Former Hawk Dean KELBRICK in his new role as a Rugby Development Officer covers the east side of Glasgow an area not noted for the oval ball code but where a remarkable initiative has taken off to great effect namely Glasgow East RFC

Rugby League has also taken a foothold in this territory but the Barrachnie based club has taken great strides from a standing start

Readers already know of this writers interest in the relationship of rugby to athletics and strangely this is another example

The home ground of Glasgow East a club that rightly featured in todays Herald article sits in the middle of an egg shaped red blaes running track once the base for one of great athletics clubs of Scotland Shettleston Harriers
One of the past presidents of this fine club was Hawks trustee and former fitness coach Tom Lucas

Shettleston over the years produced a string of Scottish and British champions including British mile champion Graham Everett Commonwealth Games 10,000 m gold medalist Lachie Stewart and World Cross Country Champion Jimmy Flockhart who all trained there They also produced a young athlete turned footballer Bobby Clark who went on to play in goal for Aberdeen and Scotland
Their story is told in the book East End Odyssey written by John Cairney

It looks like Glasgow East RFC motivator Michael Doran and Dean are adding another chapter to this journey

This article was originally posted on 4-Oct-2012, 08:10 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 4-Oct-2012, 08:28.