| THE FIRST TEN YEARS : A short history of the short history of Glasgow Hawks RFC |
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It is worth noting that, at the end of the league season immediately following this historical decision (1995/96), Watsonians played Melrose in the deciding game for the league title in front of a crowd of 5,000! At that time there were differing views as to whether Districts or Premier clubs in Scotland would take the game forward into the professional era and, with a number of top Glasgow players moving east, Glasgow rugby was looking extremely vulnerable. It was suggested that hell would freeze over before Glasgow Academicals (1866) and GHK(1884) might merge but during season 1996/97 Brian Simmers decided it was worth looking at. After meetings with the SRU, Dunc Paterson, Bill Watson, Jim Telfer and Bill Hogg, and meetings with senior players from both clubs , Fergus and Murray Wallace, Walter Malcolm, Cammy Little, Gordon Mackay, Chas Afuakwah, Stuart Simmers , he produced a proposal for rugby at Anniesland which created a new club, Glasgow Hawks, but retained the "founder" clubs, Glasgow Academicals and GHK. Discussions had also taken place with West of Scotland to come on board but these did not progress. However the "W" in HAWKS still remains! |
This structure was presented to each of the "founder" clubs at EGMs, both held on 3rd June 1997, and a massive majority at each club agreed the proposal. Glasgow Hawks was in business! In June 2003 Glasgow Hawks became a full member of the SRU. |
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| Now to the important part. Rugby! | ||
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1999/2000 Hawks lost to Boroughmuir in the Scottish Cup Final and played the Co-optimists to mark the opening of the Jimmie Ireland stand at Old Anniesland and combined with West of Scotland, again to play the Co-optimists, to mark the opening of their new stand at Burnbrae. It has always been a policy of Hawks to test themselves against "foreign" opposition: It is perhaps worth noting that Hawks has obviously accepted the introduction of the professional districts and agree with the decision by the SRU in 2007 to reduce the number of districts to two on the grounds that they are effectively funded and therefore should become successful in Celtic and European competition which must be of benefit to the national team. Hawks also believe that the next level below these teams should be Premier 1, which should include periphery professional and academy players, playing in their club of origin, competing in a strong domestic league and in a X Border competition against the English Academy sides thus creating a very strong second tier of semi professional rugby. In their "foreign" fixtures Hawks has proved time and again that Premier 1 clubs can succeed at that level and as a result Hawks has been able to serve the Scottish game effectively by preparing and producing players capable of taking the next step into professional and international rugby. |
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| OVER 10 YEARS: |
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Directors of Rugby: |
Hawks Players Capped:
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| Sponsors: Each and every one of our sponsors has been enormously important to the success of Hawks over the past 12 years. It would be wrong to mention individual sponsors apart, perhaps, those who have been with us from the start, M&Co.(Mackays), Greaves Sports and Gibson Pension & Investments. Very many thanks to you all. |
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International rugby was born 140 years ago on a bright, sunny day in Edinburgh. Now, for the first
time since 1871, two of the caps presented to players in this game will be reunited at the World
Rugby Museum in Twickenham.
The Calcutta Cup match has long been considered one of the greatest fixtures in rugby union, but
the history of this game goes back further than most realise. The current competition, named after
the trophy that accompanies it, has its roots in India. When the Calcutta Football Club disbanded
in the late 1870s with approximately £60 of club funds remaining, the money was withdrawn from
their bank in silver rupees, melted down, and sculpted into the trophy still played for today. But the
inaugurating game in 1879 was not the first time England and Scotland had met on the pitch. Eight
years before, these two teams had made history by participating in the first ever international rugby
match - a fixture that was continued annually even before the introduction of the trophy years later.
The World Rugby Museum’s collection, which already contained Arthur Guillemard’s England cap
from 1871, will now be complemented by the arrival of J W Arthur’s Scotland cap. The cap has been
kindly loaned to the museum by Glasgow Academicals, the club that Glasgow born Arthur played
with for seven seasons. Arthur was one of a small group of Scottish club players who instigated the
match, writing to the Secretary of Blackheath:
“…we, representing the whole footballing interest of Scotland, hereby challenge any team selected
from the whole of England, to play us a match, twenty a side Rugby rules”.
Founded in 1866, Glasgow Accies have an impressive club history. One of the oldest clubs in
Scotland, they provided several players for the team that defeated England in the first ever rugby
international, and were the first Scottish club to play in Ireland and London. The club can also boast
success in the association game, with Queens Park asking them to provide players for the first official
association football international against England in 1872. Away from the touring scene, Accies
hosted the meeting that led to the formation of the Scottish Rugby Union in 1873 and provided one
of the delegates to the founding meeting of the IRB. Today they continue to provide players for the
Scotland team, the most recent being Johnnie Beattie.
The two caps will be displayed side by side from Saturday 12th March. The museum would like to
thank Glasgow Academicals and Simon Inglis of Played in Britain for all their efforts in bringing this
display about.
International rugby was born 140 years ago on a bright, sunny day in Edinburgh. Now, for the first time since 1871 and thanks to Glasgow Academicals FC and Simon Inglis of Played in Britain, two of the caps presented to players in this game will be reunited at the World Rugby Museum in Twickenham. The museum’s collection, which already contained Arthur Guillemard’s England cap, will now be complemented by the arrival of J W Arthur’s Scotland cap. Arthur played for Glasgow Academicals for seven seasons, and represented his country twice. Accies continue to provide players for the Scotland team, the most recent being Johnnie Beattie. Arthur’s Scotland cap will be on loan to the museum from Glasgow Academicals for one year. |
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"Those who drink the water, ought remem ber those who dug the well" Although Glasgow Hawks were only formed in 1997 the founder clubs Glasgow Accies 1866 and GHK 1982 (Glasgow High School F.P 1884 .,and Kelvinside Accies 1888) played a major role in the history and development of the Sport of Rugby Union in Scotland dating back to its inception in the 1860s. 1866: Glasgow Academical Football Club formed (the same year as Harlequins) the club did not see it necessary to include the word Rugby in its title because the Association game only appeared with the formation of Queens Park in 1867. The Club's first home being Burnbank(between Great Western Road and Woodlands Road)
1867: Glasgow Accies play West of Scotland in a fixture that is now one of the oldest surviving football ma
tches in the world. |
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| The Oldest Clubs | ||||
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++ One of Blackheath's founder members was a Glasgow Academical-Alex Sinclair
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![First International match Scotland V England 1871 [click to close]](../images/photos/438.jpg)
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1870: Glasgow Accies become the first Scottish football club of either code to tour England playing matches against Manchester and Liverpool J.W.Arthur Glasgow Accies puts his signature to a letter challenging the clubs of England to play Scotland under the rugby code.This led to the first international being played at Raeburn Place in 1871.
The first ever international game: Scotland v England played at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh, March 27th, in front of a crowd of 4000 (Scotland won by one goal and one try to one goal, the teams were 20-a-side and Halves were 50 minutes each). The try was awarded after a 10 minute argument, leading to a famous aphorism by Dr. HH Almond, the Scottish umpire: "I must say, however, that when an umpire is in doubt, I think he is justified in deciding against the side which makes the most noise. They are probably in the wrong."
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Soccer's Parallel Journey The first team in Scotland were Queen's Park, formed in 1867. They had another year to wait before they played their first competitive game, against a team called Thistle in August 1868. As clubs began to form in the wake of Queen's Park games were initially arranged on a friendly basis. The spread of a national transport system throughout the Britis h Isles meant an international meeting was unavoidable. The first official meeting of the `auld enemy' occured on Saint Andrew's Day in 1872, when Queen's Park arranged a game at Hamilton Crescent cricket ground. Two years earlier the Secretary of the English Football Association, Charles Alcock had written to the Gla sgow Herald to suggest an international game between the two neighbours. Alcock himself ar ranged four ga mes in London. He even picked the Scottish team from Scots plying their trade in England. Perhaps it is no surprise then that England won all four matches. The `Alcock internationals' have no official standing however, and so it was that St Andrew's day meeting in 1872 which saw the first true international between Scotland and England, with Queens Park representing the Scots. Queen's Park gave the West of Scotland cricket club £10 for the use of their field and promised to pay a further £10 if takings for the game were higher than £50. In the event 4000 people paid £103 to watch the scoreless draw.
Article taken from The Scottish Athletic Journal, March 15th 1884. |
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1872: Glasgow Accies play host to worlds oldest district match the inter city against Edinburgh. The match was played at Burnbank(between Gt Western Road and Woodlands Road. T Chalmers Accies capped against England is one of an elite group of dual internationalists also being capped by Scotland at Cricket.
1876: H.M.Napier a former pupil of High School is capped against England whilst playing for West 1877: Five Accies plus H.M. Napier play in the Scotland v Ireland match this being the first Scottish international played as 15 a side. 1878: Accies become first Scottish club to play in London beating Blackheath. Accies match with West ended by "mutual consent " after a disputed drop goal by Watson of Accies.It was reported in a journal at this time "no club that I know can play better in mud than Accies". During this period the Canadian Lacrosse Team played a match on the ground owned by the Caledonian Cricket Club where the Glasgow Academy now stands. 1882: Glasgow Accies and Edinburgh Accies combine to tour England as Scottish Academicals playing Oxford University and Manchester. 1883: Glasgow Accies move to the ground now known as Old Anniesland. Glasgow Accies become a founder member of The Scottish Amateur Athletics Association
1884: Glasgow High School F.P. formed and play on a ground on the opposite side of Crow Road to the present pitches.and play against the 1st Lanark Volunteers.One of the founder members was T.Connell who had set a disputed Scottish Record for 440 yards at the Kilmarnock F.C. Sports in 1882.The club played at various locations in the Anniesland,Crow Road area until the early years of the Twentieth Century. J.S. Carrick Accies was delegated by the Scottish Football Union to settle the issue of the disputed match against England held at Blackheath by awarding the match to England on condition that future disputes be referred to an International Board.He also played Cricket for Wes
t of Scotland and scored 419 not out aginst Priory Park
1889 Accie Cap
1898: J.M.Dykes becomes Glasgow High's first Scottish internationalist,although 4 players from High School had played for Scotland as members of West,D.S. Morton,H.M.Napier,A.S.Hamilton and D.Fisher. He won the AAA 120yards Hurdles Championship in 1904/05/06. J.M Dykes GHSFP, R S Stronach Accies play aginst England at Blackheath
1905 Crawford Findlay of Kelvinside Accies refereed the match between Ireland and the All Blacks and was praised for his performance by All Blacks captain Dave Gallagher 1906: T.Sloan and L.L. Greig (Accies) and G.M.Frew (GHSFP) play in Scotland's first match against the Springboks which was played at Hampden Park
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The Glasgow Accie XV who beat West of Scotland by 27 points to 8 in the last game of the season, on 28th March 1914, to a man enlisted in the forces at the outbreak of war. Eight were killed, six wounded and only one returned unscathed. But for the war this side, which was full of talent and still improving, might well have brought in another great era for the Club. 1921: The stand at Old Anniesland was built. During this period crowds of several thousand were commonplace at matches at Anniesland, and a crowd of 2000 watched the school match between Academy and High School. Glasgow High play their first match against Instonians at Ravenhill. Accies provide 10 players for Glasgow who beat Edinburgh in the Inter City.
1922: A crowd of 10,000 watched Glasgow Accies play Heriots at New Anniesland this remained a record for a Scottish club game for 74 years. |
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1923: Glasgow Accies and Glasgow High share the Scottish Championship.,Accie's J.C.Dykes and High School 's J.M. Bannerman and L.Stuart play for Scotland/Ireland against England/Wales at The Close, Rugby School to mark the centenary of the Game of Rugby Union
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1926: Glasgow Accies complete a hatrick of Scottish Championships and saw a 100% record. The first Scottish team to beat England at Twickenham included 4 Accies and 3 High School players. This team included Jimmie Ireland. Glasgow Accies invite the N.Z Maori who were touring England and France to play in Glasgow,but SRU refuse to sanction match Twickenham has always been an inauspicious place for Scots intent on seizing the Calcutta Cup from their English rivals. Indeed, ever since the sweet charioteers moved into the stadium, assorted tribes of Saltire-wielding fans have flocked down to Richmond and seen their hopes dashed.
Brian Simmers Although England rallied upon the resumption, another Smith try sealed a 17-9 success and nobody could argue that they didn't merit their win. At the denouement, the legendary hooker, Jimmy Ireland, exchanged jerseys with his opposite number, Sam Tucker, and was promptly billed for 12/6 by the SRU.
1927: Old Anniesland Memorial Pavilion opened.
1930: Accies Internationalists Jimmy Nelson and Max Simmers help to organise two benefit matches to assist West who at that time were in financial difficulties. Playing in these matches were such as Herbert Waddell,Jimmie Ireland,Ian Shaw and J.M.Bannerman
The Scottish Championship came to New Anniesland in 4 out of 6 seasons to 1926 1936: Glasgow High wins Scottish Club Championship.
Robert Wilson Shaw, CBE Shaw played club rugby for Glasgow High School Former Pupils. He was the captain of the Scottish rugby team that won the Triple Crown in 1938. The match is remembered as 'Wilson Shaw's match'. The Triple Crown was achieved by beating Ireland, Wales and England. Scotland would not manage to do so again for another forty years! In the match against England, he had scored a try and created another. In the last minute he set off on a mazy run and scored another try to win the match 21-16 and the Triple Crown. The victory was made all the sweeter for the Scots as it was achieved at Twickenham.
TWICKENHAM WALL OF FAME
Wilson Shaw toured Argentina with a British team in 1936 1938 Lions to South Africa including Laurie Duff
1946; Russell Bruce Accies captains Scotland to a 27-0 win over England at Murrayfield--on the same day as Scotland defeat England 1-0 at Hampden
NEIL DRYSDALE INTERVIEWS RUSSELL BRUCE
1946 DUAL VICTORY PIECE
1948: Legendary commentator Bill McLaren played his last match for Hawick on the September Holiday Monday against Accies prior to his premature retirement having been diagnosed with Tuberculosis 1947: 12,000 attend Cammanachd Cup Shinty final at Old Anniesland Angus Cameron GHSFP,Hamish Dawson Glas Ac and R. C. Taylor Kelvinside Accies play in Scottish side beaten 44-0 by South Africa
1956: The Scottish Rugby Union publish the coaching manual "Raise the Standard" under the presidency of Max Simmers 1960 ; Hamish Kemp selected for Scotland/Ireland v England/Wales 1966: Glasgow Accies celebrate their centenary with a match betwen SRU Founder Members and the Rest of Scotland 1971: Glasgow High go "open" 1973: The introduction of League Rugby.
1984: John Beattie plays for Scotland's Grand Slam winning Team - John also played for the British Lions.
1997: Glasgow Accies and GHK combine at senior level to form Glasgow Hawks under the chairmanship of Brian Simmers. GHK wins Scottish Shield. False Bay from Cape Town play Accies and GHK. This was one of the first mixed coloured teams to leave South Africa after apartheid. 1998: Hawks win Scottish Cup , Scottish Second Division Championship and 2nd xv League Champions.. Hawks beat Toulouse at Old Anniesland. Hawks 2xv win The Inter-City 2xv league Division 1. Derek Stark and Glenn Metcalfe become the first Hawks to win S cottish Caps. Accies tour Zimbabwe 1999: Kelvinside Academy sells Auchenhowie pitches to Rangers F.C to develop a Soccer Academy 2000: Hawks lose to Boroughmuir in the Scottish Cup Final. The opening of the Jimmie Ireland Stand at Old Anniesland. The occasion being marked by a match between Hawks and the Co -Optimists. Hawks combine with West to play the Co-optimists to mark the opening of the new stand at Burnbrae 2004: Hawks win Premier 1 Championship, Scottish Cup and 2nd xv Championship-Glasgow Accies runners up in Shield Winners of the inaugural Murrayfield Sevens
2009 Hawks win Scottish Shield beating Peebles in the Final and inaugural Black Grouse Trophy(15aside tournament) 2011 Hawks play Belfast Harlequins at Deramore Park 2012 Hawks relegated from Premiership 2013 Hawks win National League and return to Premiership --West Regional Cup Runners up 2014 Hawks win West Regional Cup Reserve League Champions Scottish Cup Runners up and hold Bill McLaren Shield
NEW ANNIESLAND HISTORY The best? The answer is surely Academical-from The Herald 27 August 2005 THE cost of hiring the marquee in which almost 500 Glasgow Academicals will tonight celebrate their centenary at the New Anniesland sports ground, is greater than the £10,683 which the school paid for the land itself, plus building the pavilion, groundsman's house, and grandstand 100 years ago. Just how sound that investment has proved we learned from Billy Mann, who is helping organise festivities. The club were members of the Rugby Football Union before the Scottish Rugby Union was founded in GlasgowAcademy itself in 1873, and the school has produced more than 80 Scottish internationalists as well as 10 cricket caps and many international athletes. Glasgow Academical Football Club did not find it necessary to include "rugby" in its title when they formed in 1866. "Association" football was born the next year, with the formation of Queen's Park. GlasgowHawks (a merger of Accies and Glasgow High/ Kelvinside) are now arguably the dominant Scottish rugby force, national champions for the past two years. Yet they must envy Accies' previous golden ages: just 11matches lost in their first 16 years during which six Academicals played in the inaugural Scotland v England international, and a remarkable post First World War era when Anniesland matches drew crowds of up to 10,000. Special trains ran from Edinburgh and, when they met their rivals Heriot's, the game had to be played on the international ground at Inverleith, attracting 18,000. Academicals were considered by The Times to be "easily the best club in the British Isles", and the writer exhorted "English rugger enthusiasts to take the trouble to go to Glasgow on a Friday evening by the "sleeper" to see Glasgow Academicals who would probably beat, and beat easily, any London club". This was all the more remarkable considering battlefield ravages on the sports field. From 1901 to 14, the club had been Scottish rugby champions three times. The 1903-05 captain was Louis Greig, a Scotland internationalist and British Lion who became the confidant of the future King George VI and his tennis partner at Wimbledon. All of the XV which beat West of Scotland 27-8 in the last game of the 1914 season enlisted on the outbreak of war. Eight were killed, six were wounded, and only one returned unscathed. Three were awarded the Military Cross. Three died on June 18 1915 at Gallipoli, yet nine otherAccies FPs, all Cameronian officers, were killed at Souvla Bay that same day. Despite these casualties, from 1921 to 1926 the rebuilt Accies rugby XV played 123, won 111, drew 2, lost 10. They were beaten only six times by Scottish clubs, scoring 3069 points for the loss of 482. So high was their status that the New Zealand Maori wanted to play them. The SRU refused to sanction the game. Their luminaries included Herbert Waddell (stand-off in the 1925 Scotland grand slam side) who was memorably billed by the SRU for the fire which he asked to be lit in his room at the North British Hotel, the team's pre-match headquarters, and Max Simmers. Before settling at New Anniesland, the school had three previous grounds, the first at Burnbank, between Great Western Road and Woodlands Road. When Accies moved out, it became the home of a football club, newly moved from public pitches at Glasgow Green. Yes, Rangers. They stayed a year before moving to Kinning Park. Burnbank was where Glasgow Academy Sports was launched in 1868. It is the oldest surviving athletics meeting in the West of Scotland. The club produced several outstanding international athletes, including John McIsaac who helped Britain to European 4 x 400m gold in 1958, Robert Stronach, a rugby internationalist who won three successive AAA 120 yards hurdles titles, and more recently Alastair Douglas, Pat McLaggan, and Hugh Barrow who was once teenage world record-holder for the mile, and is now secretary of the Hawks. Cricket was the dominant sport when the club was founded in 1866 (and was Scotland's major team sport until the latter part of the 19th century). In the 1930s, as many as five internationalists played in the first XI, including rugby and golf "caps", but three of the most promising players were killed in the Second World War. However, more recently, Dougie Lockhart has now represented Scotland more than 100 times. The school once had its own curling pond and has also hosted international women's hockey and lacrosse. There's a fine old tradition to celebrate tonight, and it's sobering to reflect that £10,000 won't cover the bar bill.
Officials:
Glasgow Hawks Sports Trust Chairman
Hawks Players Capped Drafted Pro Players 2003 Cameron Blades (Glasgow) Ian McInroy (Glasgow) Alistair Davidson (Borders) 2005 Thom Evans,Steven Turnbull Graeme Morrison,Colin Shaw,Steve Swindall 2011 Colin Shaw, Dave McCall, Rob Dewey, Henry Pyrgos, Duncan Weir, Richie Gray and John Barclay Hawks Coaches Representative Positions
Scotland Under 18 Caps
Scotland Rugby League Caps Polish Caps ... Zimbabwe Caps Ian Noble, Nico Nyemba Greece Dimitris Roussos Ireland Under 21 Caps Ireland Under 20 Cap
England Under 21 Cap
Glasgow Award for Service to Rugby
Glasgow Player of the Year
South Lanarkshire Spotsman of Year
Scottish Rugby-Team of the Year
Scottish Sevens Player of Year
Scottish Premier 1 Player of the Year
Glasgow Team of the Year--all sports
Glasgow Sport Council Award
Roy Kinnear Rugby League Award
2004 Andy McPhail – Napier University
2005/06 Winners of Premier Division 1 and Premiership Sevens 2013-14. 5th Premiership ,West Region Cup winners,Reserve League Champions ,Holder Bill Mclaren Shield Runners up Scottish Cup
Sevens Honours
Cambuslang 2002,2004
Glasgow University 2004 2007 Murrayfield Sevens 2005 Glasgow 2010 Boroughmuir 2011
2nd xv League-Winners
Associate Clubs
Largest Attendances
Historical Footnotes British Lions:
Glasgow Accies
Glasgow High School F.P.
Kelvinside Accies
GHK
Brothers who have played for scotland
Father and son who have played for Scotland
Uncles and nephews
Grandfather and grandson
Double internationalists
Youngest Cap
100 YEARS AT NEW ANNIESLAND – AND BEFORE
At the Founding meeting of the club in 1866 it was clear that cricket was the senior section of the proposed activities. Although reference was made to cricket none was made to football (rugby). This pre-eminence of cricket is probably not surprising for cricket was the major team sport in Scotland up to and after the middle of the 19th century. Thus the venue for the first Scotland v England International Association Football match was Hamilton Crescent, the home of West of Scotland Cricket Club, and Clydesdale Cricket Club were beaten finalists in the first Scottish Football Association Cup Final. The first President of the Glasgow Academical Club, H E Crum-Ewing, was also a founder member of Third Lanark FC (the Third Lanark Rifle Volunteers – later the Cameronians) when it was established in 1872, six years after the Academical Club. Rugby almost immediately became the dominant playing section of the Glasgow Academical Club. Indeed the club was the dominating force in Scottish rugby from 1866 to 1882. In our first 16 seasons we played 145 matches and lost only 11 including 3 in 1881/82. In 8 of the 16 seasons we were undefeated and 31 Academicals were capped for Scotland including six in the inaugural Scotland v England match played in March 1871. We were members of the Rugby Football Union before the Scottish Rugby Union was founded in The Glasgow Academy in 1873. Academical cricket had not faired nearly so well and by 1892 had “fallen into abeyance” despite the fact there had been some outstanding cricketers including a few who had played for Scotland such as J. S. Carrick, also a rugby internationalist who went on to be president of the SRU. He scored what was until modern times a world record, 419 not out playing for West of Scotland against Priory Park at Chichester in 1885. Carrick was Secretary of the Western Baths Club and therefore scored almost as many runs in one innings, over two days, as the current Secretary, in his heyday, did in a year!
In the club’s first 40 years we leased three grounds. The first was Burnbank and it was here that the Glasgow Academical Sports, now The Glasgow Academy Sports, was started in 1868. It is now the oldest surviving athletics meeting in the West of Scotland and the second oldest in Scotland. The role played by the “school sports” at that time was significant as a precursor to open athletics as often included were “strangers” races. Accies were founder members of the Scottish Amateur Athletics Associations in 1883 and two Academicals, R C Mackenzie and D H Watson, both rugby internationalists, officiated as judges at the first Scottish Amateur Athletics Championships held in 1883 at Powderhall. Over the years several Glasgow Academicals have represented Great Britain and/or Scotland at athletics. They include John MacIsaac, who won a Gold Medal with the British 4 x 400m Relay Team in the 1958 European Games and Hugh Barrow, currently Secretary of the Hawks, who as a schoolboy aged only 16 ran the mile in Dublin in the amazing time of 4 minutes 10.9 seconds making him the fastest junior miler in the world. When we moved to our next ground, North Kelvinside, a new, small and then insignificant football club, Glasgow Rangers, followed us as tenants at Burnbank. Our third ground was the one which has come to be known as Old Anniesland which, when we left, was occupied by Glasgow High thus continuing a practice of following in our footsteps which had commenced when Glasgow High School moved into the old Glasgow Academy premises in Elmbank Street when the school moved to Kelvinbridge in 1878. While still at Old Anniesland the Academical Club appointed as groundsman Joe Ward and he and his son, “Young” Joe were to give very loyal service to the club over the next 66 years. The cost of purchasing New Anniesland, bringing the ground up to standard and building the pavilion, groundsman’s house and grandstand was £10,683, slightly less than the cost of hiring tonight’s marquee! No major improvements were made to the pavilion until the mid 1950s by which time the facilities were fairly primitive and visitors to Anniesland were heard to ask, “If this is New Anniesland, what on earth must Old Anniesland be like?” In 1955 new dressing rooms and bathing accommodation were built at the south side of the old pavilion at a cost of £12,034 paid by the school out of The Academy Centenary Appeal. The next, and to date last, major alteration to the pavilion was that carried out in 1965 when the tearoom and bar accommodation were substantially extended at a cost of £9,000, half of which came by way of an interest-free loan of £4,500 from the Scottish Rugby Union and the other half from fundraising organised by a handful of the younger members of the club.
rugby
When the Academical Club moved from Old Anniesland to New Anniesland the cricket section had re-formed and the rugby section had entered its second great era. Between 1901 and 1914 we were Scottish champions three times. The first two were 1903/04 and 1904/05 when only two matches were lost out of 44 played. 590 points were scored and only 44, an average of one per match, conceded. The ratio of points for to points against of 13.5:1 remains a record for the club. The captain in both seasons was Louis Greig, a Scottish internationalist and a British Lion, who was probably even better known as the great friend and confidant of the future King George VI and his playing partner at Wimbledon. Of the championship side of 1904, seven became Scottish players although only one had a cap before that season and a further one was capped during the year. 1901 to 1908 can fairly be claimed as the second of the three great periods in the rugby section’s history - 134 matches were played and only 16 lost including several against “foreign “ opposition. From 1905 to the outbreak of war Academicals suffered no more than two or three defeats from Glasgow clubs. In the first 14 years of the 20th century, until WW1, the club was never lower than fifth in the championship. We were champions again in 1912/13 and near-champions the following year when only three defeats were suffered in 26 games with 500 points being scored and only 76 conceded. The war struck a savage blow to Academical rugby. The splendid XV who beat West of Scotland by 27 points to 8 in the last game of the season, on 28th March 1914, to a man enlisted in the forces at the outbreak of war. Eight were killed, six wounded and only one returned unscathed. But for the war this side, which was full of talent and still improving, might well have brought in another great era for the Club. Iain Macleod’s excellent book published on the 150th anniversary of The Academy tells us what happened to each of the 15 players. There is not enough space in this programme to go through the team one by one as Iain did but here are a few examples – “Arthur Russell scored a try. A Glasgow Highlander he died on 16th July 1916 of wounds received in battle, at 23 years old.” “William Barras scored the seventh try. By Christmas he had joined the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders and for his bravery he was awarded the Military Medal: but on 21st March 1918, aged 23, he died of wounds.” “Eric Young played against England that season. He joined the Cameronians and fought at Gallipoli where on 28th June 1915 at the age of 23 he was killed.” “Thomas Stout was another Cameronian, a lieutenant in the Scottish Rifles. He, too, was killed at Gallipoli on 28th June 1915 trying to save another officer.” “Archibald Templeton, fighting at Gallipoli was wounded, and reported missing on 28th June 1915, and his body was never found: he was 26 years old.” Three members of the team were awarded the Military Cross – Charlie Andrew with bar, John Warren and Robert Arthur who was also awarded the Belgian War Cross and was mentioned in dispatches six times. George Speirs, who was awarded the French War Cross, was wounded in 1916 and on 1st October 1918, aged 25, he was killed.
After the war the Academical XV, like all other club XVs, had to rebuild. Accies, under the captaincy of R. S. Simpson soon entered our third great era. When fixtures resumed in the autumn of 1919 it was immediately obvious that we had the makings of a good pack including four who were to go on to play for Scotland. New, and destined to be very famous, names began to appear almost at the rate of one per season. They included J C Dykes, J B Nelson, H Waddell and W M Simmers, a quartet of backs who between them gained 88 caps. 1919/20 and 1920/21 were seasons of great promise, soon realised when the championship came again to Anniesland in 1921/22 with only one game lost to Scottish opposition. 10 Academicals played in the winning Glasgow side in the inter city that year. We were second in the Championship for 1922/23, joint champions in 1923/24 and outright champions in 1924/25 and 1925/26. The record for the five seasons from 1921 to 1926 is impressive – played 123, won 111, drew 2, lost 10. In these five seasons we were defeated only six times by Scottish clubs and scored a total of 3,069 points conceding only 482. The annus mirabilis was 1925/26 when 19 games were played against Scottish clubs and all of them won with 508 points scored and only 50 conceded. Matches at Anniesland drew huge crowds - up to 10,000. Special trains ran from Edinburgh and the ground was developed with extra terracing and eight turnstiles. The grandstand was extended bringing the total seating capacity to over 1,300. The crowd at the match against Heriots, which had to be played at the international ground at Inverleith, was 18,000. The Times considered Glasgow Academicals “to be easily the best club in the British Isles” and the Bystander encouraged “English rugger enthusiasts to take the trouble to go to Glasgow on a Friday evening by the ‘sleepers’ to see Glasgow Academicals who would probably beat, and beat easily, any London club”. The record for the five seasons after 1926 would at any other time have seemed to be good and consistent but coming after a heady period of success seemed almost an anti-climax. In no season until 1932/33 were more than five defeats suffered. Between 1920 and 1930 16 Academicals played for Scotland – 10 backs and six forwards. From 1932/33 to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 is generally regarded as a poor period although in only two seasons were there more defeats than wins and that by one in each case and never was there an adverse balance of points. In the Spring of 1939 Accies excelled at VIIs winning both the Gala and the Hawick tournaments. International caps were few in the 1930s but included P. L. Duff who scored the winning try in a Test match for the British Lions against South Africa.
After the Second World War Accies found themselves with an abundance of talented backs but somewhat short of strong experienced forwards although Laurie Duff did play a few games in the 1945/46 season. Another Academical internationalist forward, Frank Coutts, who played for the Army and Melrose, returned to play for a little while in 1949/50. A new recruit was Hamish Dawson who was to gain 22 caps between 1948 and 1953. Although none of the years between 1945/46 and 1950/51 was distinguished in no season were more defeats recorded than victories and Accies were still able to take on the best teams in the UK with a notable victory, in 1950, over Oxford University, who had five current internationalists in their side. The team progressed from year to year and under Alastair Headrick had a very good season in 1952/53 with only two matches lost after Christmas and both by narrow margins. J C G Thomson then captained the XV for two seasons. 1953/54 showed further improvement and in 1954/55 Accies were again, for the first time in almost 80 years, Scottish Champions. 25 games were played - only three were lost and all early in the season. No side scored two tries against Accies and only one side scored double figures – our great rivals, Glasgow High School FP, who at that time could boast seven internationalists and several trialists, scored 12 points. The Accies XV was a most competent and attractive side in which youthful optimism and naivety and experience were well blended. Three of the backs were 19 or under at the start of the season and two a year older with Thomson and Headrick providing the experience. Dawson and Brechin were probably the best and strongest club props in Scotland and there were some excellent forwards behind them. Although Dawson was the only cap, Thomson and Innes were travelling reserves (the equivalent of a substitute today), Belch, Brechin, Montgomery and Stephen attended trials, Headrick played for the combined cities against the South African touring side, and several others played regularly for Glasgow. However, the season’s results were overall a triumph of teamwork and endeavour rather than of individual brilliance.
1955/56 was again a good year. A landmark of the season was a highly entertaining match when a combined High School and Academical XV defeated a British International XV consisting of Lions recently returned from South Africa. The remaining seasons of the decade were undistinguished due in part to the retiral of a number of the senior players and unfortunate career-ending injuries. A highlight was in season 1957/58 when Angus Cameron raised a strong international side to play the Academicals in an exhibition game to raise funds for the new grandstand. The international XV were eventually comfortable winners by 28 points to 8 though Accies had led 8-6 well into the second half until the powerful opposition scored three goals in the closing minutes of the match. Yet again there was a revival in the early 1960s during which time Brian Simmers joined C R Bruce, F H Coutts and J C Dawson as post war caps to that date but unhappily the centenary year, 1965/66, found the XV at one of its lowest ebbs and a record number of 18 defeats were sustained. The following year, 1966/67, was in many ways one of the most successful seasons in the Club’s history. For the first season since the war we regularly raised a sixth XV. Of 120 matches played by all teams only 28 were lost and the points scored totalled 2,472 beating the previous record of 2,044 scored by seven teams in 1930/31. The junior teams bar one were skippered by former first XV players, John Macfarlane, Euan Colquhoun, Billy Mann and Alan Waddell and all won many more games than they lost. The team of the year was the fourth XV which under Alan Waddell’s rather fanatical leadership broke all records winning 20 games out of 20, scoring 751 points and conceding only 48. Graeme Simmers had the honour of being only the second Academical to have captained the club for four seasons, J W Arthur, 1869-73, is the other, and the first XV recovered well from the previous season winning 13 games out of 29 played with the highlight being an exceptionally good win over the London Harlequins by 16 points to 14 in a game arranged as part of their centenary celebrations. In the second part of the 1960s we had a number of very good seasons, particularly 1968/69 and 1969/70 and it was these two seasons and the following three which gained us a position, on merit, in the first division of the Scottish Championship when it was established in 1973/74. Unfortunately this coincided with the retiral of a number of key players and a decline in the number of young players coming from The Academy due to the trend being for more and more Academy boys to go to Universities outwith Glasgow. The Club had to consider going “open” and in hindsight should probably have made this momentous decision a little earlier. We were to find ourselves in the third division in 1978/79 and we were lucky not to be further relegated when we were saved from this ignominy only by a four points difference. 1979/80 saw the revival of our fortunes. We were promoted from the third division to the second division. In 1981/82 we narrowly missed promotion to the first division but this was achieved in 1983/84. In September 1984 we were honoured by a visit from the famous Irish Wolfhounds and put up a very good performance, losing by 30 points to 22. Four years later we were privileged to entertain the most famous of all touring sides, the Barbarians, who, in the “Herbert Waddell Memorial Match”, fielded a star-studded side including such as Jonathan Davies and Will Carling. The Barbarians eventually ran out winner at 42 points to 22 although they had been held to 28 to 22 with not many minutes to go.
The early 1990s saw Accies consistently hold a mid-table place in the second division. In 1995 the divisions were reduced from 14 clubs to 10 and then 8. This resulted in Accies being in the third division which was immediately won with 12 wins from 14 games. 1996/97 saw the last appearance of Accies in the top divisions - at least for the foreseeable future - when the decision was made to combine the first XVs of Glasgow Academicals and archrivals GHK (Glasgow High Kelvinside) to form the Glasgow Hawks. The Hawks have become the most powerful club in Scottish rugby. In their first season they won the second division championship and the Scottish Cup. They have been Scottish champions in 2003/04 and 2004/05 – and won the Scottish Cup again in 2004. They have never been placed lower than sixth in the first division. In the past season seven players with Academical connections have appeared in the Hawks’ 1st XV. With the birth of the Hawks, Accies had to enter the leagues at the bottom – in District division three, 11 leagues from the top. We then gained promotion six seasons in succession and now play in division two of the National Leagues, still a bit from the top, but definitely going in the right direction. In 2004 we won our way to the Shield final at Murrayfield, the lowest placed side to have done so. In a pulsating final Accies lost to a club playing three divisions above us, Berwick RFC.
Although the days may have gone when we cheerfully took on, and often beat, the best sides in the kingdom, and were able to compete against international selects, the rugby section is today in good heart attracting new and former players who wish to be associated with success, albeit at a lower level than at some times in our history. We continue to be noted for playing attractive fifteen man rugby and for the excellent post-match social life in the clubhouse at New Anniesland.
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