Waid Academy Former Pupils Rugby Football Club is a

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 ...

club based in

Anstruther Anstruther ( ; ) is a coastal town in Fife, Scotland, situated on the north-shore of the Firth of Forth and south-southeast of St Andrews. The town comprises two settlements, Anstruther Easter and Anstruther Wester, which are divided by a st ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

. They currently play in . Waid are sponsored by The Station Buffet Bar.

History

The Waid Academy Former Pupil's Rugby Club beginnings can be traced back to 1887 when pupils and staff of

Waid Academy The Waid Academy is a public secondary school in Anstruther, Fife. The school's catchment area extends to as far as Elie and Colinsburgh to the west and Crail to the east (the East Neuk boundaries) but accepts pupils from towns such as Leven, ...

created what was known as 'The Etceteras' and played their first game in a friendly against Elie. The club has operated endlessly excluding disruptions during the first and second world wars. Up until the early 60s, the president of the club was also the School's Head Master. Waid Academy FPRFC still play their home matches at the Waid Academy pitches on the grounds of the high school. On 2 September 1983, The rugby club's members were able to purchase an old bakery on the Anstruther's High Street and this was transformed into the Waid Academy FPRFC Clubhouse.

Squad 2024–2025

Youth development and coaching

The Waid Academy FPRFC Modern Apprentice for 2016–17 is David Hodge . Waid Academy FPRFC run rugby programmes for all

Primary School A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

ages. This age group are known as the Waid Pirates and meet on a Sunday during term time at the Waid Academy pitches. The club also coach those of High School age. There is an S1/2 team, an Under 16's team & an Under 18's team. In late 2011, UKCC level 2 qualified Club Coach Co-Ordinator Zander Anderson was awarded

The Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Scotland has around ...

Club Volunteer of the Month of November in association with

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; ) is the Sport governing body, governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Now marketed as Scottish Rugby, it is the second-oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league sys ...

. Subsequently, in 2014, Richard Dyce was awarded the BT Club Volunteer of the Month for October in association with

Senior Rugby

Waid FPRFC run an over 35's team called The Waid Buccaneers. The Waid Buccaneers won The St Andrews Day Veterans Tournament on Saturday 26 November 2011 held by Madras College FP RFC.

Waid Academy F.P. Sevens

The club run the Waid Academy F.P. Sevens. The Sevens tournament began in 1954; entrants play for the Wilson Cup.

Honours

* Waid Academy F.P. Sevens ** Champions: 1965, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1989 * Alloa Sevens ** Champions: 1982 * North of Scotland Cup ** Champions: 1933

Notable former players

Only one Waid Academy FPRFC player has represented Scotland. Waid FP John Alexander Davidson gained his first cap for Scotland in 1959 against

England National Rugby Union Team The England national rugby union team represents the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France national rugby union team, France, Ireland national rugby union team, ...

. He made three appearances for Scotland and whilst serving on overseas duty with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(1952–54), captained the RAF Hong Kong XV, and the combined services XV. John also played for the Hong Kong Colony against the

Fijians Fijians () are a nation and ethnic group Indigenous peoples of Oceania, native to Fiji, who speak Fijian language, Fijian and English language, English and share a common history and culture. Fijians, or ''iTaukei'', are the major indigenous ...

. Having learned his rugby at Waid Academy, John moved on to

Edinburgh Wanderers Edinburgh Wanderers is a former rugby union club, founded in 1868. It was latterly a tenant of the Scottish Rugby Union, playing home fixtures at Murrayfield Stadium for nearly 75 years. In 1997 it merged with Murrayfield RFC to form Murrayfi ...

and played for the North & Midlands side in 1958 against an Australian touring team. He also played for Racing Club de France in Paris, the club which is today better known as Racing 92. John was awarded the Honour of Life member of Waid FP Rugby Club in 1997. On the 22 January 2016, John died aged 83.

References

{{SRU Caledonia Leagues Rugby union teams in Scotland Rugby union in Fife Rugby clubs established in 1887 Anstruther 1887 establishments in Scotland