The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

rugby union in Scotland Rugby union in Scotland is a popular team sport. Scotland's national side today competes in the annual Six Nations Championship and the Rugby World Cup. The first ever international rugby match was played on 27 March 1871, at Raeburn Place in Edi ...

. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league system, known as the Scottish League Championship, and the Scottish National teams. The SRU is headed by the President ( Ian Barr) and Chairman (Colin Grassie), with Mark Dodson acting as the Chief Executive Officer. Dee Bradbury became the first female president of a Tier 1 rugby nation upon her appointment on 4 August 2018.

History

1873–1920s

The Scottish Football Union was founded on Monday 3 March 1873 at a meeting held at

Glasgow Academy The Glasgow Academy is a coeducational independent day school for pupils aged 3–18 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2016, it had the third-best Higher level exam results in Scotland. Founded in 1845, it is the oldest continuously fully independent ...

, Elmbank Street, Glasgow. Eight clubs were represented at the foundation, Glasgow Academicals; Edinburgh Academical Football Club; West of Scotland F.C.; University of St Andrews Rugby Football Club; Royal High School FP; Merchistonians; Edinburgh University RFC; and

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. Five of these clubs were, at the time of founding the Scottish Football Union, already members of the previously instituted Rugby Football Union. Although the RFU now represents exclusively English clubs, in its first few years it had members from outside England, there being no other national union. West of Scotland, Glasgow Academicals and

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

had joined the RFU in 1871 and Edinburgh Academicals and Royal High School FP had joined in 1872. These five renounced membership of the RFU to join the SFU. The SFU was a founding member of the one and only International Rugby Football Board, now known as

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

, in 1886 with

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. (England refused to join until 1890.) In 1924 the SFU changed its name to become the Scottish Rugby Union. International games were played at

Inverleith Inverleith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Lìte'') is an inner suburb in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the fringes of the central region of the city. Its neighbours include Trinity to the north and the New Town to the south, with Canonmills ...

from 1899 to 1925 when Murrayfield was opened.

1990s–present

The SRU owns Murrayfield Stadium which is the main home ground of the Scottish national team, though in 2004 international rugby games were played at Hampden Park in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and McDiarmid Park in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, as part of the SRU's campaign to reach out to new audiences outside the traditional rugby areas. When the Heineken Cup (now replaced by the European Rugby Champions Cup) was suggested SRU officials were concerned that Scottish club sides could not compete against the best teams from France and England and that centrally funded so-called 'super-district' teams might do better. The four traditional districts—the South (renamed Border Reivers), Edinburgh, Glasgow and the North & Midlands (rebranded as Caledonia Reds)—were given the go-ahead to take part in Europe. For the first two seasons, players were still released to play for their clubs in domestic competition, but eventually the districts became full-time operations. Then financial difficulties – the SRU's high debt, partly as a result of the redevelopment of

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often con ...

– called for retrenchment. After two seasons, financial difficulties forced the SRU to merge the four teams into two. Edinburgh merged with the Border Reivers to form a team to be known as Edinburgh Reivers. Glasgow merged with Caledonian to form a team to be known as Glasgow Caledonian. The Borders was resurrected in 2002 and joined the second season of the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

. As a consequence Edinburgh Reivers became simply

Edinburgh Rugby Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh pl ...

and Glasgow became Glasgow Rugby. In 2005, all three teams adopted new names. The Borders readopted the name Border Reivers; Edinburgh became Edinburgh Gunners, but would revert to Edinburgh in 2006; and Glasgow became

Glasgow Warriors 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 became t ...

. Furthermore, the SRU planned to have a world class rugby side for each city or large town in Scotland, when financial circumstances permitted. In 2007, The Borders team was disbanded yet again as a result of continuing financial difficulties. In the same year, the SRU began organising the Scotland Sevens, first held in Edinburgh and later in Glasgow. For several years, it was the final event in the annual Sevens World Series, but that distinction now belongs to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. On 21 November 2009 Scotland beat Australia 9–8 after 17 attempts in 27 years. In the Season 2010–11 the SRU had a contractual dispute with the Season Ticket Holders of Edinburgh Rugby. On 22 December 2010 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court (Small Claims) the Sheriff ruled the Scottish Rugby Union had entered a contract between itself and Season Ticket Holders of Edinburgh Rugby Club. The Sheriff also found that the SRU had breached the contract between itself and Edinburgh Rugby Club (a Division of the SRU). Although it was found that the SRU had breached the contract, the Sheriff could not make an order instructing the SRU to comply with its obligation under that contract.

Centenary celebrations

The SRU celebrated its centenary in 1973 with a number of events. Among these was the 1973 International Seven-A-Side Tournament, the first sevens tournament to have national representative sides. The programme for that event also sported the new coat of arms of the SRU that was granted by the Lord Lyon King of Arms on 28 February 1973, for the centenary season. The coat of arms is still in use today, but in the main the SRU use the commercial thistle logo on jerseys and stationary. The coat of arms has the motto ''"Non Sine Gloria"'', meaning ''"Not Without Glory"''.

Domestic Rugby

The SRU oversees the national league system, known as the Scottish League Championship, and consisting of: * a Premiership of 20 teams across 2 divisions. * a National Leagues of 20 teams across 2 regional divisions. *

Regional Leagues In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

of 150 clubs in 18 divisions across three regions It also oversees the Scottish Cup. It is not directly responsible for local, university or 2nd XV leagues.

Women's & Girls Rugby

National teams

The SRU oversees Scotland's national teams. The most prominent team is the

Scotland national rugby union team The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in men's international rugby union and is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship and participates in the Rugby World Cup, w ...

, which competes in the Six Nations tournament every year and in the Rugby World Cup every four years. The SRU also oversees the Scotland national sevens team, which competes every year in the World Rugby Sevens Series. And the SRU oversees the Scotland national women's rugby team. The head coach of the Scotland national rugby union team is Gregor Townsend, who began in June 2017. Scott Johnson is Director of Rugby. The head coach of the Scottish national women's rugby team is

Shade Munro Donald Shade Munro (born 19 November 1966, Paisley, Scotland) is a Scottish rugby union player, who played at lock/second row. Playing He spent two stints in New Zealand, in 1987 he played for club side Greytown where he went on to represent ...

North American initiatives

On 28 March 2019, the SRU announced that it had taken a minority stake in

Old Glory DC Old Glory DC RFC is a professional rugby union team that is a member of Major League Rugby (MLR), founded in 2018. The organization is led by two local business leaders, former USA Eagles' Paul Sheehy and local club rugby player Chris Dunlavey. ...

, a team set to begin play in Major League Rugby (MLR), the current top level of the sport in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, in 2020. As MLR operates on a "single-entity" business model similar to the two countries' Major League Soccer, with the league owning all teams and the team operators being league shareholders, this effectively meant that the SRU had taken a small stake in MLR itself.

Personnel

The current president is Ian Barr who succeeded Dee Bradbury on 15 August 2020. In August 2016 the board elected Colin Grassie to the position of Chairman, taking up the post in January 2017 for a three-year term. The Chief Executive Officer is Mark Dodson. In May 2014, it was announced that Sheila Begbie had been appointed to the newly created post of Head of Women's Rugby, reporting directly to the Director of Rugby and she was due to commence this role in August 2014.

References

External links

* {{Scottish Sport 1873 establishments in Scotland 19th century in Scotland Rugby union in Scotland

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

Rugby union governing bodies in Scotland World Rugby members Sports organizations established in 1873