Warriors take the fight to Edinburgh
IAIN MORRISON
SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY REPORTS
THE YEAR was 1872 and Queen Victoria, Empress of India, was in her pomp. The Mary Celeste set sail from New York and the American Civil War had ended just seven years earlier. Roald Amundsen, who was later to beat Captain Scott to the South Pole, was born and Samuel Morse died.

On November 23 of that year, exactly one week before the first ever football international took place, Edinburgh played Glasgow at rugby. Both teams fielded 20 players and the match, consisting of four 20-minute quarters, took place on a Monday afternoon at Burnbank in Glasgow.(home at that time to Glasgow Accies)


Edinburgh wore dark blue shirts, white shorts and brown socks. The home team took the field wearing red socks, white shorts and white shirts with scarlet arms. It seems that the West Coast was always more fashion-conscious than its capital cousins.

This article was originally posted on 24-Sep-2006, 07:07 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 24-Sep-2006, 07:10.