1980 was an exceptional year for rugby in England. The national team won the Grand Slam and London Irish reached the final of the John Player Cup at Twickenham and finished top of the RFU Club Merit Table for London.
The Cup final team was captained by another great forward and Ireland international, John O'Driscoll, who was disappointed to loose that match - the club's first ever appearance in the final of a national competition - to an outstanding Leicester side.
In 1981 the club undertook its first transatlantic tour to Canada, a very successful and enjoyable experience for all concerned. Reports on the pioneering visit to Nigeria the following year were less enthusiastic!
In playing terms the eighties were another period of inconsistency. The first team struggled to find reliable form as work pressures made more demands on players' time making them unavailable for regular training and matches. Happily, at the lower levels and socially London Irish continued to thrive. Among the most exciting developments was the advent of mini-rugby at Sunbury and the launch of a related tournament that continues to set the standard for similar events throughout these islands.
The new pavilion at Sunbury, next to the main stand, was officially opened on 6th September, 1986. The building whose construction was facilitated by the generosity of Eddie Lawlor, an exceptional member and benefactor of the club, greatly enhanced the hospitality facilities at the club.
1985-86 saw the introduction of the John Smith's Merit Tables in England and with them came a more disciplined approach to senior rugby. Michael Gibson, who ranks among the great Ireland No 8s took over the captaincy that season. Despite the arrival of other outstanding internationals like Hugo MacNeill, Brian McCall, Brian Spillane (an Australian), and Brendan Mullin, Irish failed to find any form in the new leagues and languished in the lower reaches of division two as the decade drew to a close.
In 1990-91 London Irish was promoted to the first division with a side containing four new Ireland internationals: Simon Geoghegan, Jim Staples, David Curtis and Rob Saunders, the youngest ever captain of his country at 22 years of age.
The harsh financial realities of playing at the top end of the game in England gradually became clear to all the country's senior clubs including London Irish in the early years of the decade. Operating losses mounted and but for the generosity of key benefactors at the time, the club would have struggled to survive.
The financial struggles were reflected on the pitch where London Irish failed to make any impact in the leagues despite employing the services of a number of high profile coaches.
The 1995-96 season was to prove to be one of the most eventful in the history of rugby union with the Rugby World Cup in South Africa providing an exciting and emotional curtain-raiser. The pronouncements by the sport's ultimate ruling body, the International Rugby Board and the Rugby Football Union, on the crucial issue of "professionalism" at the start of the season, started a period of uncertainty about the future direction of club and international rugby.
The RFU decided that the two national leagues that made up the Courage Clubs Championship should expand and become more competitive effectively committing the clubs involved to going professional with all that implied. Given its history and desire to compete at the top level of club rugby not just in England but also in Europe, it was no surprise that London Irish accepted the challenge posed by the new era.