Hillhead Rugby Football Club is a former rugby union football club based in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Founded in 1904 as a club for former pupils of Hillhead High School, it lasted until 1988 when it merged with

Jordanhill RFC Jordanhill Rugby Football Club is a former rugby union football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded as a club for the students and former students of Jordanhill College, it lasted until 1988 when it merged with Hillhead RFC to form Hillhead ...

to form Hillhead Jordanhill RFC.

Foundation as a Sports Club

Hillhead Sports Club was formed in 1902 as a private club for former pupils of

Hillhead High School Hillhead High School is a day school in Glasgow, Scotland, on Oakfield Avenue, neighbouring the University of Glasgow. Admissions It is one of the largest schools in Glasgow. History Grammar school Until 1972 it was a co-educational selectiv ...

, catering for various sports including football, cricket, hockey and athletics.

Rugby and Scotstoun

A rugby team, Hillhead High School Former Pupils RFC, was formed in 1904. The club used the Scotstoun Showgrounds as a home until 1922.

Hughenden

The Hillhead club sought to find a permanent home after the First World War, purchasing land at

Hughenden Hughenden may refer to: *Hughenden, Queensland, a town in Australia *Hughenden, Alberta, a village in central Alberta, Canada *Hughenden Valley Hughenden Valley (formerly called Hughenden or Hitchendon) is an extensive village and civil parish in ...

in 1922. The club's new home, with its pavilion designed W. Hunter McNab, was officially opened on 24 May 1924. Due to the growing popularity of the rugby team, a grandstand was built alongside the pitch in 1934, designed by local consulting engineers FA MacDonald. The stand was built of reinforced concrete with a cantilevered roof, unusual for the time. It was first used in September 1934, for a match between Hillhead and

Glasgow Academicals The Glasgow Academical Football Club is the third oldest rugby football club in Scotland. The club was also a founder member of the Scottish Football Union (the future SRU) in 1873. History Glasgow Hawks In 1997 the decision was made to ...

Opening of the club

In 1969, the clause restricting entry to the club to former students of Hillhead High School is removed to allow better recruitment and the club formerly becomes Hillhead RFC.

Merger

The club was merged with

(the rugby club of

Jordanhill College Jordanhill Campus is an historic estate within the boundaries of Jordanhill, Glasgow, Scotland, which developed as a country estate. It is best known and most recently used as the home to the Faculty of Education of the University of Strathcl ...

) in 1988 to form

Hillhead Jordanhill RFC Hillhead Jordanhill Rugby Football Club (HJRFC) is a Scottish rugby union club based in Glasgow, Scotland. HJRFC has roots going as far back as 1904 with the formation of the Hillhead Sports Club, however, the rugby club as we know it today was ...

Club Honours

The club won the unofficial national title of Scotland in season 1933-34 (shared with Royal HSFP) and in season 1936-37 (shared with Watsonians). *

Glasgow City Sevens Glasgow City Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held by Cartha Queens Park, in Dumbreck in the south side of Glasgow. The tournament was previously known as the Cartha Sevens and the Cartha Queens Park Sevens. History The first rugb ...

** Champions (2): 1984, 1987 *

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): 1934 *

Jed-Forest Sevens Jed-Forest Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Jed-Forest RFC, in Jedburgh, Scotland. The Jed-Forest Sevens was the fourth of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated, in 1894, after the Melrose Sevens (1883), Gala Sevens (1884) ...

** Champions (1): 1937

Notable former players

Former coaches

Bill Dickinson Bill Dickinson (1917 – 7 April 1994) was a Scottish rugby union player and coach. He was appointed the first official national coach of in 1971.Bath, p133 Richard Bath points out that Dickinson's appointment made an "immediate impact" in ...

, Scotland national rugby union coach, 1971–77.

Scotland internationalists

Glasgow District players

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillhead RFC 1904 establishments in Scotland 1988 disestablishments in Scotland Defunct Scottish rugby union clubs Hillhead Rugby clubs established in 1904 Rugby union clubs disestablished in 1988 Rugby union in Glasgow Scottish rugby union teams Sports teams in Glasgow