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Hawick Rugby Football Club:

A wee bit of history

Members of Hawick and Wilton Cricket Club met in October 1872 and decided that they should encourage their members to play football during the winter to keep fit. Some experimentation with rules took place over the next few months, with advocates of both association and rugby union football. The rugby format won as it was considered “manlier and more congenial to the Border nature than the tamer association game”. The club was formed on December 8th 1873 and played at Buccleuch Park, the home of the cricket club. In the earliest years playing dress was blue and white striped jerseys and stockings, navy “shorts” and caps. There were few games played as there were not many other rugby clubs in the area, players had difficulty being released from their work, and Edinburgh sides were seldom willing to travel down to play individual club teams.

In 1885 the rugby players reorganised themselves as Hawick Football Club, and were given the use of the Volunteer Park, just beyond the cricket pitch. New colours – dark green jerseys and stockings with white shorts – were adopted. Hawick was, in 1886, the
19th club to be admitted to membership of the Scottish Football (later Rugby) Union, the only earlier Border clubs being Langholm, Gala and Melrose. In 1888 Hawick Football Club moved to its present home, Mansfield Park, at the other end of the town. The early seasons brought keenly contested games against Edinburgh Academicals, Gala, and Watsonians, and in 1896 Hawick won their first Scottish championship. Famous players of the first fifty years included Davie Patterson, Matthew Elliot, W.E.Kyle, Wattie Sutherland, Doug Davies, Willie Welsh and Jock Beattie, internationalists all.

The years between 1945 and 1972 saw the Hawick club even more firmly established among the leaders of Scottish rugby, winning the unofficial championship eight times, taking the Border League title fifteen times, and earning fame as sevens specialists. In this period, Hugh McLeod, George Stevenson, Adam Robson, and Derrick Grant alone won 100 international caps between them, while fifteen other Greens played for their country.

The official Scottish championship began in season 1972-73 and Hawick have won the championship on twelve occasions. Since that time Hawick Rugby Football Club had maintained its prized place in Division One until season 2008-2009 when they were relegated to Division 2. The following season they were promoted back into Premier 1. Relegated again in season 2011/2012, next season Hawick bounced straight back after defeating Dundee HSFP in a memorable playoff at Meggetland to return to the top flight where they have since remained. The proud record of winning the first Border League in 1901-02 and the first Scottish championship in 1972-73 was added to in 1995-96 when the club were also first winners of the SRUTennents Scottish Cup. Indeed, in season 2001/02, the Greens completed the treble, winning the Scottish League championship, the Scottish Cup, and the Border League championship.

Colin Deans, Jim Renwick, and Tony Stanger appeared fifty two times each for Scotland, Alan Tomes forty eight times, and Hugh McLeod forty. Stuart Hogg has now won over eighty caps and is the current captain of the national team. Rory Sutherland and Darcy Graham have now joined him in the Scottish squad bringing the total number of Hawick players to have been capped for their country to sixty-one.