Currie Rugby Football Club are an

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 ...

-based

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 it ...

club in 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 ...

, they currently play in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

. Despite the name, "

Currie Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: �kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edi ...

" RFC is actually based in the neighbouring suburb of

Balerno Balerno (; gd, Baile Àirneach, IPA: �paleˈɛːɾʲnəx Scots: Balerno or Balernie) is a village on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland situated south-west of the city centre, next to Currie and then Juniper Green. Traditionally in the cou ...

, and they play at Malleny Park. Currently the club run three senior sides, along with the Colts and youth rugby ages group teams.

History

The foundation of the club was initially started by six individuals; Bob Kirkwood, Jack Hogg, Roger Mclaren, Tom Chandler, David Bisset & Alex Galbraith . Having discussed the formation of a team in a local bar called the Weavers Knowe. From these discussions followed the idea to form a full rugby club in the local area. The 'six' were joined by Gordon Stewart, and given the necessary backing and, more importantly, use of the facilities at Currie High School, by the Headmaster, Ronnie Paul. Together the group sent out posters and leaflets around the Currie, Balerno and Juniper Green area calling on all interested to attend an open meeting at Curriehill School in April 1970 to 'discuss the formation of a local Rugby Club'. On the given evening 35 individuals attended and it was agreed to form a club to be called Currie Rugby Football Club, with the aim of promoting and developing the game of rugby within the area for the benefit of the sport and the community. The club officially formed in April 1970 and in October that year a team was fielded to play Gala Wanderers at Gala. For the very first game the club played in jerseys borrowed from

Boroughmuir Boroughmuir RFC is a rugby union football club in the Scottish Rugby Union. The club's home ground is Meggetland, in southwest Edinburgh and the club plays in the , where they are known as the Boroughmuir Bears. Founded in 1919 and admitted ...

. By January 1971 they were fielding two XVs and the following season a third occasionally appeared. In the season 1973–74 the SRU decided to formalise the then unofficial championship and bring in a league structure, which gave Currie the entry to Edinburgh District League, Division II. Progress and promotion followed in 1976–77. The club was promoted from the District League into the National League during the 1979–80 season, where the Club would go undefeated and scored over 1,000 points. Successive promotion to Division 6 came the next year and following league reconstruction the club was in Division 5 by the start of the 1981–82 season. The rise of the club would continue with them winning promotion in 1982–83, 1985–86 and 1986–87 to arrive in Division 2 of the National League. In 1989–90 Currie completed a remarkable rise through the leagues by finishing second in Division 2 and were promoted to Division 1 alongside Edinburgh Wanders. The club remained in the top division of Scottish Rugby until 1995 where league reconstruction saw them along with five other teams demoted into the Division 2. However, the club would bounce back the following year to win Division 2 outright regained promotion back to Division I, alongside Jed-Forest. The club have remained in the top tier of the National League ever since. In 2006–07 season Currie secured their first Division 1 championship with victory over Heriots at Goldenacre, beating

Glasgow Hawks Glasgow Hawks is an amateur rugby union team in Glasgow, Scotland. They were Premiership Division One champions for three consecutive seasons from 2003–04 to 2005–06. History In Paris on 27 August 1995 a meeting of the International Rugby ...

to the league title. It completed the fasted ever journey from club formation to League success in the history of Scottish Rugby. They would repeat this in 2009–10 beating

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...

to the title. In 2017, they rebranded as the Currie Chieftains.

Sevens

The club run the Currie Sevens tournament. The teams play for the Balerno Bowl.

Honours

* Currie Sevens ** Champions (2): 1987, 1988 *

** Champions (2): 2006–07, 2009–10 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,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 (1): 2001 *

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 ...

** Champions (1): 1991 *

Walkerburn Sevens Walkerburn Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Walkerburn RFC, in Walkerburn, Scotland. The Walkerburn Sevens was the sixth of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated, in 1911, after the bigger events of the Border Sevens sprin ...

** Champions (3): 1991, 1994, 1995 * Lochaber Sevens ** Champions (1): 1985 * Forrester Sevens ** Champions (1): 1981 * Holy Cross Sevens ** Champions (1): 1986 * Edinburgh Northern Sevens ** Champions (4): 1979, 1982, 2014, 2016 * Edinburgh District Sevens ** Champions (1): 1982

Notable former players

Dougie Fife Dougie Fife (born 8 August 1990) is a Scottish rugby union player who currently plays for the New Orleans Gold of Major League Rugby (MLR). He previously played for Edinburgh Rugby and the New England Free Jacks. Career He has represented Sc ...

* Matt Scott * Ben Cairns *

Graham Ellis Graham Ellis (born 6 April 1965) is a physical education teacher and retired Scottish rugby union player who received four caps as hooker. Early life Ellis was born in Hawick, Scotland on 6 April 1965. He was educated at Hawick High School. ...

Blair Kinghorn Blair Simon Kinghorn (born 18 January 1997) is a Scottish professional rugby union player who primarily plays fly-half for Edinburgh in the United Rugby Championship. He has also represented Scotland at international level, having made his ...

References

Currie RFC Official Website
{{Rugby union in Edinburgh Sports teams in Edinburgh Scottish rugby union teams Rugby union in Edinburgh Rugby clubs established in 1970 1970 establishments in Scotland