Leith Rugby, formerly known as Leith Academicals or Leith Accies, 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 in

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

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 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 ...

History

Leith's first rugby team was formed in 1905 and played at the Quarryholes, this first incarnation was not successful however and disbanded in 1912 because most of the players had emigrated. In 1921, the Leith Academicals Rugby Football Club was formed through a grant from the Leith Academy F.P. (Former Pupils) Association on the condition that members must be former pupils of

Leith Academy Leith Academy is a state school in Leith, Edinburgh. It currently educates around 1000 pupils and around 2,800 part-time adult learners. Mike Irving has been head teacher since August 2017. History It is one of the oldest schools in Scotland, w ...

and members of the F.P. Association. The new club's first fixture was against the School with the Academy team winning 12–3. After establishing a regular first team the club moved to play at Hawkhill, Leith which had been its base right up until 1998. There were, of course, no bar facilities, and changing accommodation was difficult. Players changed in a wooden ex-army hut which had no lights, no toilets and no water. Washing for all players was at a single cold water tap at an outside stand-pipe. Annual subscription was seven shillings and sixpence (37.5p) for full members and half-a-crown (12.5p) for under-18s. There was a match levy of sixpence (2.5p). Players had to supply all their own kit and pay traveling expenses. The club gained in strength and in the 1930s was Scotland's outstanding 'Junior Club', emphasised by the inclusion of seven Leith Accies in Junior inter-city games against Glasgow and the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

. Progress beyond this level was not achieved due to lack of attendance by Scottish selectors and so, on one occasion, the seven Leith Accies called off from a representative game and played for the club. Two members, Jack Crawford and J.B.R Adam, were called to the

North British Hotel The Balmoral Hotel, originally built as the North British (Railway Station) Hotel, is a luxury hotel and landmark in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located in the heart of the city at the east end of Princes Street, the main shopping street beneath ...

where they were severely reprimanded and warned that any repetition would lead to the club being banned from all competitions. Despite the lack of selectorial interest the club did gain two international caps through J.A.T. Brown, an outstanding coach and captain: regrettably the caps were for cricket and table-tennis! For 2007 the President of the Scottish Rugby Union, George Jack, was an ex-player.,George Jack, http://www.scottishrugby.org/news/07/06/29/george-jack-elected-sru-president A successful 2011–12 season saw the club finish in second place, sadly without promotion due to league reconstruction, but the club were not to be denied and in 2012–13 the league title was secured with 16 wins from 18 matches, 109 tries scored, and with the best defence in all the RBS East leagues. David Robertson top scored with 17 tries, and captain and stand-off Doug Watters led the points table with 164. Season 2013–14 saw the club back in East League 2. Leith finished the 17/18 season in 7th place in East League 2 after a slow start to the campaign. However results improved towards the latter end of the season and the Leithers were able to win their last 5 games in a row. A new coach, Kevin Greenan, formerly of Forrester Rugby Club, has been appointed for season 18/19 as the Leithers hope to improve on last season and fight for promotion. The club plays its home games at Leith Academy School, Academy Park,

Honours

Peebles Sevens Peebles Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Peebles RFC, in Peebles, Scotland. This was one of a group of Sevens tournaments instated after the First World War extending the original Borders Spring Circuit. The Peebles Sevens began i ...

** Champions (2): 1935, 1973

References

* Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Polygon, Edinburgh; )

External links

Leith RFC website

Leith RFC Flickr Pictures

Facebook page

SRU (League Table)
* The Club Ground is at coordinates {{SRU East Leagues Rugby union teams in Scotland Rugby union in Edinburgh Sports clubs and teams in Edinburgh Leith Rugby clubs established in 1921 1921 establishments in Scotland