Caledonia Reds
Encyclopedia
Caledonia Reds were a Scottish rugby union
district team who participated in the precursor to the Celtic League and in two seasons of the Heineken Cup
. They represented one of four districts of Scotland, covering the North and Midlands (i.e. North of the Firth of Forth
).
The district still exists: it does not field a side in the Magners League, but it does have competitive age grade teams in Inter-District Championships. Their home games where shared between Aberdeen
and Perth
. In 1998, the SRU took the decision to merge the side with Glasgow
's team, who today are known as the Glasgow Warriors
. Previous Scottish national coach Frank Hadden
once held the assistant coaching position with the Caledonia Reds.
(SRU) realised their existing clubs would not be able to compete in the modern era alongside their English and French counterparts. They decided the best solution would be to create four new franchises based largely on the existing regions of the game. Edinburgh, Glasgow
and the Borders
. The fourth was created as the Caledonia Reds covering the largest area, North and Central Scotland.
The Reds struggled most out of the new district teams for three main reason. Demographically, the population was too scattered to support a single team, which was helped by having both Aberdeen and Perth homes. The ninety miles between the two cities meant that the team couldn't create a devoted and central heartland of support. The popularity of football in the area meant the club found it hard to get the numbers of supporters they needed to sustain themselves.
. This hope did not come to fruition and the team came out without a win and bottom of their pool, though being involved in some very close scoring matches against teams such as eventual winners Brive. In the next season's competition they started to show potential with some more close-scoring matches but once again failed to qualify for the knockout stages.
.
The decision was taken that the continuation of four professional district teams was uneconomical. A plan was drawn up to create two new super-clubs with the mergers of the four existing teams. Edinburgh and the Borders were merged to create the Edinburgh Reivers whilst the Caledonia Reds and Glasgow were merged to create the Glasgow Caledonian Reds.
Despite the mergers, the new super-clubs conintued to struggle and Glasgow Caledonian Reds, were solely based in Glasgow. The club later dropped the Caledonian element and became simply 'Glasgow Rugby' with this eventually being changed to Glasgow Warriors
.
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Caledonia's first and only title in their first 43 years came in their first championship under the current form. Caledonia Reds, The Borders and Glasgow qualified for the Heineken Cup for the next season.
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were revived before folding again in 2007. The decision to revive the Borders rather than Caledonia side was attacked by former Reds coach Robin Lind who said "We’ve got bigger companies, more schools than the Borders, and just as much identity as the Borders, so why are we not getting a team?”. A SRU
official responded "I agree that there is vibrancy here, and I think Caledonia should have a pro team as soon as possible – every youngster in Scotland should be able to go and see pro rugby being played in their area. [But] there has to be money spent before that happens, and that would include facilities and pitches."
It has been a long-standing ambition of the SRU to re-expand to four teams again, which would give Scotland equal representation with the Irish and Welsh in the Magners League. When Caledonia Red was originally merged with Glasgow in 1998, the SRU claimed that it would be revived in some form when more funds were available. This remains unlikely until the SRU's finances improve. In recent years the SRU has shown more interest in expanding into England, and making London Scottish
its third member of the Celtic League
than restarting one of the existing regions in Scotland, particularly in the north where the roots are not as deep.
In spite of this there is a small but vocal group of rugby supporters of the former Caledonia region who still lobby for a return of the team, with some calling for them to play their matches at Pittodrie the stadium of Aberdeen F.C.
. In 2005 the new SRU President Andy Irvine
claimed he wanted a professional team established in Aberdeen within three years, although nothing subsequently became of it.
In November 2007 reports surfaced of a consortium looking to establish an 'Aberdeen pro team', and the SRU asked Aberdeen F.C.
about using Pittodrie. The bid was later rejected.
Stewart Campbell
Dave McIvor Kevin McKenzie
Shaun Longstaff
John Kerr Rowen Shepherd
Stuart Grimes
John Manson
Scottish rugby union system
The top level of competition in the Scottish rugby union system is the Celtic League which is a league of professional clubs from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Scotland currently has two clubs in the Celtic League; Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors. They also participate in the Heineken Cup.The...
district team who participated in the precursor to the Celtic League and in two seasons of the Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...
. They represented one of four districts of Scotland, covering the North and Midlands (i.e. North of the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
).
The district still exists: it does not field a side in the Magners League, but it does have competitive age grade teams in Inter-District Championships. Their home games where shared between Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
and Perth
Perth, Scotland
Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
. In 1998, the SRU took the decision to merge the side with Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
's team, who today are known as the Glasgow Warriors
Glasgow Warriors
The Glasgow Warriors, formerly Glasgow Rugby, are one of two professional rugby union teams in Scotland, Edinburgh being the other. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12 and their home ground is Firhill Stadium, also the home of Partick Thistle Football Club.-History:Glasgow Rugby were created to...
. Previous Scottish national coach Frank Hadden
Frank Hadden
Frank Hadden is a Scottish rugby union coach. He is a former head coach of Scotland and Edinburgh Rugby.Hadden replaced Matt Williams and was appointed on 15 September 2005. Hadden coached the Merchiston Castle School 1st XV after being appointed Head of Physical Education at the school in 1983...
once held the assistant coaching position with the Caledonia Reds.
Formation
In 1995 with the arrival of professionalism in rugby union, the Scottish Rugby UnionScottish Rugby Union
The Scottish Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. It is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873, as the Scottish Football Union.-History:...
(SRU) realised their existing clubs would not be able to compete in the modern era alongside their English and French counterparts. They decided the best solution would be to create four new franchises based largely on the existing regions of the game. Edinburgh, Glasgow
Glasgow Warriors
The Glasgow Warriors, formerly Glasgow Rugby, are one of two professional rugby union teams in Scotland, Edinburgh being the other. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12 and their home ground is Firhill Stadium, also the home of Partick Thistle Football Club.-History:Glasgow Rugby were created to...
and the Borders
Border Reivers (Rugby)
Border Reivers, originally known as 'Scottish Borders Rugby' and also known as 'The Borders' were one of four professional rugby union teams in Scotland, alongside Edinburgh, Caledonia Reds and Glasgow Warriors....
. The fourth was created as the Caledonia Reds covering the largest area, North and Central Scotland.
The Reds struggled most out of the new district teams for three main reason. Demographically, the population was too scattered to support a single team, which was helped by having both Aberdeen and Perth homes. The ninety miles between the two cities meant that the team couldn't create a devoted and central heartland of support. The popularity of football in the area meant the club found it hard to get the numbers of supporters they needed to sustain themselves.
Early success and a glimmer of hope
Even with the doubts over the district's potential, they won the first Inter-District Championship of the Professional era. This came as a great surprise to everyone and there was great hope that this would show when the side was entered into the 1996-97 Heineken Cup1996-97 Heineken Cup
The 1996–97 Heineken Cup was the second edition of the Heineken Cup. Competing teams from France, Ireland, Italy, Wales and for the first time England and Scotland, were divided into four pools of five, in which teams played each other only once, meaning two home and two away games per team...
. This hope did not come to fruition and the team came out without a win and bottom of their pool, though being involved in some very close scoring matches against teams such as eventual winners Brive. In the next season's competition they started to show potential with some more close-scoring matches but once again failed to qualify for the knockout stages.
Decline and merger
By 1998 the news emerged that the SRU had become laden with over £20 million of debt, largely due to the expensive redevelopment of the national stadium, MurrayfieldMurrayfield Stadium
Murrayfield Stadium is a sports stadium located in the west end of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Its all-seater capacity was recently reduced from 67,800 to 67,130 to incorporate the largest permanent "big screen" in the country though it still remains the largest stadium in Scotland and one...
.
The decision was taken that the continuation of four professional district teams was uneconomical. A plan was drawn up to create two new super-clubs with the mergers of the four existing teams. Edinburgh and the Borders were merged to create the Edinburgh Reivers whilst the Caledonia Reds and Glasgow were merged to create the Glasgow Caledonian Reds.
Despite the mergers, the new super-clubs conintued to struggle and Glasgow Caledonian Reds, were solely based in Glasgow. The club later dropped the Caledonian element and became simply 'Glasgow Rugby' with this eventually being changed to Glasgow Warriors
Glasgow Warriors
The Glasgow Warriors, formerly Glasgow Rugby, are one of two professional rugby union teams in Scotland, Edinburgh being the other. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12 and their home ground is Firhill Stadium, also the home of Partick Thistle Football Club.-History:Glasgow Rugby were created to...
.
1996–1997
Pool 3| Team | P | W | D | L | TF | PF | PA | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 BriveCA Brive Club Athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin is a French rugby union team founded in 1910 and based in Brive-la-Gaillarde in the département of Corrèze of the Limousin région . They wear black and white and play in the Stade Amédée-Domenech .- History :The club was created on 15 March 1910 established on... |
4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 106 | 65 | 8 | |
 HarlequinsHarlequin F.C. The Harlequin Football Club is an English rugby union team who play in the top level of English rugby, the Aviva Premiership. Their ground in London is Twickenham Stoop... |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 131 | 95 | 6 | |
 NeathNeath RFC Neath Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club which plays in the Welsh Premier Division. The club's home ground is The Gnoll, Neath. The first team is known as the Welsh All Blacks because of the team colours: black with only a white cross pattée as an emblem... |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 83 | 109 | ||
| 4 | |||||||||
| (Ireland Irish Rugby Football Union The Irish Rugby Football Union is the body managing rugby union in Ireland. The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where Irish rugby union international matches are played... ) Ulster Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Ulster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Belfast, representing the Irish province of Ulster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup... |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 75 | 87 | ||
| 2 | |||||||||
 Caledonia Reds |
4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 117 | 156 | ||
| 0 |
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1997–1998
Pool 5| Team | P | W | D | L | TF | PF | PA | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pau Section Paloise Section Paloise is a French rugby union club from Pau in Pyrénées-Atlantiques currently competing in Rugby Pro D2, the second level of the French league system.-History:... |
6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 203 | 89 | 8 | |
| Llanelli Llanelli RFC Llanelli Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club founded in 1875 and its senior team is one of the leading club sides in Wales. The club began the 2008-09 season at their historic home ground of Stradey Park in Llanelli, but moved in November 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent... |
6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 144 | 142 | 8 | |
 Benetton TrevisoBenetton Rugby Treviso Benetton Rugby Treviso are an Italian professional rugby union club currently competing in the RaboDirect Pro12 and the Heineken Cup.They are based in Treviso in Veneto, and owned by the Benetton clothing company.... |
6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 146 | 162 | −16 | 4 |
| Caledonia Reds |
6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 89 | 189 | −100 | 4 |
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Scottish Inter-District Championship
1996 - 1997Caledonia's first and only title in their first 43 years came in their first championship under the current form. Caledonia Reds, The Borders and Glasgow qualified for the Heineken Cup for the next season.
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caledonia Reds | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 77 | 53 | 5 | |
| Glasgow Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors, formerly Glasgow Rugby, are one of two professional rugby union teams in Scotland, Edinburgh being the other. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12 and their home ground is Firhill Stadium, also the home of Partick Thistle Football Club.-History:Glasgow Rugby were created to... |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 63 | 51 | 4 | |
| Scottish Borders Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland... |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 59 | 61 | ||
| 3 | ||||||||
| Edinburgh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 35 | 69 | ||
| 0 |
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Potential revival
The effects of the merger were disappointing as the two superclubs underperformed against Welsh and Irish sides, and the expected boost in attendances from the merger did not immediately materialise. The Edinburgh and Glasgow clubs dropped their merged identities and reverted to their previous names, while in 2002 the Border ReiversBorder Reivers (Rugby)
Border Reivers, originally known as 'Scottish Borders Rugby' and also known as 'The Borders' were one of four professional rugby union teams in Scotland, alongside Edinburgh, Caledonia Reds and Glasgow Warriors....
were revived before folding again in 2007. The decision to revive the Borders rather than Caledonia side was attacked by former Reds coach Robin Lind who said "We’ve got bigger companies, more schools than the Borders, and just as much identity as the Borders, so why are we not getting a team?”. A SRU
Scottish Rugby Union
The Scottish Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. It is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873, as the Scottish Football Union.-History:...
official responded "I agree that there is vibrancy here, and I think Caledonia should have a pro team as soon as possible – every youngster in Scotland should be able to go and see pro rugby being played in their area. [But] there has to be money spent before that happens, and that would include facilities and pitches."
It has been a long-standing ambition of the SRU to re-expand to four teams again, which would give Scotland equal representation with the Irish and Welsh in the Magners League. When Caledonia Red was originally merged with Glasgow in 1998, the SRU claimed that it would be revived in some form when more funds were available. This remains unlikely until the SRU's finances improve. In recent years the SRU has shown more interest in expanding into England, and making London Scottish
London Scottish F.C.
London Scottish Football Club is a rugby union club in England. It is a member of both the Rugby Football Union and the Scottish Rugby Union.-History:...
its third member of the Celtic League
Celtic League (rugby union)
The Celtic League is an annual rugby union competition involving professional sides from Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
than restarting one of the existing regions in Scotland, particularly in the north where the roots are not as deep.
In spite of this there is a small but vocal group of rugby supporters of the former Caledonia region who still lobby for a return of the team, with some calling for them to play their matches at Pittodrie the stadium of Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...
. In 2005 the new SRU President Andy Irvine
Andy Irvine (rugby player)
Andrew Robertson "Andy" Irvine MBE is a former President of the Scottish Rugby Union , and a former Scottish international rugby player. He earned fifty one Scottish caps, and scored over 250 points for .-Background:...
claimed he wanted a professional team established in Aberdeen within three years, although nothing subsequently became of it.
In November 2007 reports surfaced of a consortium looking to establish an 'Aberdeen pro team', and the SRU asked Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...
about using Pittodrie. The bid was later rejected.
Notable former players
Tom Smith Rob WainwrightRob Wainwright
Robert Iain Wainwright is a former rugby union footballer who was capped 37 times for Scotland and once for the British Lions. He played flanker. He was educated at Glenalmond College and Magdalene College, Cambridge where he represented Cambridge University R.U.F.C..He received his first cap in...
Stewart Campbell
Stewart Campbell
Stewart Campbell was a Canadian lawyer and politician and a member of the Anti-Confederation Party.Born in Jamaica, he studied law in England and completed his legal training in Halifax, Nova Scotia, studying with William Young...
Dave McIvor Kevin McKenzie
Kevin McKenzie (rugby union)
Kevin Duncan McKenzie was a Scottish international rugby union player, who played for . He was capped fourteen times between 1994–98, including the 1995 Rugby World Cup, as a hooker....
Shaun Longstaff
Shaun Longstaff
Shaun Longstaff is a former rugby union footballer who played on the wing for Scotland.-Notes:...
John Kerr Rowen Shepherd
Rowen Shepherd
Rowan James Stanley Shepherd is a former Scottish international rugby union player, who played for . He wascapped twenty times for Scotland between 1995-1998.He is tall and weighs .-References:...
Stuart Grimes
Stuart Grimes
Stuart Brian Grimes is a former Scottish rugby player and captain. Grimes' previous clubs include Padova, Border Reivers, Newcastle Falcons, Caledonia Reds, Watsonians, Edinburgh University, Robert Gordon's College. He was previously Newcastle Falcons forwards coach...
John Manson
John Manson
John James Manson and was a Scottish rugby union footballer who played with Hillfoots, Dundee HSFP, Stirling County & West of Scotland FC...