The Original home of champions, The Repton is a place not for the faint of heart nor’ will it succumb to the need of the meek. With more champions than any other club in the history of British boxing, steeped in tradition and known for it’s elite status in the amateur boxing world, The Green and Gold of Repton is feared by the weak and admired by the strong.
In 1884 the club was founded as a youth club by Repton School in Derbyshire to provide ‘underprivileged boys the chance to improve their muscles and their moral fibre in order to divert them from a life of crime’ which was a great success, and still is. The club has helped to transform some of the lives of those involved even in those early years when The Repton Club hadn’t yet found it’s calling, boxing. Boxing quickly became the main focus of the Repton Club and with it’s unrivalled success became it’s sole purpose, now Repton Boxing Club.
The club was originally set in a three storey town house in Bethnal green where the boxing part of the club was situated on the top floor and other activities such as bagatelle, whist, chess, and other amusements would be competed at. The membership out grew it’s premises reaching eighty odd and moved location various times to try to accommodate until settling where it is now housed in a an old Victorian Bath House on Cheshire Street in Bethnal Green and had by that time become purely boxing.
The boxing success could be put down to the hardy nature of the Eastender back in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s when the Eastend of London was widely regarded the most deprived and dangerous part of the country. The deprivation in the area was the reason it was chosen by Repton School, selected as the location in need of the most help and support. In fact it was even a clear objective to help in particular the boys of the area that were showing the most rebellious behaviour with potential to become unlawful due to their circumstances, ‘tough wiry fellows with tons of pluck… with first rate fighting qualities’ and with a rooted objection to most forms of discipline, and a kind of pious horror for any man or thing that they call “religious” as accounted by one of the clubs authorities, as well as stating to be ‘very discriminating in choosing boys…keeping the club down to the proper standard so that it served those who most needed it.’
The Eastend youth benefited greatly from the freedom of expression boxing provided to those taking part, and inspired many to overcome the adverse conditions of their environment. Boxing was a sport for the bold the brave and the under privileged, and still is.
The boxing club for a long time was a male only environment and was named Repton Boys Club, but now and since 2012 the club has been named Repton Boxing Club allowing for female boxing at the club which has been a great success with numerous female national champions, international representatives and Olympic participants.
There are a number of reminders around the club of a simple slogan, that in a way encapsulates where a Reptonite should derive their inspiration from.
‘NO GUTS NO GLORY’ features plastered in numerous positions around the club providing a constant reminder that to be part of ‘The Repton’ you must first have the desire to win, then the courage to fulfil your desires, and then be willing to learn, gain resilience and work as hard as it takes to become the best you can be.
You’ll be careful not to miss ‘The Repton Prayer’ as you enter the club, framed and screw fixed into the old bath house glazed brick slip walls to make sure of its permanence. An old poem named ‘DON’T QUIT’ that was originally written in 1921 by Edgar A Guest, and has been admired on our walls for decades.
If you are somebody that doesn’t stick at something when the going gets tough, somebody that faulters physically, emotionally or morally when put to the test, If you are somebody that doesn’t live with an intensity to prove to yourself and your peers that you are to be relied upon and consistent, or at the very least be willing to have the courage to endure what it takes to learn how to be, then this poem may not resonate with you and neither will the thick atmosphere of our wonderful club.
Put frankly, If you don’t ‘get it’ (not everyone does) then you will continue your search for where you belong. If you do then you may have found the environment that you wish to learn in and become a part of.
There are many examples of the Repton philosophy within the characters that have passed through over the past century or so but to name just two, the men that follow below give an insight for what it takes to be a Reptonite with contrasting style.
