Jim Aitken (born 22 November 1947) is a British businessman and former

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 ...

international

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. His regular playing position was Prop.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Aitken played for his hometown club

Penicuik Penicuik ( ; sco, Penicuik; gd, Peighinn na Cuthaig) is a town and former burgh in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River North Esk. It lies on the A701 midway between Edinburgh and Peebles, east of the Pentland Hills. Na ...

, before moving to First Division

Gala Gala may refer to: Music * ''Gala'' (album), a 1990 album by the English alternative rock band Lush *''Gala – The Collection'', a 2016 album by Sarah Brightman *GALA Choruses, an association of LGBT choral groups *''Gala'', a 1986 album by Th ...

. He was the Gala Captain for their 3 League Championships in 1979/80, 80/81 and 82/83.

Provincial career

Aitken was capped by

South of Scotland South of Scotland may refer to: * The southern portion of Scotland ** Geography of Scotland * South of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region) * South of Scotland (European Parliament constituency) * South of Scotland District (rugby union) ...

. Aitken played for

Scotland Probables 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 ...

in the Trial match against

Scotland Possibles 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 ...

on 11 January 1975.

International career

Aitken was capped twice by Scotland 'B' - in 1975 and 1976 against France 'B' - before receiving a full senior cap. Aitken won 24 international

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and scored one

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

, playing at loose head

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

, between 1977 and 1984, and captained the Scottish

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 ...

side in the

1984 Five Nations Championship The 1984 Five Nations Championship was the fifty-fifth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the ninetieth series of the northern hemisphere rugby un ...

. Aitken won his first cap for Scotland at the age of 29 against England in 1977, but was then replaced by the legendary two-time Lion,

Ian McLauchlan John McLauchlan (born 14 April 1942), known as Ian McLauchlan, is a former Scotland international rugby union player.Bath, p147 Nicknamed Mighty Mouse, he represented Scotland at loosehead prop from 1969 to 1979.Massie, p168 Rugby union care ...

, because of concerns about his scrummaging. After working hard on his technique, he returned in 1981 and played 21 of the next 24 tests. He captained Scotland to victory against England at Twickenham in 1983, Scotland's first win there since 1971. He played in Scotland's 25–25 draw against New Zealand, still the closest that Scotland have ever come to beating the All Blacks. The next season, Scotland won the Grand Slam under his guidance, and he scored a crucial try against Wales to set up a winner-takes-all match versus France, which Scotland won 21–12. It was Scotland's first Grand Slam since 1925. He played one more game for Scotland against Romania before retiring with a Scotland captaincy record of played 7, won 5, drew 1, lost 1. A magnificent achievement to be remembered as one of Scotland's most successful ever skippers. In recent years he has been critical of the state of Scottish rugby, describing it as "a mess", particularly former Scotland coaching duo, Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer.

Business career

Aitken underachieved at High School but graduated from Edinburgh College of Commerce. He is now a successful businessman, owning one of Scotland's largest grain merchants and having sold his previous company, Scotmalt, in 2003. In 2009, he donated £100,000 to the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, becoming the second-largest donor to the Scottish branch of the party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aitken, Jim 1947 births Living people Gala RFC players Penicuik RFC players Rugby union players from Penicuik Scotland 'B' international rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players Scotland Probables players Scottish Conservative Party Scottish rugby union players South of Scotland District (rugby union) players Rugby union props