Scottish Rugby Union
This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2011) |
Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba | ||
---|---|---|
FIRA-AER affiliation 1999 | | |
Headquarters | Murrayfield Stadium Edinburgh EH12 5PJ | |
Location | 55°56′32.07″N 3°14′27.38″W / 55.9422417°N 3.2409389°W | |
Patron | Anne, Princess Royal | |
President | Colin Rigby | |
Men's coach | Gregor Townsend | |
Women's coach | Bryan Easson | |
Sevens coach | Ciaran Beattie | |
Website | www |
The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU;
History
1873–1920s
The Scottish Football Union was founded on Monday 3 March 1873 at a meeting held at
The SFU was a founding member of the one and only International Rugby Football Board, now known as World Rugby, in 1886 with Ireland and Wales. (England refused to join until 1890.)
In 1924 the SFU changed its name to become the Scottish Rugby Union.[2] International games were played at Inverleith from 1899 to 1925 when Murrayfield was opened.
1990s–present
The SRU owns Murrayfield Stadium which is the main home ground of the Scottish national team, though in 2004 international rugby games were played at Hampden Park in Glasgow and McDiarmid Park in Perth, as part of the SRU's campaign to reach out to new audiences outside the traditional rugby areas.
When the
The four traditional districts—the South (renamed Border Reivers), Edinburgh, Glasgow and the North & Midlands (rebranded as Caledonia Reds)—were given the go-ahead to take part in Europe. For the first two seasons, players were still released to play for their clubs in domestic competition, but eventually the districts became full-time operations.
Then financial difficulties – the SRU's high debt, partly as a result of the redevelopment of Murrayfield – called for retrenchment. After two seasons, financial difficulties forced the SRU to merge the four teams into two. Edinburgh merged with the Border Reivers to form a team to be known as Edinburgh Reivers. Glasgow merged with Caledonian to form a team to be known as Glasgow Caledonian.
In 2007, The Borders team was disbanded yet again as a result of continuing financial difficulties. In the same year, the SRU began organising the
On 21 November 2009 Scotland beat Australia 9–8 after 17 attempts in 27 years.
Centenary celebrations
The SRU celebrated its centenary in 1973 with a number of events. Among these was the
Domestic Rugby
The SRU oversees the national league system, known as the Scottish League Championship, and consisting of:
- a Premiershipof 20 teams across 2 divisions.
- a National Leagues of 20 teams across 2 regional divisions.
- Regional Leaguesof 150 clubs in 18 divisions across three regions
It also oversees the Scottish Cup. It is not directly responsible for local, university or 2nd XV leagues.
Women's & Girls Rugby
See also
Since the Scottish Women's Rugby Union merged with Scottish Rugby in 2009[5] the governing body also oversees Women's Fixtures.[6]
- Tennent's Women's Premier League 2018–19[7]
- Tennent's Women's National League 1 2018–19[8]
- Tennent's Women's National League 2 2018–19[9]
- Tennent's Women's North League 2018-19
- Women's National Development League 2018-19
A National Cup competition:
Regional Cup Competition:
- Donna Kennedy Cup[12]
National teams
The SRU oversees Scotland's national teams. The most prominent team is the
The head coach of the Scotland national rugby union team is
The head coach of the Scottish national women's rugby team is Shade Munro.
North American initiatives
On 28 March 2019, the SRU announced that it had taken a minority stake in Old Glory DC, a team set to begin play in Major League Rugby (MLR), the current top level of the sport in the United States and Canada, in 2020.[15] As MLR operates on a "single-entity" business model similar to the two countries' Major League Soccer, with the league owning all teams and the team operators being league shareholders,[16] this effectively meant that the SRU had taken a small stake in MLR itself.
Personnel
The current president is Colin Rigby who succeeded Ian Barr in 2022. John McGuigan was appointed Chair in May 2023.[17] The Chief Executive Officer is Mark Dodson.[18]
In May 2014, it was announced that Sheila Begbie had been appointed to the newly created post of Head of Women's Rugby, reporting directly to the Director of Rugby and she was due to commence this role in August 2014.[19]
See also
- Rugby union in Scotland
- Murrayfield Stadium
- Edinburgh 7s
- Scottish Women's Rugby
References
- ^ "History of the game". Rugby Football Union. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ^ MacDonald, Paul. "First Scottish Grand Slam". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 27 October 2007.
- ^ "SRU Annual Report 2003-04" (PDF). Scottish Rugby Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 January 2005.
- ^ "SRU accused of becoming dictatorship". The Scotsman. 15 January 2005. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
- ^ "Women vote to join up with the SRU".
- ^ "Fixtures & Results - Scottish Rugby Union".
- ^ "Fixtures & Results - Scottish Rugby Union".
- ^ "Fixtures & Results - Tennent's Women's National League 1".
- ^ "Fixtures & Results - Tennent's Women's National League 2". Scottish Rugby.
- ^ "Fixtures & Results - Scottish Rugby Union".
- ^ "Fixtures & Results - Scottish Rugby Union".
- ^ "Inaugural women's Cup set for centre stage at BT Murrayfield - Scottish Rugby Union".
- ^ Stuart, Lewis (10 June 2017). "Gregor Townsend era begins but pressures remain the same". The Scotsman. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ Ferguson, David (3 May 2013). "Scott Johnson appointed to SRU director role". The Scotsman. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ "Scottish Rugby take minority stake in new U.S. team". ESPN.com. 28 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ "Major League Rugby nears kick-off as next attempt to make US a union power". The Guardian. 17 November 2017. Archived from the original on 19 November 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- ^ Elder, Matthew (17 May 2023). "Scottish Rugby appoint new chair as John McGuigan replaces John Jeffrey". The Scotsman. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
- ^ Smith, Duncan (10 August 2015). "SRU chief Mark Dodson lauds 'big step forward'". The Scotsman. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- ^ "Sheila Begbie leaves women's football for Scottish Rugby role". BBC News. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
External links