Ronald James Cunningham Glasgow,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(5 November 1930 – 6 October 2024) was a

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 ...

international

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.Bath, p140

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Glasgow played for

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

, and Gordonians, as well as Jordanhill and Haddington.

Allan Massie Allan Johnstone Massie (born 16 October 1938) is a Scottish journalist, columnist, sports writer and novelist. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He has lived in the Scottish Borders for the last 25 years, and now lives in Se ...

stated: :''"It was his misfortune to play for unfashionable clubs:

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 ...

, Gordonians and

. I have no doubt that had he played for

Hawick Hawick ( ; ; ) is a town in the Scottish Borders council areas of Scotland, council area and counties of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east o ...

Gala Gala may refer to: Music * ''Gala'' (album), a 1990 album by the English alternative rock band Lush * Gala (singer), Italian singer and songwriter *'' Gala – The Collection'', a 2016 album by Sarah Brightman * GALA Choruses, an association of ...

or one of the big city clubs he would have represented his country more often.''"Massie, p187

Provincial career

Glasgow was to represent two district sides. He played 21 times for

North and Midlands North and Midlands - and now known as Caledonia - is a select provincial amateur rugby union team that draws its players mainly from north of Scotland, roughly corresponding from around Stirling northwards. Historically the North and Midlands ...

and 6 times for Glasgow District.

International career

Glasgow was capped ten times between 1962 and 1965 for .

considers that: :''"Ron Glasgow was the most under-capped Scottish forward, winning only ten caps between 1962 and 1965... Glasgow's performance at

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

n 1962alone should have ensured him of a long reign at open-side wing-forward.''Massie, p187 Glasgow's try was the first Scottish one in Cardiff for 27 years. Robin Lind (Harry?!) who played for Dunfermline and

said "''never, ever did I think my team would lose when Ron Glasgow played for us. And very seldom we did.''"

Personal life and death

Glasgow was born in

Aberlady Aberlady (, Gaelic: ''Obar Lobhaite'') is a coastal village in the Scottish council area of East Lothian. The village had an estimated population of in . Etymology The name ''Aberlady'' has Brittonic origins. The first part of the name is t ...

in 1930, and attended

Knox Academy Knox Academy is a co-educational state secondary school located in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland. Originally founded in 1379 as a medieval grammar school, it is one of the oldest schools in the world. History The modern school can be trac ...

. He served in the parachute platoon of the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642 in the Ki ...

. He was PE teacher at

Dollar Academy Dollar Academy is a 5–18 Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational day and boarding school for boys and girls in Scotland. The open campus occupies a site in the centre of Dollar, Clackmannanshire, at the foot of the Ochil ...

and head of the school cadet force. He was appointed OBE in the

1990 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1990 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

for his service with the

Combined Cadet Force The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a youth organisation in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which operates in schools, sub divided into Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force sections. Its aim is to ...

, in which he was a lieutenant colonel. In 1958, he married his first wife, Anette, who died in 1962, from complications encountered in childbirth and

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

, shortly after the birth of their son. He then remarried, to Anne Fleming (died 1988), and they had twins, one of whom is Cammie Glasgow, who was also capped for Scotland. Glasgow was a Presbyterian. Glasgow died in Dollar on 6 October 2024, at the age of 93.

References

;Sources # Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ) # McLaren, Bill Talking of Rugby (1991, Stanley Paul, London ) # Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Polygon, Edinburgh; ) 1930 births 2024 deaths Dunfermline RFC players Glasgow District (rugby union) players Gordonians RFC players Haddington RFC players North and Midlands players Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Knox Academy Rugby union flankers Scotland international rugby union players Scots Guards soldiers Scottish Presbyterians Scottish rugby union players Scottish schoolteachers Rugby union players from East Lothian {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-1930s-stub