Edinburgh Wanderers is a former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club, founded in 1868. It was latterly a tenant of the

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...

, playing home fixtures at

Murrayfield Stadium Murrayfield Stadium (known as BT Murrayfield Stadium for sponsorship reasons, or popularly as Murrayfield) is a Rugby stadium located in the Murrayfield area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has a seating capacity of 67,144 making it the largest sta ...

for nearly 75 years. In 1997 it merged with

Murrayfield RFC Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often conside ...

to form

Murrayfield Wanderers Murrayfield Wanderers Football Club is a rugby union side based in Edinburgh, Scotland, founded by the merger of Edinburgh Wanderers and Murrayfield RFC Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland ...

Formation

The rugby club was formed in 1868. The club was initially known as St. Andrew's Wanderers, as it was formed by St. Andrew's University graduates based in Edinburgh.

Early history

The club quickly became known as Edinburgh Wanderers - and the side established itself as one of the best in Scotland. In the world's first provincial match - between Glasgow District and Edinburgh District - in 1872, the side was already known as Edinburgh Wanderers and provided 3 players to the first Edinburgh District side:- A. Ross; J. Forsyth and A. R. Stewart The club would have been the ninth founding club of the

had the club secretary made it to the inauguration meeting of the union in 1872. Instead it initially joined the English Rugby Union in that same year. However a year later as the Scottish Rugby Union grew, the Wanderers resigned from the English union to join the SRU. The Wanderers team of 1876-77 is noted as one of the best in its history. In 1937 Wanderers provided both captains, Ross Logan and

Idwal Rees John Idwal Rees (25 July 1910 – 31 August 1991) was a Welsh international rugby union centre who played club rugby for Swansea and Cambridge University. He was capped 14 times for Wales captaining the team on two occasions. Personal history Re ...

, in the Scotland v Wales fixture that year. This remains the only time in the history of rugby that opposing international captains were, at the same time, teammates at club level.

Renaming and admission of MRFC members

At a Special General Meeting in 1997 Wanderers changed their name for a second time to become

Murrayfield Wanderers FC Murrayfield Wanderers Football Club is a rugby union side based in Edinburgh, Scotland, founded by the merger of Edinburgh Wanderers and Murrayfield RFC Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland ...

. This was to facilitate the merger of the

. The Club then invited the members of

to join the renamed organisation and this proposal was accepted at an SGM of MRFC shortly thereafter. For the subsequent history of

see:

Honours

* Scottish Division 2 winners: 1990. * Scottish Division 3 winners: 1984. *

Hawick Sevens Hawick Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Hawick RFC, in Hawick, Scotland. The Hawick Sevens tournament started in 1886 and is the third extant oldest Sevens tournament in the world; behind Melrose Sevens (1883) and Gala Sevens (18 ...

** Champions (1): 1946 (jointly fielded team with

Edinburgh Academicals The 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 Pl ...

) *

Melrose Sevens Melrose Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Melrose Rugby Club, at The Greenyards in Melrose, Scotland. It is the oldest rugby sevens competition in the world, dating back to 1883 when the tournament was suggested by former Melrose ...

** Champions (1): 1973 *

Peebles Sevens Peebles Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Peebles RFC, in Peebles, Scotland. This was one of a group of Sevens tournaments instated after the First World War extending the original Borders Spring Circuit. The Peebles Sevens began i ...

** Champions (1): 1947 (jointly fielded team with

) * Edinburgh Charity Sevens ** Champions (5 outright): 1942 & 1945 (both years a jointly fielded team with

), 1953, 1966, 1967, 1973, 1974 * Royal HSFP Sevens ** Champions (2): 1971, 1988 * Portobello Sevens ** Champions (1): 1982 * Moray Sevens ** Champions (1): 1968 * Kirkcaldy Sevens ** Champions (1): 1970 * Howe of Fife Sevens ** Champions (4): 1970, 1973, 1988, 1989 * Stirling Sevens ** Champions (1): 1984 * Greenock Sevens ** Champions (6): 1960, 1961, 1962, 1973, 1978, 1986 * Ardrossan Sevens ** Champions (1): 1965 * Edinburgh Northern Sevens ** Champions (1): 1990, 1992, 1997

Notable former players

British and Irish Lions

The following former Edinburgh Wanderers players have represented the British and Irish Lions.

Scotland internationalists

The following former Edinburgh Wanderers players have represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

at full international level.

Notable non-Scottish players

The following is a list of notable non-Scottish international representative former Edinburgh Wanderers players:

Edinburgh District players

The following former Edinburgh Wanderers players have represented Edinburgh District at provincial level.

Professional players

Professionalism began in rugby union in 1995 - and in Scotland it came a year later in 1996. These players went on from the Wanderers to professional teams: * Murray Craig

Notable also outside of rugby

The following is a list of notable former Edinburgh Wanderers players who have achieved notability in fields outwith rugby: *

Roy Williamson Roy Murdoch Buchanan Williamson (25 June 1936 – 12 August 1990) was a Scottish people, Scottish songwriter and folk musician, most notably with The Corries. Williamson is best known for writing "Flower of Scotland", which has become the de fa ...

- Songwriter and folk musician of

The Corries The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. The group was a trio from their formation until 1966 when founder Bill Smith left the band but Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne continued ...

References

{{Rugby union in Edinburgh Rugby union in Edinburgh 1868 establishments in Scotland Rugby clubs established in 1868 Scottish rugby union teams Defunct Scottish rugby union clubs