London Scottish F.C.

For other uses of "London Scottish", see London Scottish (disambiguation).
London Scottish
Full name London Scottish Football Club
Nickname(s) The Exiles, Scottish
Founded 1878 (1878)
Location Richmond
Ground(s) Athletic Ground, Richmond (Capacity: 4,500)
President Rod Lynch
Coach(es) Sean Lineen
Captain(s) Rory Bartle
League(s) RFU Championship
2015–16 8th
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
londonscottish.com

London Scottish Football Club is a rugby union club in England. The club is a member of both the Rugby Football Union and the Scottish Rugby Union. The club shares the Athletic Ground with Richmond.

History

Founding (1878)

In early 1878, three Scottish members of a team called St. Andrew's Rovers FC decided to break away to form their own club for Scots.[1] These men, George Grant, Neil Macglashan and Robert Arnot attracted a number of responses to a circular they sent out. The London Scottish Regiment in particular were very warm to the idea. Very soon after, on 10 April 1878, London Scottish FC was founded[2] in The Queen's Head, in Water Lane Blackfriars London (universally known as MacKay's Tavern, frequently miss-recorded, as Ned Mackay the jovial Scottish landlord ran the pub),[3] initially played on Blackheath Common,[1] and later at Richmond Athletic Ground in Surrey.[2]

They had a sizable fixture list and played some of the leading clubs of the time immediately, such as Ravenscourt Park Football Club and Queen's House Football Club (the latter being the only London team to have never lost to London Scottish).[1] They also played St Andrew's Rovers that season. St Andrew's, who had lost the core of their best players lost twice to London Scottish and folded at the end of the season.[1] London Scottish had a very successful first season, and having played 15 matches they only lost four (against already well established sides, Flamingoes, Guy's Hospital, Queen's House and Wasps).[1]

Early history

London Scottish was the first of the "Exiles" rugby clubs to be founded, and also the last of the main three to go "open" in 1996.[2]

London Scottish made the John Player Cup Final in 1974, where they lost 26–6 against defending champions Coventry.

Professional era (1996–present)

The club turned professional in 1996. Tony Tiarks bought the club for £500,000 in 1996.

In the summer of 1998, Scottish, co-tenants of Richmond at the Athletic Ground, were promoted to the top division via a play-off, and Tiarks forced through an ill-fated groundshare with Harlequins and London Broncos at the Stoop Memorial Ground.

In the 1998–99 season, Scottish made their one and only appearance in the English Premiership. Under coach John Steele, and despite their limited resource, the team finished in 12th place out of 14 teams, which would have saved them from relegation, had they not fallen into administration at the season's end. Notable games that season included victories over: Bath (13–11), Saracens (24–7), and Newcastle Falcons (27–17). That season included Scottish international stars Ronnie Eriksson, Simon Holmes and Derrick Lee, Australians Simon Fenn and Eddie Jones, and the South African Jannie de Beer.

Midway through the 1999 season, Tiarks was disillusioned and discussed selling Scottish's place in the Premiership to second-division Bristol. He bailed out in the summer of 1999. The Professional club London Scottish Rugby was placed into administration in 1999 and the club was nominally merged into London Irish along with Richmond who were also placed into administration.

The original amateur club rejoined the RFU leagues at the bottom of the pyramid after effectively being relegated nine divisions by the RFU. The club has since progressed back up through seven divisions in 10 seasons to RFU Championship for the 2011–12 season.

The club was promoted to the English National leagues (National Division Three South) for the 2007–08 season after an eight-year absence. The club was unbeaten in the 2008–09 season, earning promotion to the revamped RFU National 1 Division for the 2009–10 season. In 2009–10, the club finished second in their first season in RFU National 1 Division.

The club secured promotion to the RFU Championship for the 2011–12 season. During the 2012–13 season, the club made the switch to a full-time professional set-up, with many of the club's part-time professional players leaving and new coaches brought on board, this included former Leicester Tigers hooker James Buckland and France and London Wasps legend Serge Betsen. The fully professional set-up was credited for an impressive performance away to Championship leaders Newcastle Falcons, where three penalties brought them to the brink of a shock win, but they lost 12–9. There followed significant wins in the second half of the season, including a 26–23 victory over Bedford Blues, a 25–13 win over Nottingham and a 17–20 win away at Cornish Pirates. Scottish were still mathematically challenging for a place in the top four of the Championship until as late as March, until they were beaten by Leeds Carnegie, and they ended the season with a mid-table finish and safe from relegation.

The Scottish again finished mid-table in the Championship for the 2013–14 season. The team had four players named to the Championship Best XV — American international Eric Fry, Tomas Francis, Mark Bright, and Championship top try-scorer Miles Mantella.[4]

Sevens

London Scottish have been great exponents of rugby sevens winning the Melrose Sevens (twice), Middlesex Sevens (seven times) and the Rosslyn Park London Floodlit Sevens (seven times).

Captains and league position (since 1999–00 season)

Season Division Captain Position
1999–00 Non League (London Senior Clubs) Ewan Kearney Winners of Merit table
2000–01 Herts/Middlesex 1 Damian Lilley Runners up
2001–02 London 4 NW Steven Wichary Champions
2002–03 London 3 NW Magnus Macdonald Champions
2003–04 London 2 NorthDavid Watt Champions
2004–05 London 1Karl Hensley 4th
2005–06 London 1Karl Hensley 3rd
2006–07 London 1Alex Alesbrook Champions
2007–08 National Division Three SouthAlex Alesbrook 4th National
2008–09 National Division Three SouthGary Trueman Champions
2009–10 National League OneGary Trueman 2nd
2010–11 National League OneIan McInroyChampions
2011–12 The ChampionshipLewis Calder 9th
2012–13 The ChampionshipLewis Calder 8th

Head coach and management (since 1999–00 season)

Season Division Head Coach Manager
1999–00 Non League Iain Morrison Colin McIntyre
2000–01 Herts/Middlesex 1 Brett Cookson Colin McIntyre
2001–02 London 4 NW Kevin Powderly Colin Mcintyre
2002–03 London 3 NW Kevin Powderly Colin McIntyre
2003–04 London 2 North Rick Scott Colin McIntyre
2004–05 London 1 Rowly Williams Colin McIntyre
2005–06 London 1 Rowly Williams Colin McIntyre
2006–07 London 1 Terry O'Connor Colin McIntyre
2007–08 National Division Three South Terry O'Connor Colin McIntyre
2008–09 National Division Three South Brett Taylor Colin McIntyre
2009–10 National League OneBrett Taylor Colin McIntyre
2010–11 National League One Simon Amor Colin McIntyre
2011–12 The ChampionshipSimon Amor Ross Macgregor
2012–13 The ChampionshipSimon Amor Ross Macgregor
2013–14 The ChampionshipSimon Amor Laurence Bruggemann

Overall league statistics

Season Division Played Won Draw Lost Points
For 		Points
Against 		Points
Difference		 Points Position
1987–88 National League 2 11 4 1 6 141 158 –17 9 7th
1988–89 National League 2 11 3 1 7 146 160 –16 7 11th
1989–90 National League 3 11 11 0 0 258 92 166 22 1st
1990–91 National League 2 12 7 0 5 240 178 62 14 5th
1991–92 National League 2 12 11 0 1 304 130 174 22 1st
1992–93 Premiership 12 3 1 8 192 248 –56 7 10th
1993–94 National League 2 18 6 0 12 232 325 –93 12 8th
1999–00 Non-league 26 19 1 6 775 341 434 1st
2000–01 Herts/Middlesex 1 18 17 0 1 554 118 436 34 2nd
2001–02 London 4 NW 18 14 0 4 533 214 319 28 1st
2002–03 London 3 NW18 16 0 2 560 199 361 32 1st
2003–04 London 2 North22 20 1 1 752 277 475 41 1st
2004–05 London 122 15 0 7 676 343 333 30 4th
2005–06 London 122 16 1 5 840 324 516 33 3rd
2006–07 London 122 20 0 2 997 235 762 40 1st
2007–08 National Division Three South26 17 0 9 633 410 223 83 4th
2008–09 National Division Three South26 25 1 0 1092 328 764 120 1st
2009–10 National League One30 22 1 7 938 569 369 108 2nd
2010–11 National League One30 27 0 3 958 516 442 132 1st
2011–12 The Championship22 6 0 16 422 543 −121 34 9th
2012–13 The Championship22 10 0 12 456 610 −154 45 8th

Club honours

Current standings

2016–17 RFU Championship Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Points diff Try bonus Loss bonus Points
1 London Irish 11 11 0 0 399 158 241 9 0 53
2 Yorkshire Carnegie 11 10 0 1 333 259 74 7 0 47
3 Ealing Trailfinders 11 6 1 4 259 237 22 3 1 30
4 Nottingham Rugby 11 5 1 5 230 259 −29 3 3 28
5 London Welsh 11 5 0 6 244 226 18 4 3 27
5 Doncaster Knights 11 5 0 6 252 249 3 5 2 27
7 London Scottish 11 5 0 6 244 294 −50 3 3 26
8 Cornish Pirates 11 4 1 6 290 277 13 2 5 25
9 Jersey Reds 11 4 0 7 255 279 −24 4 5 25
10 Rotherham Titans 11 4 1 6 233 297 −64 2 2 22
11 Bedford Blues 11 3 0 8 242 256 −14 4 5 21
12 Richmond 11 2 0 9 165 355 −190 2 0 10
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background are promotion play-off places. Pink background is the relegation place.
Updated: 4 December 2016
Source: "Greene King IPA Championship". NCA Rugby. 

Current squad

2016-17 Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union
Dave Cherry Hooker Scotland Scotland
Cameron Fenton (D/R) Hooker Scotland Scotland
Devlin Hope Hooker South Africa South Africa
Michael van Vuuren (D/R) Hooker South Africa South Africa
Ralph Adams-Hale (D/R) Prop England England
Phil Cringle Prop Scotland Scotland
Jonny Harris Prop England England
Dan Koroi Prop Fiji Fiji
Ewan McQuillin Prop Scotland Scotland
Grant Shiells Prop Scotland Scotland
Charlie Hewitt (D/R) Lock England England
Callum Hunter-Hill (D/R) Lock Scotland Scotland
Dom McGeekie Lock England England
Neale Patrick Lock Scotland Scotland
Eoin Sheriff Lock Ireland Ireland
Joe Atkinson Flanker England England
Rory Bartle Flanker Wales Wales
Danny Kenny Flanker Ireland Ireland
Matt Marley Flanker Wales Wales
Sam Ripper-Smith (D/R) Flanker England England
Ifereimi Boladau Number 8 Fiji Fiji
Ally Miller (D/R) Number 8 Scotland Scotland
Huw Taylor (D/R) Number 8 England England
Player Position Union
Jack Cullen Scrum-half Ireland Ireland
Hugh Fraser (D/R) Scrum-half Scotland Scotland
Ed Hoadley Scrum-half England England
Jamie Stevenson Scrum-half Scotland Scotland
George Cullen Fly-half England England
Hary Sheppard Fly-half England England
Alec Coombes Centre Scotland Scotland
Robbie Fergusson Centre Scotland Scotland
Tom Galbraith (D/R) Centre Scotland Scotland
Jason Harries Centre Wales Wales
Patrick Kelly (D/R) Centre Scotland Scotland
Ben Robbins (D/R) Wing Scotland Scotland
Matt Williams Wing England England
Craig Holland Fullback England England
Pete Lydon Fullback Ireland Ireland
Ben Rath Fullback England England

Staff

First team

Commercial

Scotland national team players

The following list of players have represented both London Scottish and the Scotland international team. London Scottish have produced more than 220 Scottish international players, which is more than any other club.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Dick Tyson, London's Oldest Rugby Clubs, p96 (JJG Publishing), 2008
  2. 1 2 3 Bath, 1997, pp86,87
  3. ↑ http://pubshistory.com/LondonPubs/StAnnsBlackfriars/QueensHead.shtm
  4. ↑ "Greene King IPA Championship Dream XV", RFU.com, 26 May 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  5. ↑ http://www.hampshirerugby.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=393&Itemid=199
  6. ↑ http://www.hampshirerugby.co.uk/national-3-south-0809-mainmenu-341.html?task=view
  7. ↑ "A Brief History". London Scottish FC. Retrieved 17 April 2014.

Bibliography

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