Watsonians is one of the great names of Scottish club rugby so it seems right that they came calling in Glasgows west end in the early years
However it wasn't always  Watsonians F.C. nor was it Watsonians C.C. it was Watsonians  C.C.C. that made an early impact in the rural setting of Anniesland which at that time  was almost in the country to the west of a rapidly expanding Glasgow
Just as well because it was the Watsonians Cross Country Club that arrived at The Scotstoun Showgrounds ( now Scotstoun Stadium)in the early 1900s for the Scottish Championships
At that period along with the likes of Heriots they produced distance running teams of note
Between 1903 and 1913 the Scottish Cross Country Championships were held at Scotstoun on nine occasions and on two occasions a Watsonian J Ranken won the individual title
On the occasion of his second win it was recorded in the Glasgow Herald that "Ranken won for the second time running with the leading group for most of the race,but making his break for home as he crossed Gt Western Rd for the second time and opening a winning gap over the final stretch of ploughed land between Anniesland  and Scotstoun Stadium"
Ranken failed to win his hatrick of titles when on the one occasion in the decade that the event went to Edinburgh being run from Hiibernian's ground at Easter Rd

In 1907 Scotstoun hosted the International Cross Country Championships which was the predecessor of the World IAAF Cross Country Championships of today
The event was held over a four lap course of 10 miles and a crowd of 2000 turned up to spectate.
A magnificent trophy for the event that became known as the Lumley Shield had been presented by Fred Lumley who owned a sports shop in Glasgows' Sauchiehall St that in recent generations has become Greaves Sports
At the presentation dinner the the secretary of the Scottish Union said "it was a very handsome and I am only sorry that so far as Scotland is concerned we have probably seen the last of it for a number of years" -- and he was right
Reports of the day described how runners streamed over the fields to a small cross roads at Anniesland  Cross before running down Crow Rd to finish on the track at Scotstoun
The winner was A Underwood of England leading them to victory in the team event
Ranken like so many of his generation fell in the First World War whilst serving in the Dardanelles
Scotstoun had really entered a new century which was to see it develop as one of the country's most recognised sports grounds and become home to some of the great club names of Scottish sport the most recent being the Warriors

Recently Victoria Park Glasgow awarded that doyen of athletics scribes Watsonian Doug Gillon life membership for his contribution to athletics journalism 
I recall Doug once telling me that he had won the Ranken Cup presented at George Watsons College Sports
Doug ran for Victoria Park when he took up his post with the Herald and has just completed his coverage of London 2012 having covered every Games since 1972  

This article was originally posted on 24-Aug-2012, 06:34 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 24-Aug-2012, 12:02.