London Scottish F.C.
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| Full name | London Scottish Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Exiles,Scottish |
| Founded | 1878 |
| Location | Richmond |
| Ground(s) | Athletic Ground, Richmond (Capacity: 4,500) |
| President | Rod Lynch |
| Coach(es) | Simon Amor |
| League(s) | The Championship |
| 2010-2011 | 1st (National League 1) |
| Official website | |
| www.londonscottish.com |
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.
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[edit] History
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 MacKay's Tavern, London, and 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 fifteen matches they only lost four (against already well established sides, Flamingoes, Guy's Hospital, Queen's House and Wasps).[1]
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]
The club turned professional in 1996 and was playing in the top division as recently as 1999. The Professional club London Scottish Rugby was placed into administration in 1999 and a nominal merger with London Irish took place. During this period 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. By the halfway point of the following 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 original amateur club rejoined the RFU leagues at the bottom of the pyramid after effectively being relegated 9 divisions by the RFU. The club has since progressed back up through 6 divisions in 9 seasons to National Division One for the 2009-2010 season. The club shares the Athletic Ground with Richmond.
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).
London Scottish has won no major honours in the fifteens game but they did make the John Player Cup Final in 1974 where they lost 26-6 against defending champions Coventry. In the 1998/1999 season they made their one and only appearance in the Allied Dunbar Premiership. However, under coach John Steele, and with limited resources they managed to finish in a creditable 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 victories that season included:
- London Scottish 13 - 11 Bath
- Saracens 7 - 24 London Scottish
- London Scottish 27 - 17 Newcastle Falcons (against the defending champions)
That season included Scottish international stars, Simon Holmes, Derrick Lee, Ronnie Eriksson, Australians Eddie Jones, Simon Fenn and the South African Jannie de Beer.
On 14 April 2007, the club ensured promotion back to the English national leagues (National Division Three South) after an eight year absence.
On 4 April 2009, the club secured promotion to the revamped RFU National 1 Division, remaining unbeaten in the 2008/2009 season.
On 24 April 2010, the club finished second in their 1st season in National 1 Division.
On 7 May 2011, the club secured promotion to the RFU Championship for the 2011/2012 season.
London Scottish is a professional squad which are coached by Simon Amor formerly the England 7's rugby captain and managed by Colin McIntyre.
[edit] London Scottish Club Captains & League position (since 1999/2000 season)
| Season | Division | Captain | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999/2000 | Non League | Ewan Kearney | Winners London Senior Clubs Merit table |
| 2000/2001 | Herts/Middlesex 1 | Damian Lilley | Runners up Herts/Middlesex division 1 |
| 2001/2002 | London 4 NW | Steven Wichary | Champions London 4 North/West |
| 2002/2003 | London 3 NW | Magnus Macdonald | Champions London 3 North/West |
| 2003/2004 | London 2 North | David Watt | Champions London 2 North |
| 2004/2005 | London 1 | Karl Hensley | 4th London One |
| 2005/2006 | London 1 | Karl Hensley | 3rd London One |
| 2006/2007 | London 1 | Alex Alesbrook | Champions London One |
| 2007/2008 | National Division Three South | Alex Alesbrook | 4th National 3 South |
| 2008/2009 | National Division Three South | Gary Trueman | Champions National 3 South |
| 2009/2010 | National League One | Gary Trueman | 2nd National One |
| 2010/2011 | National League One | Ian McInroy | Champions National One |
[edit] London Scottish Overall League Statistics
| Season | Division | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | For | Against | Points Difference | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999/2000 | Non League | 26 | 19 | 1 | 6 | 775 | 341 | 434 | 1st | |
| 2000/2001 | Herts/Middlesex 1 | 18 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 554 | 118 | 436 | 34 | 2nd |
| 2001/2002 | London 4 NW | 18 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 533 | 214 | 319 | 28 | 1st |
| 2002/2003 | London 3 NW | 18 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 560 | 199 | 361 | 32 | 1st |
| 2003/2004 | London 2 North | 22 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 752 | 277 | 475 | 41 | 1st |
| 2004/2005 | London 1 | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 676 | 343 | 333 | 30 | 4th |
| 2005/2006 | London 1 | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 840 | 324 | 516 | 33 | 3rd |
| 2006/2007 | London 1 | 22 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 997 | 235 | 762 | 40 | 1st |
| 2007/2008 | National Division Three South | 26 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 633 | 410 | 223 | 83 | 4th |
| 2008/2009 | National Division Three South | 26 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 1092 | 328 | 764 | 120 | 1st |
| 2009/2010 | National League One | 30 | 22 | 1 | 7 | 938 | 569 | 369 | 108 | 2nd |
| 2010/2011 | National League One | 30 | 27 | 0 | 3 | 958 | 516 | 442 | 132 | 1st |
[edit] Current standings
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| Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Bonus Points | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornish Pirates | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 293 | 215 | 78 | 5 | 35 |
| 2 | Bristol | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 243 | 205 | 38 | 6 | 34 |
| 3 | London Welsh | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 286 | 195 | 91 | 7 | 33 |
| 4 | Bedford Blues | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 311 | 230 | 81 | 7 | 33 |
| 5 | Rotherham Titans | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 261 | 192 | 69 | 6 | 32 |
| 6 | Doncaster Knights | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 224 | 236 | -12 | 6 | 28 |
| 7 | Leeds Carnegie | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 209 | 248 | -39 | 2 | 26 |
| 8 | Nottingham | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 252 | 233 | 19 | 4 | 24 |
| 9 | Plymouth Albion | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 204 | 247 | -43 | 2 | 18 |
| 10 | London Scottish | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 236 | 269 | -33 | 6 | 18 |
| 11 | Moseley | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 212 | 281 | -69 | 4 | 14 |
| 12 | Esher | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 125 | 305 | -180 | 0 | 0 |
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| Green background are promotion play-off places. Pink background are relegation play-off places. |
[edit] Current Squad 2010/2011
Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under IRB eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-IRB nationality.
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Simon Amor, James Brown, Gary Trueman, Alex Clarke, Rod Penney, Guy Armitage, Elliott Daly all have AVIVA Premiership experience.
Agustin Gosio, Alfredo Lalanne are Argentinean Internationals who played at Rugby World Cup 2011
Ben MacDougall, Oli Brown, Lewis Calder and Mike Adamson have had International rugby experience for Scotland.
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- - Scotland International - Ben MacDougall
- - Argentinean International - Agustin Gosio, Alfredo Lalanne
- - England 7's International- Simon Amor, James Brown
- - Scotland 7's International- Oli Brown, Lewis Calder, Mike Adamson
- - England A or Saxons International - James Brown, Alex Clarke
[edit] Notable former Scotland International players
London Scottish have produced more than 220 Scottish international players which is more than any other club.
- David Bedell-Sivright
- Mike Biggar
- Al Biggar
- Norman Bruce
- Paul Burnell their most capped player for the club with 52 matches for Scotland (3 World Cups - 91, 95, 99)
- Mike Campbell-Lamerton
- Damian Cronin (2 World Cups 91,95,)
- Ronnie Eriksson
- Max Evans
- James Pringle Fisher
- Iain Fullarton
- Gavin Hastings (3 World Cups 87,91,95)
- Sandy Hinshelwood
- Simon Holmes
- Iain Laughland
- Alan Lawson
- Derrick Lee
- Kenny Logan (3 World Cups 95,99,03)
- Bill Maclagan 1st British Lion Captain 1891 (South Africa)
- David MacMyn
- Alastair McHarg - one of the many stalwarts of the club
- Iain Morrison (World Cup 95)
- Jim Shackleton
- Ian Smith Joint record Scotland try scorer with 24 tries
- Arthur Smith
- Frans ten Bos
- Rob Wainwright (World Cup 95)
- Derek White (World Cup 91)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Exiles earn promotion in England, The Scotsman, 16 April 2007
[edit] References
- Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1 86200 013 3)
- Bath, Richard (ed.) The Scotland Rugby Miscellany (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ISBN 1-905326-24-6)
- Godwin, Terry Complete Who's Who of International Rugby (Cassell, 1987, ISBN 0-7137-1838-2)
- Massie, Allan A Portrait of Scottish Rugby (Polygon, Edinburgh; ISBN 0 904919 84 6)
- ^ a b c d e Dick Tyson, London's Oldest Rugby Clubs, p96 (JJG Publishing), 2008
- ^ a b c Bath, 1997, pp86,87
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