Jim Stevenson, a 52-year-old local government officer with Glasgow City Council and a man who has served Cambuslang Rugby Club in a multitude of roles on and off the pitch, was tonight elected President of the Scottish Rugby Union.

Stevenson won by 95 votes to 86 against incumbent George Jack (Leith), who had opted to stand for a second term. That vote came towards the end of the Union's agm, during which, after a long debate, clubs voted overwhelmingly to maintain the Scottish Hydro Electric Cup competition next season.

Stevenson declared: "Im extremely humbled and at the same time delighted." He pledged to do his utmost to serve through unstinting effort and looked forward to harnessing collective energies and skills to drive rugby forward in Scotland.

He added: Be assured I will always regard club views and requirements as the litmus test of opinion.

His remarks followed a presentation by Scottish Rugbys Chief Executive Gordon McKie who reported Scottish Rugby had broken even for the second successive year; that turnover had increased by �2.6million to �28.2 million and that year end bank borrowings were �17.6 million as Scottish Rugby continued to stabilise its debt.

The meeting also heard that Chairman Allan Munro had been appointed by the Scottish Rugby Board to continue to serve for a second three year term of office.

During the meeting clubs voted to:-
" continue the Scottish Hydro Electric Cup competition until a new season structure is proposed and agreed;
" disband the Competitions Commission and called upon the Scottish Rugby Council to consult widely on a proposed season structure for 2010/11 - one of which they are notified in advance of the 2009/10 season; and
" permit the scheduling of standby dates for the Sundays of home international weekends

Clubs also voted in favour of a motion from Perthshire, seconded by Cambuslang, that future annual general meetings should be held on either a Saturday or Sunday rather than on a Friday night.

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This article was posted on 27-Jun-2008, 21:39 by Hugh Barrow.