Hillhead Rugby Football Club is a former rugby union football club based in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

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 ...

. Founded in 1904 as a club for former pupils of Hillhead High School, it lasted until 1988 when it merged with Jordanhill RFC to form Hillhead Jordanhill RFC.

Foundation as a Sports Club

Hillhead Sports Club was formed in 1902 as a private club for former pupils of

Hillhead High School Hillhead High School is a day school in Glasgow, Scotland, on Oakfield Avenue, neighbouring the University of Glasgow. Admissions It is one of the largest schools in Glasgow. History Grammar school Until 1972 it was a co-educational selectiv ...

, catering for various sports including football, cricket, hockey and athletics.

Rugby and Scotstoun

A rugby team, Hillhead High School Former Pupils RFC, was formed in 1904. The club used the Scotstoun Showgrounds as a home until 1922.

Hughenden

The Hillhead club sought to find a permanent home after the First World War, purchasing land at

Hughenden Hughenden may refer to: *Hughenden, Queensland, a town in Australia * Hughenden, Alberta, a village in central Alberta, Canada *Hughenden Valley, a village in Buckinghamshire, England *Hughenden Manor, a mansion in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Eng ...

in 1922. The club's new home, with its pavilion designed W. Hunter McNab, was officially opened on 24 May 1924. Due to the growing popularity of the rugby team, a grandstand was built alongside the pitch in 1934, designed by local consulting engineers FA MacDonald. The stand was built of reinforced concrete with a cantilevered roof, unusual for the time. It was first used in September 1934, for a match between Hillhead and Glasgow Academicals.

Opening of the club

In 1969, the clause restricting entry to the club to former students of Hillhead High School is removed to allow better recruitment and the club formerly becomes Hillhead RFC.

Merger

The club was merged with Jordanhill RFC (the rugby club of

Jordanhill College Jordanhill College of Education was a higher education college in Jordanhill, Glasgow, Scotland. It opened as a teacher training college in 1921. The college merged with the University of Strathclyde in 1993, becoming its Faculty of Educati ...

) in 1988 to form

Hillhead Jordanhill RFC Hillhead Jordanhill Rugby Football Club (HJRFC) is a Scottish rugby union club based in Glasgow, Scotland. HJRFC has roots going as far back as 1904 with the formation of the Hillhead Sports Club, however, the rugby club as we know it today was ...

Club Honours

The club won the unofficial national title of Scotland in season 1933-34 (shared with Royal HSFP) and in season 1936-37 (shared with Watsonians). *

Glasgow City Sevens Glasgow City Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held by Cartha Queens Park, in Dumbreck in the south side of Glasgow. The tournament was previously known as the Cartha Sevens and the Cartha Queens Park Sevens. History The first rugby ...

** Champions (2): 1984, 1987 *

Hawick Sevens Hawick Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Hawick RFC, in Hawick, Scotland. The Hawick Sevens tournament started in 1886 and is the third extant oldest Sevens tournament in the world; behind Melrose Sevens (1883) and Gala Sevens (188 ...

** Champions (1): 1934 *

Jed-Forest Sevens Jed-Forest Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Jed-Forest RFC, in Jedburgh, Scotland. The Jed-Forest Sevens was the fourth of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated, in 1894, after the Melrose Sevens (1883), Gala Sevens (1884) a ...

** Champions (1): 1937

Notable former players

Former coaches

Bill Dickinson Bill Dickinson (1917 – 7 April 1994) was a Scottish rugby union player and coach. He was appointed the first official national coach of in 1971.Bath, p133 Richard Bath points out that Dickinson's appointment made an "immediate impact" in ...

, Scotland national rugby union coach, 1971–77.

Scotland internationalists

Glasgow District players

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillhead RFC 1904 establishments in Scotland 1988 disestablishments in Scotland Defunct rugby union clubs in Scotland Hillhead Rugby clubs established in 1904 Rugby union clubs disestablished in 1988 Rugby union in Glasgow Sports clubs and teams in Glasgow