The Edinburgh Academical Football Club, also known as Edinburgh 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 it ...

club in

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

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The club is currently a member of 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 ...

, the top tier of Scottish club rugby. Its home ground is

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 ...

, in

Stockbridge, Edinburgh Stockbridge is a suburb of Edinburgh, located north of the city centre, bounded by the New Town and by Comely Bank. The name is Scots ''stock brig'' from Anglic ''stocc brycg'', meaning a timber bridge. Originally a small outlying village, ...

. The team is coached by Iain Berthinussen. The club regularly fields three teams and is also involved with Broughton and Trinity Accies in the Edinburgh BATs initiative, a community amateur sports club providing youth rugby across northern Edinburgh.

Early history

The club was formed in 1857 and is the oldest surviving football club of any code in Scotland,Edinburgh Accies Club History, and the second oldest rugby union club in continuous existence in the world, behind

Dublin University Football Club Dublin University Football Club (DUFC) is the rugby union club of the University of Dublin and Trinity College, in Dublin, Ireland, which plays in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League. History The first known record of the Club appears unde ...

(founded 1854). They were one of the founding members of 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 ...

. In the 1873–74 season, they played ten matches, and won all of them.

Ground

The Accies' home ground,

, is the location of the first rugby international. Seven players of the original Scotland side were Academicals, including the captain, FJ Moncrieff.Bath, p86

Recent history

In season 2007–08, the club's 1st XV finished second in Premiership Division 2, thereby securing promotion to the Premiership Division 1. That same season they experienced a successful Scottish Cup run, reaching the final with victories over Premiership 1 teams

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 ...

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one ...

and Boroughmuir. The team lost the final 24–13 to the

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 ...

. The club played a match against the Barbarians in April 2008 to mark the club's 150th anniversary. A book was also published that had been commissioned to celebrate the club's 150th anniversary, ''The Accies: The Cradle of Scottish Rugby''. In season 2009–10 the club's 1st XV was relegated to Scottish Premier Division 2 after they lost to Heriot's FP in the last game of the season and on the same day Watsonian's beat Melrose. In season 2010–11 the club were Premier 2 League champions and returned to the top level of Scottish club rugby, the Premier 1 League, for the 2011–12 season. They remained in the

after the restructure of the Scottish league system.

Honours

Men

Scottish Unofficial Championship The Scottish Unofficial Championship was the top league of Scotland's best amateur rugby union clubs. The Championship was 'unofficial' as the Scottish Rugby Union held that the sport should remain amateur and at the time did not sanction competit ...

** Champions (16 + 4 shared): 1865–66, 1866–67, 1867–68, 1868–69, 1870–71, 1874–75, 1876–77 (with

Glasgow Academicals The Glasgow Academical Football Club is the third oldest rugby football club in Scotland. The club was also a founder member of the Scottish Football Union (the future SRU) in 1873. History Glasgow Hawks In 1997 the decision was made to ...

), 1877–78, 1878–79 (with

), 1879–80 (with

), 1885–86, 1886–87, 1887–88, 1897–98, 1898–99, 1899–1900 (with Edinburgh University and Hawick), 1905–06, 1929–30, 1955–56 *

Scottish National League Division One The Scottish National League Division One (known as Tennent's National League Division 1 for sponsorship reasons) is the second tier of the Scottish League Championship for amateur rugby union clubs in Scotland. The division was established in it ...

** Champions (3): 1996–97, 2010–11, 2017–18 ** Runners–Up (2): 2007–08, 2016–17 *

Scottish National League Division Two The Scottish National League Division Two (known as Tennent's National League Division 2 for sponsorship reasons) is the third tier of the Scottish League Championship for amateur rugby union clubs in Scotland. The division was established in it ...

** Champions (2): 1999–00, 2003–04 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Langholm Sevens Langholm Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Langholm RFC, in Langholm, Scotland. The Langholm Sevens was the last of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated in 1908. Held around the end of every April, the tournament is part ...

** Champions (1): 1929 *

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 ...

** Champions (3): 1928, 1930, 1949 *

Hawick Sevens Hawick Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Hawick RFC, in Hawick, Scotland. The Hawick Sevens tournament started in 1886 and is the third extant oldest Sevens tournament in the world; behind Melrose Sevens (1883) and Gala Sevens (18 ...

** Champions (3): 1929, 1936, 1946 (jointly fielded team with

Edinburgh Wanderers Edinburgh Wanderers is a former rugby union club, founded in 1868. It was latterly a tenant of the Scottish Rugby Union, playing home fixtures at Murrayfield Stadium for nearly 75 years. In 1997 it merged with Murrayfield RFC to form Murrayfie ...

) *

Gala Sevens Gala Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Gala RFC, in Galashiels, Scotland. The Gala Sevens was the second of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated in 1884, just behind the Melrose Sevens in 1883. Held around the start of ev ...

** Champions (1): 2019 *

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 (3): 1947 (jointly fielded team with

), 1984, 1989 * Edinburgh Charity Sevens ** Champions (5): 1929, 1932, 1933, 1942 (jointly fielded team with

), 1945 (jointly fielded team with

) * Highland Sevens ** Champions (9): 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1954, 1970, 1998 * Edinburgh Borderers Sevens ** Champions (1): 1966 * Broughton Sevens ** Champions (1): 2007 * Lismore Sevens ** Champions (4): 1975, 1982, 1986, 1991 * Haddington Sevens ** Champions (1): 1989 * Edinburgh Northern Sevens ** Champions (1): 2015 * Musselburgh Sevens ** Champions (2): 1979, 1992

Women

* Mull Sevens ** Champions (4): 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997

Notable players

British and Irish Lions

The following former Edinburgh Academical players have represented the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

Scotland internationalists

The following (not previously listed above) former Edinburgh Academical players have represented

at full international level in rugby union.

Other internationalists

The following former Edinburgh Academical players have represented their nations at full international level.

Cross-Sporting internationalists

Cricket

The following former Edinburgh Academical players have represented both the Scotland rugby union team and the

Scotland cricket team The Scotland national cricket team represents the country of Scotland. They play their home matches at The Grange, Edinburgh, and also some other venues. Scotland became Associate Members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1994

.Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ), pp 104, 105; note list shows initials not full names

Rugby league

The following have represented

at full international level.

References

* Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Complete Book of Rugby'' (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ) * Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Polygon, Edinburgh; )

External links

*

'The Accies - The Cradle of Scottish Rugby' - Club history written by David Barnes {{Authority control Rugby clubs established in 1857 Scottish rugby union teams Rugby union in Edinburgh 1857 establishments in Scotland Sports teams in Edinburgh