Edinburgh Academical Football Club

Edinburgh Academical Football Club, also known as Edinburgh Accies, is a rugby union club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club is currently a member of the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish club rugby. Its home ground is Raeburn Place, in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. The team is coached by Iain Berthinussen.

Edinburgh Academical
Full nameEdinburgh Academical Football Club
UnionScottish Rugby Union
Nickname(s)Accies, Acads
Founded1857 (1857)
LocationEdinburgh, Scotland
RegionEdinburgh
Ground(s)Raeburn Place, Stockbridge, Edinburgh (Capacity: 5,000)
Coach(es)Iain Berthinussen
Captain(s)Jamie Loomes
League(s)Scottish Premiership
2021–22Scottish Premiership, 4th of 10
Team kit
Official website
www.edinburghaccies.com

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.

History

The club was formed in 1857 and is the oldest surviving football club of any code in Scotland,[1] and the second oldest rugby union club in continuous existence in the world, behind Dublin University Football Club (founded 1854). They were one of the founding members of the Scottish Rugby Union.

The team for the 1878–79 season

In the 1873–74 season, they played ten matches, and won all of them.[2]

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, Hawick and Boroughmuir. The team lost the final 24–13 to the Glasgow Hawks. The club played a match against the Barbarians in April 2008 to mark the club's 150th anniversary.[3] A book was also published that had been commissioned to celebrate the club's 150th anniversary, The Accies: The Cradle of Scottish Rugby.[4]

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 Scottish Premiership after the restructure of the Scottish league system.

Ground
Raeburn Place, home ground

The Accies' home ground, Raeburn Place, is the location of the first rugby international. Seven players of the original Scotland side were Academicals, including the captain, FJ Moncrieff.[2]

Honours

Men
  • Scottish Unofficial Championship
    • Champions (16 + 4 shared): 1865–66, 1866–67, 1867–68, 1868–69, 1870–71, 1874–75, 1876–77 (with Glasgow Academicals), 1877–78, 1878–79 (with Glasgow Academicals), 1879–80 (with Glasgow Academicals), 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
    • Champions (3): 1996–97, 2010–11, 2017–18
    • Runners–Up (2): 2007–08, 2016–17
  • Scottish National League Division Two
    • Champions (2): 1999–00, 2003–04
  • Scottish Cup
    • Runners–Up (1): 2006–07
  • Langholm Sevens
    • Champions (1): 1929
  • Melrose Sevens
    • Champions (3): 1928, 1930, 1949
  • Hawick Sevens
    • Champions (3): 1929, 1936, 1946 (jointly fielded team with Edinburgh Wanderers)
  • Gala Sevens
    • Champions (1): 2019
  • Peebles Sevens
    • Champions (3): 1947 (jointly fielded team with Edinburgh Wanderers), 1984, 1989
  • Edinburgh Charity Sevens[5]
    • Champions (5): 1929, 1932, 1933, 1942 (jointly fielded team with Edinburgh Wanderers), 1945 (jointly fielded team with Edinburgh Wanderers)
  • Highland Sevens[6]
    • Champions (9): 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1954, 1970, 1998
  • Edinburgh Borderers Sevens[7]
    • Champions (1): 1966
  • Broughton Sevens[8]
    • Champions (1): 2007
  • Lismore Sevens[9]
    • Champions (4): 1975, 1982, 1986, 1991
  • Haddington Sevens[10]
    • Champions (1): 1989
  • Edinburgh Northern Sevens[11]
    • Champions (1): 2015
  • Musselburgh Sevens[12]
    • Champions (2): 1979, 1992
  • Berwick Sevens
    • Champions (1): 2023

Women
  • Mull Sevens
    • Champions (4): 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997
  • Edinburgh Northern Sevens[13]
    • Champions (1): 2001

Notable players

British and Irish Lions

The following former Edinburgh Academical players have represented the British and Irish Lions.

  • Scotland Rodger Arneil
  • Scotland Mike Blair
  • Scotland Alf Bucher
  • Scotland Stan Coughtrie
  • Scotland Jimmy Gillespie
  • Scotland Scott Murray
  • Scotland Robert Miln Neill
  • Scotland David Sole
  • Scotland Rob Wainwright

Scotland internationalists

The following (not previously listed above) former Edinburgh Academical players have represented Scotland at full international level in rugby union.

  • Scotland John Allan
  • Scotland Lewis Bell
  • Scotland Dave Callam
  • Scotland Alexander Clay
  • Scotland Jack Crabbie
  • Scotland George Crabbie
  • Scotland David Denton
  • Scotland Francis Dods
  • Scotland John Dods
  • Scotland Cornell du Preez
  • Scotland Douglas Elliot
  • Scotland Arthur Finlay
  • Scotland James Finlay
  • Scotland Ninian Finlay
  • Scotland George Gallie
  • Scotland John Gordon
  • Scotland Ian Graham
  • Scotland Gussie Graham
  • Scotland Chris Gray
  • Scotland Ian Henderson
  • Scotland Mac Henderson
  • Scotland Hamish Inglis
  • Scotland Bulldog Irvine
  • Scotland Duncan Irvine
  • Scotland Walter Irvine
  • Scotland William Lyall
  • Scotland Donnie Macfadyen
  • Scotland John Macphail
  • Scotland George Macleod
  • Scotland Arthur Marshall
  • Scotland William Marshall
  • Scotland Hugh Martin
  • Scotland George Maxwell
  • Scotland Tommy McClung
  • Scotland John McCrow
  • Scotland Bill McEwan
  • Scotland Saxon McEwan
  • Scotland Dave McIvor
  • Scotland James Mein
  • Scotland Stuart Moffat
  • Scotland Alex Moore
  • Scotland William Morrison
  • Scotland Scott Murray
  • Scotland Brian Neill
  • Scotland George Paterson
  • Scotland Tom Philip
  • Scotland Charles Reid
  • Scotland James Reid
  • Scotland Jeremy Richardson
  • Scotland Alec Robertson
  • Scotland Duncan Robertson
  • Scotland Ernest Roland
  • Scotland Graham Ross
  • Scotland William Roughead
  • Scotland James Sanderson
  • Scotland Jock Scott
  • Scotland Hamish Shaw
  • Scotland Allen Sloan
  • Scotland Donald Sloan
  • Scotland Pat Smeaton
  • Scotland Errol Smith
  • Scotland Archibald Stewart
  • Scotland Barry Stewart
  • Scotland Jock Stewart
  • Scotland John Guthrie Tait
  • Scotland Thomas Torrie
  • Scotland Phipps Turnbull
  • Scotland Alexander Watt
  • Scotland Tom White
  • Scotland Francis Wright
  • Scotland Arthur Young

Other internationalists

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

  • South Africa Bill McEwan
  • Norway Alastair Reed

Cricket

The following former Edinburgh Academical players have represented both the Scotland rugby union team and the Scotland cricket team.[14]

Rugby league

The following have represented Scotland at full international level.

  • Scotland P. J. Solomon

References
  • Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997, ISBN 1-86200-013-1).
  • Massie, Allan A Portrait of Scottish Rugby (Polygon, Edinburgh; ISBN 0-904919-84-6).
  1. Edinburgh Accies Club History, "Edinburgh Academical Football Club History". Edinburgh Academical Football Club. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  2. Bath, p86
  3. "Barbarians: A club in touch with history". The Scotsman. 8 April 2008. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  4. Morrison, Ian (24 January 2009). "Book review: The Accies: The Cradle of Scottish Rugby". Scotland on Sunday. Archived from the original on 27 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  5. "Edinburgh Charity Sevens". 22 June 2019. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  6. "Highland Sevens". 10 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  7. "Edinburgh Borderers Sevens". 9 June 2019. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  8. "Broughton Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  9. "Lismore Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  10. "Haddington Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  11. "Edinburgh Northern Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  12. "Musselburgh Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  13. "Edinburgh Northern Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  14. Bath, Richard (ed.) The Scotland Rugby Miscellany (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ISBN 1-905326-24-6), pp 104, 105; note list shows initials not full names
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