Gala Sevens is an annual

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

event held by

Gala RFC Gala Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. Founded in 1875, it plays its home games at Netherdale. The team currently competes in Scottish National League Division One, the second tier of Scottish c ...

, in

Galashiels Galashiels (; , ) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive history in the textile in ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The Gala Sevens was the second of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated in 1884, just behind the

Melrose Sevens Melrose Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Melrose Rugby Club, at The Greenyards in Melrose, Scotland. It is the oldest rugby sevens competition in the world, dating back to 1883 when the tournament was suggested by former Melros ...

in 1883. Held around the start of every April, the tournament is part of the

Kings of the Sevens The Borders Sevens Circuit is a series of rugby sevens tournaments held annually in the Scottish Borders. Originally the circuit consisted of 5 tournaments; Langholm Sevens being the last added in 1908. It is the oldest Sevens circuit in the world ...

competition. 2019's Gala Sevens took place on the 6 April. It was won by

Edinburgh Academicals Edinburgh Academical Football Club, also known as Edinburgh Accies, is a rugby union club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club is currently a member of the Scottish Premiership (rugby union), Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish club rugby ...

Sports Day

Gala introduced a Sports Day in 1884. This contained

, a kicking competition and athletics.

Memorial Football trophy

The winner of the Gala Sevens receives the Border Memorial Football Trophy.

Invited Sides

Various sides have been invited to play in the Gala Sevens tournament throughout the years. The

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

entered in a side in 1976, as did Harlequins.

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

reached the final in 1999;

Llanelli RFC Llanelli Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club founded on 30 March 1872. The club's historic home ground was Stradey Park in Llanelli, but they moved in 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent Pemberton. The club song is " ...

reached the final in 1970;

Bridgend RFC Bridgend Ravens () (formerly Bridgend RFC) are a semi-professional rugby union club based in Bridgend, South Wales. They currently play in Super Rygbi Cymru and are a feeder club to the Ospreys (rugby union), Ospreys regional team. Origin B ...

reached the final in 1971. The

Fiji national rugby sevens team The Fiji national rugby sevens team has competed in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Olympics. Fiji won the gold medal in the inaugural rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics in 2016 i ...

won the event in 1991. They beat the Canada national rugby sevens team in the final.

Cardiff RFC Cardiff Rugby Football Club () is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876Parry-Jones (1989), pg 59 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly after which relocating to Ca ...

won the event in 1964 and were runners-up the following year. Of the English sides so far invited, only

Tynedale __NOTOC__ Tynedale was a local government district in Northumberland, England. The district had a resident population of 58,808 according to the 2001 census. The main towns were Hexham, Haltwhistle and Prudhoe. The district contained part of ...

, Blackheath, Loughborough Colleges, Orrell and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

have won the Memorial Football Trophy.

Sponsorship

The Sevens tournament is usually sponsored by Five Star Taxis of Galashiels.

Past winners

References