its own ground The Reeves in Hanworth (London Borough of Hounslow) in the 1960s but still proudly bears the name of the town. The Club runs a number of senior teams with names such as "the Swans" and "the Cobs", and were one of the