The Greenyards is a sports ground in

Melrose, Scottish Borders Melrose ( gd, Maolros, "bald moor") is a small town and civil parish in the Scottish Borders, historically in Roxburghshire. It lies within the Eildon committee area of Scottish Borders Council. History The original Melrose was ''Mailros'', mean ...

. It has been the home of

Melrose RFC Melrose may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Melrose, Scottish Borders, a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland ** Melrose Abbey, ruined monastery ** Melrose RFC, rugby club Australia * Melrose, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett ...

for

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 ...

matches and the annual

Melrose Sevens Melrose Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Melrose Rugby Club, at The Greenyards in Melrose, Scotland. It is the oldest rugby sevens competition in the world, dating back to 1883 when the tournament was suggested by former Melrose ...

tournament. The first ever rugby 7s matches were played at the ground in 1883. The professional side Southern Knights use it for home matches in the Super 6 competition. In 2019 the grass pitches were replaced with an artificial surface, with floodlights around the ground. The ground has a capacity of 15,000.

History

The press box dates from the 1930s. The main stand on the east side of the playing area has 1174 seats. More than 10,000 people were expected at the 2012 Melrose Sevens tournament. In late August 2016, plans were put forward for redevelopment. These plans included increasing the pitch size and improve lighting to be strong enough to cater for television coverage. In 2019 the main stand was renamed the Cairnhill Steel Solutions Stand, as part of a sponsorship deal. The installation of the 3G pitches received support from

Scottish Borders Council Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

and

Scottish Rugby 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 ...

. The official opening of the new 3G pitch with floodlights took place in November 2019. A plaque on the side of the stand in memory of

Ned Haig Ned Haig (7 December 1858 in Jedburgh, Scotland – 28 March 1939 in Melrose, Scotland, buried in Wairds Cemetery, Melrose, Scotland) was a butcher and rugby union player notable for founding the sport of rugby sevens. He moved to Melrose when ...

was officially unveiled in April 2022.

References

{{Rugby union in the Borders Rugby union stadiums in Scotland Sports venues in the Scottish Borders Rugby union in the Scottish Borders