Scottish rugby union system
Domestic club rugby union within Scotland remains a predominantly amateur sport; however, semi-professional and professional outfits have been created in recent decades to participate in cross-border competitions.
Professional Outfits
With the advent of professionalism in 1995 the
Team | Representing District | Home Base | Professionally Active |
---|---|---|---|
Border Reivers
|
South
|
Galashiels | 1996–1998 and 2002–2007 |
Caledonia Reds | North and Midlands | Aberdeen and Perth | 1996–1998 |
Edinburgh | Edinburgh District | Edinburgh | 1996–Present |
Glasgow Warriors | Glasgow District | Glasgow | 1996–Present |
The North and Midlands side was a de facto district based on the combination of The North and Midlands districts.
Domestic Rugby
Scottish League Championship
The Scottish League Championship is the annual domestic league structure competed for by over 150 clubs at both national and regional levels.
Prior to restructuring in 2010, there were six national leagues - three divisions in the Premiership, and three in the National League - above the Regional Leagues. Further restructuring before the 2014-15 season scrapped the regional Championship A & B leagues which sat below the National League for two seasons. The current structure is:
- The Premiership: 10 clubs, top four compete in a knock-out play-off to decide the Premiership champions, bottom team relegated and ninth-placed enter promotion/relegation play-off
- National League: 36 clubs in three divisions:
- Division 1: 12 clubs, winners promoted, runners-up enter promotion/relegation play-off, bottom two teams relegated
- Division 2: 12 clubs, winners and runners-up promoted, bottom two teams relegated
- Division 3: 12 clubs, winners and runners-up promoted, bottom three teams relegated to the appropriate Regional league
- Regional Leagues: 3 Regions (Caledonia, East and West) who organize their own league structures (though top divisions normally consist of 10 clubs), with the winners of each region promoted
Structure
Level |
League(s)/Division(s) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
| |||||
2 |
Scottish National League Division One | |||||
3 |
Scottish National League Division Two | |||||
4 |
Scottish National League Division Three | |||||
5 |
|
East Regional League Division One |
West League Division One | |||
6 |
|
|
East Regional League Division Two |
West Regional League Division Two | ||
7 |
|
|
West Regional League Division Three |
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Cup was introduced in 1995 as a complementary knock-out cup competition. Though the structure of the cup has been changed numerous times it is currently contested by all National League clubs in the first round, with Premiership teams being added in the second and third rounds. The main cup competition is supplemented by regional shield and bowl competitions which all culminate in a 'Finals Day' at Murrayfield Stadium.
Scottish SuperCup
During the 2006-07 season an extra cup competition (The Scottish SuperCup) was introduced to replace the loss of fixtures in the Premiership due to league restricting. With the reversal of this restriction the following season the cup became redundant and was abandoned after a single season.
British and Irish Cup
For the 2009-10 season a new cross-border tournament was introduced, the
Unincorporated Leagues
Scotland is also home to the oldest organised rugby union league in the world, the
There are a small number of women's leagues in operation - see