Glasgow Academicals RFC
Encyclopedia
The Glasgow Academical Football Club is one of the oldest rugby football clubs in Scotland. This history is notable for a number of reasons, including the clubs longevity, its early foundation in the timeline of rugby, and the fact that the club produced many internationals. The club was also a founder member of the Scottish Football Union
(the future SRU) in 1873.
By 1871 the Club had a membership of almost 200 and by 1889 it was well over 500. The team had established itself as one of the best in Scotland with a record from 1867 to 1882 showing that of 145 matches in sixteen seasons it lost only 11 of them. In eight of these seasons it was undefeated. The Club became the first to send a team across the border into England and in December 1870 the Academical played Liverpool and Manchester
on their home grounds drawing both matches. The club was also the first Scottish Club to play in London when it defeated Blackheath FC in March 1878. Ireland had also been visited in 1872 when the North of Ireland FC
was defeated in Belfast.
After the third international match against England, played at Partick in Glasgow in March 1873, a number of clubs decided to form what would become the Scottish Rugby Union
. Representatives from a number of clubs met at Glasgow Academy and formed the union, the Academical being one of the original clubs. The first rules of the Union were drawn up by a committee in which, two Academical, J.W. Arthur and A.Harvey served. Many internationals emanated from the club in the 1870s and early 1880s, however the club's prominence declined from 1883 until the start of the twentieth century and in this time the Club played a less-important part in Scottish rugby.
, two to Cambridge University
and only six to Scottish opposition). In 1925-1926 season it was not defeated by any Scottish Club. Great players of this era included Herbert Waddell
, J.B. Nelson, J.C. Dykes, J.M. Simmers, R.C. Warren, M.A. Allan and J.B.White who was the successful captain. The four outstanding backs, Nelson, Waddell, Simmers and Dykes, were all outstanding Scottish international, and the Waddell-Nelson half back pairing was the fear of all Scottish club and international opponents. Herbert Waddell went on to be a highly respected President of the Barbarians and on his death the Barbarians honoured him with a match at New Anniesland when they fielded a strong team of international players.
and a process of rebuilding was set in motion in 1945 with the Academicals in 1954-1955, under the captaincy of Jimmy Thomson, joint champions. They were third position the following season but a gradual decline in standards saw 1959-1960 season being the poorest in the Club's history to that date. Ten years later saw sixteen wins from twenty three matches in 1968-1969 and nineteen from twenty four the following year and three more successful seasons followed in the early 1970s. This was a well timed renaissance because in 1973 the National leagues were established and Accies were awarded with a place in the first division. Unfortunately, this coincided with the retirement of a number of key players and decline in the number of young players coming from the Academy. Academy boys had begun to go to Universities outside of Glasgow and the club delayed in becoming open (i.e. admitting players who had not attended Glasgow Academy). By 1977 Accies were relegated to the third division and only avoided a further drop in 1979 on points difference. By 1984-1985 Accies were back in the top flight and saw their team represented on the international stage by John Beattie. The remainder of the 80's saw the team yo-yo between the first and second divisions. A consistent mid table position was maintained in the second division in the early 1990s. When in 1995 the leagues were reconstructed from divisions of fourteen to ten and eight Accies shifted into the third division which they won immediately.
. The Hawks won the second division championship and the Scottish Cup in their first year and have continued in the first division and have since been beaten finalists on two further occasions. In their first year they were regarded as one of the best club sides to have played in Scotland. Glen Metcalfe, Derek Stark, Gordon McIlwham and Murray Wallace were Scottish Internationalists and Tommy Hayes and Mike Beckham had played for the Cook Islands.
.
W. D. Brown (first capped 1871, captain in 1874/75) T. Chalmers (first capped 1871) JW Arthur
(first capped 1871) A. Drew (first capped 1871) J.S. Thomson
(first capped 1871)H. W. Allen (first capped 1873)C. C. Bryce (first capped 1873)G. Heron (first capped 1874)J. K. Todd (first capped 1874) Allen Arthur
(first capped 1875)G. R. Fleming (first capped 1875) J. S. Carrick
(first capped 1876) Malcolm Cross
(first capped 1876)D. H. Watson (first capped 1876)D. Drew (first capped 1876)J. E. Junor (first capped 1876) R. C. McKenzie (first capped 1877)D. H. Watson (first capped 1877)J. Neilson (first capped 1878)J. H. S. Graham (first capped 1878)D. R. Irvine (first capped 1878)G. McLeod (first capped 1878) J. A. Campbell
(first capped 1879)J. B. Brown (first capped 1879)E. Ewart (first capped 1879)W. A. Walls (first capped 1882)Herbert Waddell
, 15 caps for Scotland.J.B. Nelson, 25 caps for Scotland.Jimmy Dykes
, 20 caps for Scotland.Max Simmers
, 28 caps for ScotlandJohn Beattie
JC Dawson, 20 caps for Scotland.Laurie Duff
, Scotland and British Lions.
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:...
(the future SRU) in 1873.
Early Years - Nineteenth Century
The Glasgow Academical Football Section was founded in 1866 when a number of former pupils of Glasgow Academy, under the chairmanship of the Rector, Mr Morrison, adopted a resolution that an Academical Club should be formed. At a time when the rules of rugby were far from formalised, the new club elected to play on the lines of the Edinburgh Academical Club. The club played their first match in the season 1867-1868 but despite formalising their own rule set, disputed matches based on rule interpretation still abounded. The Glasgow Academicals in their history record that in "a match against West of Scotland in 1869 the ball was kicked over the West's goal-line, but over a fence into the adjoining field, whereupon a West of Scotland player went to the fence, but Arthur, for the Academical, got over and touched down. It was taken to be a try, but West of Scotland disputing the touch, a goal was not attempted. As the History of Glasgow Academy so rightly observes, 'The dead ball line now fortunately renders it unnecessary for the players to indulge in obstacle races'."By 1871 the Club had a membership of almost 200 and by 1889 it was well over 500. The team had established itself as one of the best in Scotland with a record from 1867 to 1882 showing that of 145 matches in sixteen seasons it lost only 11 of them. In eight of these seasons it was undefeated. The Club became the first to send a team across the border into England and in December 1870 the Academical played Liverpool and Manchester
Manchester Rugby Club
Manchester Rugby Club, formerly known as Manchester Football Club, are one of the oldest rugby union clubs in existence, having been founded in 1860, 11 years before the RFU....
on their home grounds drawing both matches. The club was also the first Scottish Club to play in London when it defeated Blackheath FC in March 1878. Ireland had also been visited in 1872 when the North of Ireland FC
North of Ireland FC
North of Ireland Football Club is a former Irish rugby union club that was based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was the first rugby club formed in what is now Northern Ireland and only two other clubs - Dublin University and Wanderers - were formed earlier anywhere else in all Ireland . It was...
was defeated in Belfast.
After the third international match against England, played at Partick in Glasgow in March 1873, a number of clubs decided to form what would become the Scottish Rugby Union
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:...
. Representatives from a number of clubs met at Glasgow Academy and formed the union, the Academical being one of the original clubs. The first rules of the Union were drawn up by a committee in which, two Academical, J.W. Arthur and A.Harvey served. Many internationals emanated from the club in the 1870s and early 1880s, however the club's prominence declined from 1883 until the start of the twentieth century and in this time the Club played a less-important part in Scottish rugby.
The early Twentieth Century and the Golden Era
It was not until 1905, under the captaincy of Louis Greig, that the Club regained its high status with only one match was lost in 1904-1905. The team won the championship in 1912-1913 having been runners up on four occasions. The First World War saw the full 1913-1914 season's team engaged on active service and tragically eight members were killed. Only one of the fifteen returned unwounded and a completely new side had to be developed in 1919. Thus, a great team was extinguished, but very soon the Academy produced a side that by 1921-1922 had won the Scottish Club Championship again, dropping to second place the following year, but remaining at the top until 1925-1926. In these five seasons they played 123 matches, losing 10, (two to Oxford UniversityOxford University RFC
The Oxford University Rugby Football Club is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham.-History:...
, two to Cambridge University
Cambridge University R.U.F.C.
The Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club, or CURUFC, is the rugby union club of Cambridge University, and plays Oxford University in the annual Varsity Match at Twickenham stadium every December. CURUFC players wear light blue and white hooped jerseys with a red lion crest...
and only six to Scottish opposition). In 1925-1926 season it was not defeated by any Scottish Club. Great players of this era included Herbert Waddell
Herbert Waddell
Herbert Waddell was a Scottish rugby union fly-half who played club rugby for Glasgow Academicals and international rugby for Scotland and the British Isles...
, J.B. Nelson, J.C. Dykes, J.M. Simmers, R.C. Warren, M.A. Allan and J.B.White who was the successful captain. The four outstanding backs, Nelson, Waddell, Simmers and Dykes, were all outstanding Scottish international, and the Waddell-Nelson half back pairing was the fear of all Scottish club and international opponents. Herbert Waddell went on to be a highly respected President of the Barbarians and on his death the Barbarians honoured him with a match at New Anniesland when they fielded a strong team of international players.
From 1926 to 1997 - Vacilating Performance and the National Leagues
Although the club failed to win the Championship from 1926 to 1932 they were never lower than fourth. A decline in the 1930s was halted by World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and a process of rebuilding was set in motion in 1945 with the Academicals in 1954-1955, under the captaincy of Jimmy Thomson, joint champions. They were third position the following season but a gradual decline in standards saw 1959-1960 season being the poorest in the Club's history to that date. Ten years later saw sixteen wins from twenty three matches in 1968-1969 and nineteen from twenty four the following year and three more successful seasons followed in the early 1970s. This was a well timed renaissance because in 1973 the National leagues were established and Accies were awarded with a place in the first division. Unfortunately, this coincided with the retirement of a number of key players and decline in the number of young players coming from the Academy. Academy boys had begun to go to Universities outside of Glasgow and the club delayed in becoming open (i.e. admitting players who had not attended Glasgow Academy). By 1977 Accies were relegated to the third division and only avoided a further drop in 1979 on points difference. By 1984-1985 Accies were back in the top flight and saw their team represented on the international stage by John Beattie. The remainder of the 80's saw the team yo-yo between the first and second divisions. A consistent mid table position was maintained in the second division in the early 1990s. When in 1995 the leagues were reconstructed from divisions of fourteen to ten and eight Accies shifted into the third division which they won immediately.
Glasgow Hawks
In 1997 the decision was made to combine the first XV's of Glasgow Academicals and close rivals Glasgow High Kelvinside (themselves a very new club having been formed when the struggling Glasgow High FP and Kelvinside Academicals combined in 1982), something that was predicted would happen only after "hell freezes over". The combined team was named the Glasgow HawksGlasgow Hawks
Glasgow Hawks are an amateur rugby union team in Glasgow, Scotland. They were Premiership Division One champions for 3 consecutive seasons from 2003/04 to 2005/06.-The short history of Glasgow Hawks RFC:...
. The Hawks won the second division championship and the Scottish Cup in their first year and have continued in the first division and have since been beaten finalists on two further occasions. In their first year they were regarded as one of the best club sides to have played in Scotland. Glen Metcalfe, Derek Stark, Gordon McIlwham and Murray Wallace were Scottish Internationalists and Tommy Hayes and Mike Beckham had played for the Cook Islands.
Glasgow Academicals - 1998 to today
With the advent of the Hawks, the Glasgow Academicals lost many of their first XV but made the decision to continue as a league side the following year - which meant that they had to start at the bottom of Scottish rugby in Glasgow District division 3. The club raced back up through the leagues being promoted five years in a row. The club is currently playing in the regional leageu West Regional League Division OneWest Regional Leagues (Rugby Union)
The West Regional League structure is one of three Scottish Regional Leagues operated by the Scottish Rugby Union, which play at a level below that of the Scottish National Leagues structure...
.
International Players
Glasgow Accies have provided over seventy caps to the side.W. D. Brown (first capped 1871, captain in 1874/75) T. Chalmers (first capped 1871) JW Arthur
John Arthur (rugby union)
-Rugby career:John W. Arthur represented Scotland in 1871 in the first international match. He was capped again on the return fixture the following year...
(first capped 1871) A. Drew (first capped 1871) J.S. Thomson
J.S. Thomson
J.S. Thomson was a rugby union international who represented Scotland in the first international rugby match in 1871.-Early life:Little is known of J.S. Thomson's early life. He is recorded as having played for Glasgow Academicals in 1871 and 1872...
(first capped 1871)H. W. Allen (first capped 1873)C. C. Bryce (first capped 1873)G. Heron (first capped 1874)J. K. Todd (first capped 1874) Allen Arthur
Allen Arthur
Allen Arthur was a Scottish rugby football player.He was capped twice for between 1875-76. He also played for Glasgow Academicals.He was the brother of John Arthur who was also capped for Scotland during the first ever rugby international.-References:...
(first capped 1875)G. R. Fleming (first capped 1875) J. S. Carrick
James Stewart Carrick
James Stewart Carrick was a Scottish rugby union and cricket player. He died in Seattle, Washington in 1923....
(first capped 1876) Malcolm Cross
Malcolm Cross
Malcolm Cross was a Scottish rugby union player.He was capped nine times for between 1875-80. He also played for Merchistonians.He was the brother of William Cross who was also capped for Scotland, and who scored the first ever conversion in international rugby.-References:* Bath, Richard The...
(first capped 1876)D. H. Watson (first capped 1876)D. Drew (first capped 1876)J. E. Junor (first capped 1876) R. C. McKenzie (first capped 1877)D. H. Watson (first capped 1877)J. Neilson (first capped 1878)J. H. S. Graham (first capped 1878)D. R. Irvine (first capped 1878)G. McLeod (first capped 1878) J. A. Campbell
James Campbell (rugby union)
James Alexander Campbell was a Canadian-born rugby player who represented at international level...
(first capped 1879)J. B. Brown (first capped 1879)E. Ewart (first capped 1879)W. A. Walls (first capped 1882)Herbert Waddell
Herbert Waddell
Herbert Waddell was a Scottish rugby union fly-half who played club rugby for Glasgow Academicals and international rugby for Scotland and the British Isles...
, 15 caps for Scotland.J.B. Nelson, 25 caps for Scotland.Jimmy Dykes
Jimmy Dykes
James Joseph Dykes was an American third and second baseman, manager and coach in Major League Baseball who played for the Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago White Sox from 1918 to 1939...
, 20 caps for Scotland.Max Simmers
Max Simmers
William Maxwell Simmers was a Scottish rugby union player. He was often referred to as "Max" and/or "Bill".He was capped twenty eight times between 1926-32 for , scoring six tries...
, 28 caps for ScotlandJohn Beattie
John Beattie
John Ross Beattie is a Scottish former international rugby union player.-Playing career:North Borneo-born Beattie earned a total of 25 caps playing for Scotland as .-Coaching:...
JC Dawson, 20 caps for Scotland.Laurie Duff
Laurie Duff
P. Laurie Duff was a Scottish international rugby union player, who played for and the Lions.He also played for Glasgow Academicals, and Uddingston RFC.He was on the 1938 British Lions tour to South Africa.-References:...
, Scotland and British Lions.
- Herbert WaddellHerbert WaddellHerbert Waddell was a Scottish rugby union fly-half who played club rugby for Glasgow Academicals and international rugby for Scotland and the British Isles...
- William Campbell ChurchWilliam Campbell ChurchWilliam Campbell Church was a Scottish rugby union player. He was killed in World War I, while serving with the CameroniansHe played for Glasgow Academicals and was capped for in 1906.-References:...
- Eric Templeton YoungEric Templeton YoungEric Templeton Young was a Scottish rugby union player. He was killed in World War I during the Gallipoli Campaign in Turkey.-References:...