metre hurdles. Four years later, John Disley won bronze in the 3000 metre steeplechase in Helsinki in 1952 and later became synonymous with the London Marathon. Javelin thrower Richard (Dick) Miller from Northern Ireland and hurdler Jack Parker also represented Great Britain at the 1952 summer olympics. Jack Parker along with fellow hurdler Harry Kane competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne in the 110 metre and 400 meter hurdles respectively. The high-jumper Geoff Parsons, who competed in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games, reached the final in 1988. Club Records * Times adjusted from 440 yard, 880 yard, 4×110 yard and 4×440 yard respectively. History The London Athletic Club is the oldest independent track and field club in the world: it was founded in 1863. Initially the club was named Mincing Lane Athletic Club because its members were mainly businessmen in the City of London. Early Meetings Its first meeting, on 27 June 1863, was at the (then recently-opened) West London Cricket and Running Grounds, Brompton. A later meeting, held on 9 April 1864 at Bow running grounds, was reported in The Sporting Life: “From the attendance….and the excellent sports exhibited, the club promises to become very popular”. Meetings were held at various locations across London: another was at the West London running grounds held on 25 November 1865. On 16 January 1866 The Sporting Life reported that the Mincing Lane Athletic Club had been renamed the London Athletic Club, because “gentlemen from all parts of London and most of the principal pedestrians of the day [were] among its members”. Three years later, in 1869, the club moved its base to the newly-opened Lillie Bridge Grounds, a few hundred yards north of where Stamford Bridge Stadium is today. Then, in 1870, the brothers James and William Waddell, who had joined LAC as athletes, became treasurer and secretary. Profits soared and in 1877 they secured six and a half acres at Stamford Bridge. The grounds made LAC the premier club of the time. (The brothers fled the country in 1883 and they left the club in debt.) The early meetings featured events such as cricket ball throwing, bicycle races and, in winter, regular “Assault at Arms” evenings which included fencing and boxing. The LAC even raised a rugby team. Charles Dickens, Jr wrote that in 1878 LAC had 700 active and non-active (i.e. non-competing) members; it held 90 competitions