Watsonian 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 Edinburgh and part of the

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 ...

. The club is connected with

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eighteenth ...

as a club for former pupils, and changed its policy in the 1980s to be a fully open club, welcoming players of all abilities regardless of whether they attended the school or not. It is one of a small number of rugby union clubs entitled to call itself a 'football club', rather than a 'rugby football club'. Watsonians run a number of sides; the top male side plays in the FOSROC Super Series tournament, the Women's side plays in the Tennents Scottish Women's Premiership Scottish Rugby's Women's League

History

The Watsonian Football Club played its first game on 30 January 1875 against St George that ended in a draw. Right from the beginning the emphasis was on expansive play combined with enjoying rugby football both on and off the field. With this noble aim, Watsonians has evolved and achieved many successes to confirm its place as one of the leading clubs in Scottish Rugby. In 1876, Watsonians adopted the maroon & white colours it wears today and two years' later the Club moved to Myreside, named after a local farm. In 1877 the Club became a member of the Scottish Football Union (the SRU from 1924). Watsonians won their first

Scottish Unofficial Championship The Scottish Unofficial Championship was the top league of Scotland's best amateur rugby union clubs. The Championship was 'unofficial' as the Scottish Rugby Union held that the sport should remain amateur and at the time did not sanction competi ...

in season 1891–92, but their greatest period of dominance came between 1908 and 1914 when they won the championship a further five times. The team of 1909–10 (pictured right) was undefeated against Scottish opposition during that season. On 4 March 1933, Watsonians opened their current home at

New Myreside Myreside Stadium is a sports ground in Edinburgh, Scotland. Often simply known as Myreside, Watsonians RFC have used this venue on the east side of Myreside Road as their home ground for rugby union matches since 1933. Edinburgh Rugby used it ...

with a victory over Royal High School FP. The Championship arrived at the new home in two of the next three seasons, but the club had to wait 33 years for the next success in season 1969–70. In season 1973–74 the National League was introduced and Watsonians were placed in Division 1, a position the club has maintained for 24 of the 26 seasons played. It speaks volumes for the spirit at Myreside that as a closed club Watsonians managed to preserve their standing in the higher echelons for many years. The Club relaxed their membership rules after relegation in 1989 and returned to the top level by going undefeated to win the Division II championship in 1990–91. Since their return to Division 1 Watsonians has regularly challenged for honours before regaining that elusive Scottish Championship again in season 1997–98.

Current squad

Squads

Watsonians has four male squads and one ladies team who play in the following leagues: * Super Series – FOSROC Super Series * 1st XV - Tennent's Scottish National League 1 * 2nd XV – Reserve League National 1 * 3rd XV – Reserve League East 2 * Ladies XV –

Women's Premiership The Women's Premiership, also called the RFUW Premiership was the top level of women's rugby union in England until 2017. It was formed in 1990 and was run by the Rugby Football Union for Women. It was superseded in the 2017/18 season by Premi ...

1st XV – coached by Jason Riley 2nd XV – coached by Sam Rowlands. 3rd XV – coached by Johnny Sandlan. Club Captain – Emily Cotterill. Vice Captain - Jamie Hodgson. Vice Captain - Rory Hutton.

1st XV Team

The 1st XV team enjoyed a successful 2005–06 season, winning the BT Cup and finishing second in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

, Division 1. In 2012–13 season the club narrowly failed to return to the Premiership, finishing 3rd in the National League. In the most recent 2014–15 season they came 4th. The coaching team is led by ex-Scotland player

Marcus Di Rollo Marcus Di Rollo (born 31 March 1978 in Edinburgh) is a retired Scottish rugby union footballer. He played as a centre for Toulouse, Edinburgh, and the Scottish national team. After moving from Edinburgh to Toulouse, Di Rollo endured a difficul ...

. Scottish Club Champions : 1891–92, 1892–93, 1893–94, 1894–95, 1896–97, 1902–03, 1908–09, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1911–12, 1913–14, 1920–21, 1934–35, 1936–37, 1969–70, 1997–98 Division 2 Champions : 1990–91, 2002–03 Scottish Cup Winners : 2006

Ladies's Section

Watsonians also has a women's team which play in the Premiership of the Scottish Rugby's Women's League. The ladies section was formed in 2001 by a number of players from different clubs around the city. The team are a 40 strong squad of female athletes and in the 2019/20 season are competing in the Scottish Women's Premier League for the third year in a row. They have achieved increasing success over the last few years, culminating in finishing second in the league and going on to play and win the National Sarah Beaney Cup Final on the main pitch at BT Murrayfield stadium in April 2019. This match formed part of the well-attended Scottish Rugby Silver Saturday showpiece event and represented the highest level of women's club rugby in the country; furthermore, this final was the first Scottish women's club game to be streamed live on BBC Alba. The team is coached by Freddie Main, supported by Scott Nightingale, Lucy Brown and Duncan Wilson and is currently captained by Rachel Bragg.

Notable former players

Watsonian's first cap was John Tod in 1884.''Encyclopedia of Rugby Union Football'', p169 Since then Watsonians has fielded no fewer than 62 Scottish internationalists, including five Scotland captains and seven

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

. Watsonians have had key roles in all of Scotland's three Grand Slams to date. In 1925 Watsonians forward

Sandy Gillies Alexander Campbell Gillies (25 March 1900 — 22 January 1980) was a Scottish international rugby union player. Born in Easdale, Argyll, Gilles was educated at George Watson's College and the University of Edinburgh. Gilles was a towering number ...

played in three international matches and against he scored one try and kicked two conversions and against he converted a try with a superb kick from the touch line to help seal the victory in this game. James Ritchie represented Scotland in the six international matches of 1933 ( Triple Crown) and 1934. Against England in 1984, centres David Johnston and

Euan Kennedy Euan Kennedy (born 30 July 1954 in Edinburgh, Scotland) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. Rugby Union career Amateur career He played for Watsonians. Provincial career He played for Edinburgh District; and was part of t ...

scored both Scotland's tries en route to Scotland's first Grand Slam since 1925.

Gavin Gavin is a Celtic male given name. It is the Scottish variation of the medieval Welsh name Gawain, meaning 'God send' or 'white hawk/falcon'. Sir Gawain is a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is an epic poem ...

and Scott Hastings played in every game of Scotland's successful Grand Slam season of 1990. In the never to be forgotten final game against England, Gavin's kick through set up the deciding try for

Tony Stanger Anthony George Stanger (born 14 May 1968) is a Scottish former international rugby union player. With 24 international tries, he was Scotland's joint record try scorer, along with Ian Smith, until that record was broken by Stuart Hogg in Nove ...

and Scott made an outstanding try saving tackle on

Rory Underwood Rory Underwood, (born 19 June 1963) is an English former rugby union player. He is 's record international try scorer, with 49 tries in 85 internationals between 1984 and 1996. Underwood's principal position was wing and he played 236 games fo ...

. Gavin went on to captain Scotland and the

1993 British Lions In 1993 the British Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand. This was the last Lions tour in the sport's amateur era. The Lions were managed by Geoff Cooke, coached by Ian McGeechan and Dick Best, and captained by Gavin Hastings. The Lio ...

and until recently, Scott was Scotland's most capped player.

List of Watsonian Scotland Caps

Alex Angus Alexander William Angus (11 November 1889 – 23 March 1947) was a Scottish international rugby union and cricket player. Rugby Union career Amateur career He played club rugby for Watsonians.Bath, p104 Provincial career He played for Edinb ...

, 18 caps. also played for

Scotland national cricket team The Scotland national men's cricket team represents the country of Scotland. They play most of their home matches at The Grange, Edinburgh, as well as at other venues around Scotland. Scotland's history in cricket dates back to the 18th centu ...

. *

David Bertram David Bertram (24 January 1899 – 19 April 1975) was a Scotland international rugby union player. Rugby Union career Amateur career Bertram played for Watsonians. Provincial career He played for Edinburgh District. He played for Scotlan ...

, 11 caps. * Jimmy Carmichael *

John Dallas John Dewar Dallas (11 June 1878 – 31 July 1942) was a Scottish international rugby union player. Dallas played international rugby for Scotland but is more notable as a rugby referee, and his officiating of the ''" Match of the Century"'', t ...

* David Deas *

21 caps * Robert Dryden * Robert Finlay *

, 12 caps. * Stuart Grimes * Stanley Harper *

Gavin Hastings Andrew Gavin Hastings, (born 3 January 1962) is a Scottish former rugby union player. A fullback, he is widely regarded to be one of the best ever Scottish rugby players and was one of the outstanding players of his generation, winning 61 c ...

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

* Scott Hastings

* David Johnston * RF Kelly

* Iain Lambie * Herbert Leggatt * Ian Lumsden * John MacCallum, 26 caps. * Grant McKelvey * Eric Milroy, 12 caps. * Norman Munnoch * JM Ritchie. * George Roberts * Alec Robertson * Graham Ross * Donald Scott * John Simson * Harry Smith, 11 caps * Tom Smith * Louis Moritz Speirs * John Tod * Kyle Traynor, 3 caps. * Jason White

* Hugh Wright * John Howard Wilson * Kenneth Wilson * Robert Young

Scotland 7s Internationalist Section

* Jack Ferguson * Andrew Skeen * Michael Fedo * Stuart McInally * Jamie Blackwood * Craig Sorbie * Nick Penny * Megan Gaffney * Bryony Nelson * Hannah Smith * Lana Skeldon * Andrew Turnbull

Honours

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 ...

** Champions (11): 1905, 1906, 1907, 1914, 1926, 1935, 1936, 1945, 1976, 1996, 2018 * Langholm Sevens ** Champions (3): 2016, 2018, 2019 * Hawick Sevens ** Champions (4): 1906, 1950, 2004, 2018 * Gala Sevens ** Champions (7): 1905, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2016, 2017 * Berwick Sevens ** Champions (5): 2007, 2009, 2013, 2018, 2019 * Jed-Forest Sevens ** Champions (8): 1905, 1906, 1956, 1963, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2017 * Peebles Sevens ** Champions (13): 1936, 1937, 1939, 1952, 1955, 1956, 1972, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2017 *

Earlston Sevens Earlston Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Earlston RFC, in Earlston, Scotland. This was one of a group of Sevens tournaments instated after the First World War extending the original Borders Spring Circuit. The Earlston Sevens be ...

** Champions (4): 2005, 2008, 2009, 2019 *FOSROC Super 6 **Champions: 2022 *FOSROC Super 6 Sprint Series **Champions: 2022 * Kelso Sevens ** Champions (4): 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019 * Kings of the Sevens ** Champions (4): 2009, 2017, 2018, 2019 *

Walkerburn Sevens Walkerburn Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Walkerburn RFC, in Walkerburn, Scotland. The Walkerburn Sevens was the sixth of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated, in 1911, after the bigger events of the Border Sevens spring ...

** Champions (4): 1939, 1940, 1941, 1959 * Morningside Sevens ** Champions: 1903 *

Edinburgh Northern Sevens Edinburgh Northern Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held by Edinburgh Northern, in the Inverleith district of Edinburgh, Scotland. History The first rugby sevens tournament took place in 1955 and it has been played in all subsequent ...

** Champions (3): 2000, 2017, 2018

References

* Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ) * Godwin, Terry ''Complete Who's Who of International Rugby'' (Cassell, 1987, ) * Jones, J.R. ''Encyclopedia of Rugby Union Football'' (Robert Hale, London, 1976 ) * Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Polygon, Edinburgh; )

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watsonians Rfc Rugby clubs established in 1875 1875 establishments in Scotland Rugby union teams in Scotland Rugby union in Edinburgh Sports clubs and teams in Edinburgh