Harris Academy FPRFC is a

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 based in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

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 ...

, that was founded for the former pupils of

Harris Academy Harris Academy is a co-educational comprehensive school in the West End of Dundee, Scotland. Harris Academy was founded in 1885 and is the oldest state school in Dundee. Harris Academy is also one of the largest state run schools in Dundee in ...

on 5 November 1926. The club ceased to exist throughout the latter part of the 1990s and the early 2000s due to dwindling numbers. However, the club was reformed in August 2007 by former players combined with a large senior squad of players who had left the school the previous season. Those places had had a successful tour to

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

in which they beat a local club side before beinvolved beaten by a

n under 19 select squad. The club plays its home games at

Elliot Road Many arterial roads in the Phoenix metropolitan area have the same name in multiple cities or towns. Some roads change names or route numbers across town borders, resulting in occasional confusion. For example, the road known as Apache Boulevard ...

and a new partnership with the Hillcrest Bowling Club who provide a club house offering post-match food and beverages. Harris FP's currently compete in . The club are currently going through a rebuilding phase during a difficult time for rugby in Dundee with player numbers dwindling across the city. Despite this, the club committee, under the leadership of current President Mr Marc Wilson have worked tirelessly to develop the club and alongside the coaching team have increased player number to 40 registered players for the current season. The club is coached by Ryan Beattie (Head Coach) and club stalwart Kenny Clarkson (Assistant Coach) with training sessions held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at Elliot Road. Player numbers are bolstered with excellent links with the Higher Education institutions in Dundee with some excellent young players pulling on the hoops in recent years.

2008/09 season

In this season, Harris made its first real promotion fight. The club began the season by making Bruce "Brucee" Beckett Head Coach; he far exceeded their coaching expectations having been with the much better

Dundee HSFP Dundee HSFP is a former rugby union team that played their home games at the Mayfield Playing Fields, Dundee, Scotland. The club disbanded in 2021. The team was founded in 1880 by former pupils of the High School of Dundee. The men's side play ...

. Under his direction Harris narrowly missed out on promotion to Alloa RFC, and reached the 3rd round of the Scottish Cup competition where they were narrowly defeated by

Hillfoots RFC Hillfoots RFC is a Scottish rugby union club based in Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire. The club plays its home games at the Public Park in Tillicoultry History Hillfoots currently play in the Caledonia League Division 1. They run two senior X ...

(a club 3 leagues above Harris).

2007/08 season

Pre-season training began in late June for the club's first season back at competitive level. Numbers were constantly increasing in the buildup to the season, with Harris playing "friendly" warm up matches in the form of

Madras RFC Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

and an inner squad match. Coaching for this season came largely in the form of sessions taken by Kenneth Clarkson at both Elliot Road when weather permitted it and in the

boys gym. On match day Bruce Dyer (club treasurer) acted largely as the club manager. In this season the club qualified for the top half of the split, as they finished in the top half of the league after round 1 of games eventually finishing 5th in the

Caledonia 2 Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the part of Great Britain () that lies north of the River Forth, which includes most of the land area of Scotland. Today, it is used as a romantic or poetic name for all ...

proving that they were a more than adequate addition to the roster. The club reached the quarter finals of the Scottish Plate competition who were they eliminated by eventual winners

Aberdeen University RFC Aberdeen University Rugby Football Club (AURFC) is the rugby union team at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. The men's team play in ; the women's team play in the university leagues. History Acknowledged as the equal oldest rugby club i ...

. The club went on to tour to

Whitley Bay Whitley Bay is a seaside town in the North Tyneside borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It formerly governed as part of Northumberland and has been part of Tyne and Wear since 1974. It is part of the wider Tyneside built-up area, being around eas ...

and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

where they competed in a 10-a-side tournament.

Honours

* Midlands District Sevens ** Champions: 1951 * Howe of Fife Sevens ** Champions: 1979

References

;Sources # Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Polygon, Edinburgh; ) # www.harrisrugby.com # www.scottishrugby.org 1926 establishments in Scotland Scottish rugby union teams Rugby union in Dundee Rugby clubs established in 1880 {{Scotland-rugbyunion-team-stub