BRITISH LIONS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT PROVIDES BRIDGWATER & ALBION WITH HISTORIC START TO 150 YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

Emma Kemmish | 02/06/2025

Following the recent announcement of the British Lions touring party to visit Australia this summer, the Principal Partner – Howden – Insurance Company – are commemorating their involvement by providing every club which has previously produced a British Lion with a plaque as a tribute to the former Lions and the club and to inspire future generations within the club.

Bridgwater & Albion on the eve of its 150^th year of existence is delighted to have received such acknowledgement and this relates to our two British Lions from the 1908 touring party to New Zealand – Bob Dibble and Herbert Archer who both played for Bridgwater Albion as this was before the amalgamation of the Bridgwater and Bridgwater Albion clubs in 1919.

Both Dibble and Archer were regulars in the Somerset County side and were both capped for England.

Bob Dibble joined Bridgwater Albion in 1901 when he played for the club whilst still in his teens and back from the Boer War. He was an exceptional forward capable of playing in several positions and he made an immediate impact being selected for Somerset against Cornwall in his first season. This was to mark the start of a long and valuable service and when he retired, he had played a then record 73 matches for Somerset – a record only eclipsed by Arthur Spriggs of Bridgwater who later appeared on 75 occasions. Bob was clearly destined for international honours and was first selected for England in 1906 and went on to win 19 caps between 1906 and 1912. Bob’s elder brother James also played for Albion at half-back and a younger brother Frank in the forwards after he had returned from Australia where he had been capped for his adoptive country.

Herbert Archer was a contemporary of Dibble and also played for Albion and Somerset – representing the county against New Zealand at Taunton in October 1905 in company with Dibble, A Mead and C Kingston from Bridgwater Albion and HC Jackson of Bridgwater. Dibble, Mead and Archer also represented Somerset against South Africa at Taunton in 1906/7. Archer won three caps for England in 1909 after he had undertaken the British Lions tour the previous year. Archer was a medical student and also represented Guys Hospital and like Dibble, was a speedy and clever forward.

Dibble and Archer were two of five members from the Somerset County XV chosen for the British touring team.

On the club front, Bridgwater Albion pioneered international touring by playing Racing Club in Paris in 1906 defeating their hosts by two tries to one. In 1906/7 Bridgwater Albion won the Somerset Rugby Challenge Cup with both Dibble and Archer members of the team as shown in the attached photograph.

This historic acknowledgement has given the club some considerable fillip and Bridgwater & Albion Rugby Football Club looks forward to celebrating its 150^th year of existence in 2025/26.

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