Graham Calder is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player, formerly of

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

at professional level and Heriots,

Peebles Peebles () is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in ...

Currie Currie is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edinburgh Council. It is situated be ...

, and Stirling County and currently at

Dalziel Dalziel, Dalzell, Dezell, or Dalyell ( ) is a Scottish surname. Pronunciation The unintuitive spelling of the name is due to it being an anglicisation of Scottish Gaelic , meaning 'bright dale'. The sound now spelled with a or is historically ...

. Calder plays at Scrum-Half but can also cover at

Fly-Half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

Amateur career

Calder started his rugby career at

Dalziel RFC Dalziel Rugby Football Club, formerly known as Dalziel High School Former Pupils Rugby Club, currently has a playing and social membership hailing from Motherwell, Wishaw, Bellshill and other parts of Lanarkshire, Scotland. Historically the cl ...

before moving to Heriots,

, and Stirling County. He was part of the Glasgow Thistles squad in season 1999-2000. The Thistles were used as an academy side by

and sent to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

for rugby training. Calder is now at

Professional career

In season 2005-06, Calder joined Glasgow Warriors on a trial. A knee injury in the first game of the season to Sam Pinder against

Ayr RFC Ayr Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club. Its professional men's side currently plays as Ayrshire Bulls in the Super 6 competition; and its women's side play in the . The club also runs a "Club XV" which competes in the Tennent's National ...

meant that Calder was called upon almost immediately. Coach

Hugh Campbell Hugh Thomas Campbell (born May 21, 1941) is an American former professional football player, coach, and executive. He served as a head coach in three different football leagues: the Canadian Football League (CFL), United States Football League ...

said "He fitted in very well considering he had met up with the team only tonight." Although Glasgow Warriors won the match 40 - 10 and his performance was praised, it was Calder's only appearance for the Warriors.

Festival Director

Calder now runs the annual Festival of Youth Rugby in Dalziel. The festival showcases youth rugby in Scotland, although youth teams from Northern Ireland and England also take part as guest touring teams. The tournament annually attracts around a thousand boys and girls. The festival was started in 1991 by Graham Calder's father Alan Calder. The Alan Calder trophy is handed out to the Under 18 winners. Alan Calder died in 2008 but is still remembered as a Dalziel RFC legend, having previously been club captain and president. The festival celebrated its silver anniversary in 2015. Since 2016 the Festival of Youth Rugby plays its matches on all-weather parks. Calder stated: "Over the years we’ve seen the playing fields and facilities here at Dalziel evolve to become among the very best in Scotland. It’s fitting the 26th festival action will be played on the brand new all-weather parks, marking that progress. Where the landscape has changed, one thing that’s always remained a constant here is the spirit of rugby. The festival brings all hands to the pump, and the teamwork and the sense of fun and camaraderie has been the very lifeblood of the event since 1991." Former Dalziel and Glasgow Warriors players like Gary Strain and Brian Robertson support the event.

References

External links

Festival of Youth Rugby in Dalziel - Daily Record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calder, Graham Living people Scottish rugby union players Glasgow Warriors players Peebles RFC players Stirling County RFC players Currie RFC players Dalziel RFC players Heriot's Rugby Club players Year of birth missing (living people) Rugby union scrum-halves