Edinburgh Academical Football Club
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Full name | Edinburgh Academical Football Club | |
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Union | Scottish Rugby Union | |
Nickname(s) | Accies, Acads | |
Founded | 1857 | |
Location | Edinburgh, Scotland | |
Region | Edinburgh | |
Ground(s) | Raeburn Place, Stockbridge, Edinburgh (Capacity: 5,000) | |
Coach(es) | Iain Berthinussen | |
Captain(s) | Jamie Loomes | |
League(s) | Scottish Premiership | |
2021–22 | Scottish Premiership, 4th of 10 | |
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Official website | ||
www |
Edinburgh Academical Football Club, also known as Edinburgh Accies, is a rugby union club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club is currently a member of the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish club rugby. Its home ground is Raeburn Place, in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. The team is coached by Iain Berthinussen.
The club regularly fields three teams and is also involved with Broughton and Trinity Accies in the Edinburgh BATs initiative, a community amateur sports club providing youth rugby across northern Edinburgh.
History
[edit]The club was formed in 1857 and is the oldest surviving football club of any code in Scotland,[1] and the second oldest rugby union club in continuous existence in the world, behind Dublin University Football Club (founded 1854). They were one of the founding members of the Scottish Rugby Union.
![](http://up.wiki.x.io/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Edimburgh_academicals_1878.jpg/220px-Edimburgh_academicals_1878.jpg)
In the 1873–74 season, they played ten matches, and won all of them.[2]
In season 2007–08, the club's 1st XV finished second in Premiership Division 2, thereby securing promotion to the Premiership Division 1. That same season they experienced a successful Scottish Cup run, reaching the final with victories over Premiership 1 teams Currie, Hawick and Boroughmuir. The team lost the final 24–13 to the Glasgow Hawks. The club played a match against the Barbarians in April 2008 to mark the club's 150th anniversary.[3] A book was also published that had been commissioned to celebrate the club's 150th anniversary, The Accies: The Cradle of Scottish Rugby.[4]
In season 2009–10 the club's 1st XV was relegated to Scottish Premier Division 2 after they lost to Heriot's FP in the last game of the season and on the same day Watsonian's beat Melrose.
In season 2010–11 the club were Premier 2 League champions and returned to the top level of Scottish club rugby, the Premier 1 League, for the 2011–12 season. They remained in the Scottish Premiership after the restructure of the Scottish league system.
Ground
[edit]The Accies' home ground, Raeburn Place, is the location of the first rugby international. Seven players of the original Scotland side were Academicals, including the captain, FJ Moncrieff.[2]
Honours
[edit]Men
[edit]- Scottish Unofficial Championship
- Champions (16 + 4 shared): 1865–66, 1866–67, 1867–68, 1868–69, 1870–71, 1874–75, 1876–77 (with Glasgow Academicals), 1877–78, 1878–79 (with Glasgow Academicals), 1879–80 (with Glasgow Academicals), 1885–86, 1886–87, 1887–88, 1897–98, 1898–99, 1899–1900 (with Edinburgh University and Hawick), 1905–06, 1929–30, 1955–56
- Scottish National League Division One
- Champions (3): 1996–97, 2010–11, 2017–18
- Runners–Up (2): 2007–08, 2016–17
- Scottish National League Division Two
- Champions (2): 1999–00, 2003–04
- Scottish Cup
- Runners–Up (1): 2006–07
- Langholm Sevens
- Champions (1): 1929
- Melrose Sevens
- Champions (3): 1928, 1930, 1949
- Hawick Sevens
- Champions (3): 1929, 1936, 1946 (jointly fielded team with Edinburgh Wanderers)
- Gala Sevens
- Champions (1): 2019
- Peebles Sevens
- Champions (3): 1947 (jointly fielded team with Edinburgh Wanderers), 1984, 1989
- Edinburgh Charity Sevens[5]
- Champions (5): 1929, 1932, 1933, 1942 (jointly fielded team with Edinburgh Wanderers), 1945 (jointly fielded team with Edinburgh Wanderers)
- Highland Sevens[6]
- Champions (9): 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1954, 1970, 1998
- Edinburgh Borderers Sevens[7]
- Champions (1): 1966
- Broughton Sevens[8]
- Champions (1): 2007
- Lismore Sevens[9]
- Champions (4): 1975, 1982, 1986, 1991
- Haddington Sevens[10]
- Champions (1): 1989
- Edinburgh Northern Sevens[11]
- Champions (1): 2015
- Musselburgh Sevens[12]
- Champions (2): 1979, 1992
- Berwick Sevens
- Champions (1): 2023
Women
[edit]- Mull Sevens
- Champions (4): 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997
- Edinburgh Northern Sevens[13]
- Champions (1): 2001
Notable players
[edit]British and Irish Lions
[edit]The following former Edinburgh Academical players have represented the British and Irish Lions.
Scotland internationalists
[edit]The following (not previously listed above) former Edinburgh Academical players have represented Scotland at full international level in rugby union.
John Allan
Lewis Bell
Dave Callam
Alexander Clay
Jack Crabbie
George Crabbie
David Denton
Francis Dods
John Dods
Cornell du Preez
Douglas Elliot
Arthur Finlay
James Finlay
Ninian Finlay
George Gallie
John Gordon
Ian Graham
Gussie Graham
Chris Gray
Ian Henderson
Mac Henderson
Hamish Inglis
Bulldog Irvine
Duncan Irvine
Walter Irvine
William Lyall
Donnie Macfadyen
John Macphail
George Macleod
Arthur Marshall
William Marshall
Hugh Martin
George Maxwell
Tommy McClung
John McCrow
Bill McEwan
Saxon McEwan
Dave McIvor
James Mein
Stuart Moffat
Alex Moore
William Morrison
Scott Murray
Brian Neill
George Paterson
Tom Philip
Charles Reid
James Reid
Jeremy Richardson
Alec Robertson
Duncan Robertson
Ernest Roland
Graham Ross
William Roughead
James Sanderson
Jock Scott
Hamish Shaw
Allen Sloan
Donald Sloan
Pat Smeaton
Errol Smith
Archibald Stewart
Barry Stewart
Jock Stewart
John Guthrie Tait
Thomas Torrie
Phipps Turnbull
Alexander Watt
Tom White
Francis Wright
Arthur Young
Other internationalists
[edit]The following former Edinburgh Academical players have represented their nations at full international level.
Cross-Sporting internationalists
[edit]Cricket
[edit]The following former Edinburgh Academical players have represented both the Scotland rugby union team and the Scotland cricket team.[14]
Rugby league
[edit]The following have represented Scotland at full international level.
References
[edit]- Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997, ISBN 1-86200-013-1).
- Massie, Allan A Portrait of Scottish Rugby (Polygon, Edinburgh; ISBN 0-904919-84-6).
- ^ Edinburgh Accies Club History, "Edinburgh Academical Football Club History". Edinburgh Academical Football Club. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
- ^ a b Bath, p86
- ^ "Barbarians: A club in touch with history". The Scotsman. 8 April 2008. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
- ^ Morrison, Ian (24 January 2009). "Book review: The Accies: The Cradle of Scottish Rugby". Scotland on Sunday. Archived from the original on 27 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
- ^ "Edinburgh Charity Sevens". 22 June 2019. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ "Highland Sevens". 10 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ "Edinburgh Borderers Sevens". 9 June 2019. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ "Broughton Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ "Lismore Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ "Haddington Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ "Edinburgh Northern Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ "Musselburgh Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ "Edinburgh Northern Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ Bath, Richard (ed.) The Scotland Rugby Miscellany (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ISBN 1-905326-24-6), pp 104, 105; note list shows initials not full names
External links
[edit]- Official website
- 'The Accies – The Cradle of Scottish Rugby' – Club history written by David Barnes