Gordon Masson was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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 ...

player. He was the 105th President of the Scottish Rugby Union.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

He played for Gordonians. He played for a combined RAF and Royal Navy side in the RAF Services Cup in 1959. He captained the side. He was a Pilot Officer attached to the Education Department.

Provincial career

Masson played for an Aberdeen Select XV against the

Scottish Exiles Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English * Scottish national identity, the Scottish id ...

in a Christmas tie in 1959.

Administrative career

He was Secretary of the North of Scotland District union in 1969. Masson rose through the ranks in the SRU. As Treasurer he was famously opposed to the creation of a

world cup. He told

Nicholas Shehadie Sir Nicholas Michael Shehadie, (15 November 1926 – 11 February 2018) was a Lord Mayor of Sydney (1973–1975) and national representative rugby union captain, who made thirty career test appearances for Australia between 1947 and 1958. He wa ...

of Australia in 'no uncertain terms that rugby was their game and they didn't need us; a World Cup would be staged over his dead body.' Shehadie replied: 'When the World Cup is held don't bother coming.' Scotland and Ireland voted against a World Cup in 1985. New Zealand, England, Wales, Australia and France voted in favour and the World Cup thus began. England and Wales originally voted with Scotland and Ireland but switched their vote when the first vote was tied. Scotland and Ireland were fierce protectors of rugby union's amateur status. They feared - correctly - that the creation of a Rugby World Cup would lead to professionalism in the sport. By the time of 1995, when the IRB launched an investigation into professionalism in the sport headed by Louis Luyt, only one union - the Argentine Rugby Union - was not paying their players. All others, including Scotland and Ireland, were paying their players in one way or another. Masson was elected Vice-President of the SRU in 1989. Masson became the 105th President of the Scottish Rugby Union. He served the standard one year from 1991 to 1992. As part of his duties as President he had to escort Princess Anne unto the pitch 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 ...

in the 1991 World Cup. Shehadie confronted Masson and pinched him to see if he was still alive.

Outside of rugby union

Masson was a solicitor in Aberdeen.

References

Scottish rugby union players Presidents of the Scottish Rugby Union Gordonians RFC players Rugby union players from Aberdeen Rugby union scrum-halves {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-stub