The Inverleith Sports Ground 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 ...

stadium in

Inverleith Inverleith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Lìte'') is an inner suburb in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the fringes of the central region of the city. Its neighbours include Trinity to the north and the New Town to the south, with Canonmills a ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland which is the home ground of amateur club Stewart's Melville RFC and was the home ground of the

Scotland national rugby union team The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in men's international rugby union and is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship and participates in the Rugby World Cup, ...

between 1899 and 1925.

History

Land at

, at that time on the undeveloped northern fringe of

, was purchased in 1897 by 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 ...

(then the Scottish Football Union), which had previously played international matches at

Raeburn Place Raeburn Place is the main street of the suburb of Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland, and the name of the playing fields there. Rugby The first ever international rugby football game was played on the playing fields at Raeburn Place on 27 Ma ...

about further south towards the city centre; that was primarily a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

venue (although it is still used for rugby today as the home of Edinburgh Accies). Thus the organisation became the first of the ' Home Unions' to have its own ground. The first match at the new ground was played on 18 February 1899 when Scotland were defeated 9–3 by

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the

1899 Home Nations Championship The 1899 Home Nations Championship was the seventeenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 5 January and 18 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The 1899 Championship w ...

. International rugby was played at Inverleith until the early 1920s, including the first matches played at home by Scotland against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1910. Having assessed the condition of the stadium following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(when only minimal maintenance was carried out) and the poor potential for expansion to cope with larger crowds as the sport's popularity grew, the SRU decided to move to a new site and transferred operations to

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 ...

on the west side of the city. The last international at the old ground was a victory over France in the 1925 Five Nations Championship; the subsequent win over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

two months later that clinched the title and a first

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

was the first match at the new ground. Some further unofficial Scotland matches were played at Inverleith during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when Murrayfield was requisitioned for military use. The

Scotland women's national rugby union team The Scotland women's national rugby union team represents Scotland in women's international rugby union and is governed by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team competes in the annual Women's Six National Championship and has competed in five of t ...

hosted matches there occasionally in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Club rugby was initially played at Inverleith by

Stewart's College FP Stewart's College FP RFC was a Scottish rugby union club in Edinburgh. Founded The club was founded in 1875, when a match took place between the former pupils of Daniel Stewart's Hospital and George Watson's College. In 1887, the club became ...

, the forerunner to the current Stewart's Melville RFC who still play there operating out of the 1990s clubhouse adjacent to the original grandstand – the owners,

Stewart's Melville College Stewart's Melville College (SMC) is an independent day and boarding school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Classes are all boys in the 1st to 5th years and co-educational in Sixth (final) year. It has a roll of about 750 pupils. The school is twinned w ...

, have their fields for other sports in the surrounding area (they were formed by a merger of Daniel Stewart's College and Melville College, whose own sports grounds at Ferryfield, sold off for housing when the institutions merged, were immediately to the north).

Location

The stadium is located on

Ferry Road Ferry Road is one of the major roads of Edinburgh, Scotland, deriving its name from being the road from Queensferry to Leith. It runs from the eastern end of Davidson's Mains village in the west, to Leith in the east, passing through Drylaw, ...

(A902);

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...

's junior school is located a short distance to the east – much closer than Stewart's Melville College itself;

Goldenacre Goldenacre is an area in Edinburgh, Scotland, lying on and to the south of the Ferry Road, and south of Trinity. Transport links The area is well-served for local transport, with six bus services provided by Lothian Buses. Destinations includ ...

, the home of another rival school club Heriot's, is around further east. The site is within the Inverleith

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

.Inverleith Conservation Area Character Appraisal

City of Edinburgh Council The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority for the city of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland. In its current form, the counci ...

References

External links

International Rugby (1923)

British Pathé British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

(Scotland v France, silent video footage) {{Coord, 55.9698, -3.2201, display=title Sports venues completed in 1899 Rugby union stadiums in Scotland Sports venues in Edinburgh 1899 establishments in Scotland Rugby union in Edinburgh Scotland national rugby union team History of rugby union in Scotland