Civil War Has Broken Out In Gala

TODAY'S blog post will perhaps be best listened to with Dvorak's “Largo”, the second movement of his “New World” symphony, playing in the background. This haunting piece of music is perhaps better-known as the background theme to the legendary “Hovis” advert on TV – the one with the wee boy pushing his baker's bike up the cobbled hill, while the Black Dyke Mills Band (or was it the Grimethorpe Colliery Band?) plays in the background.

The way it was, Hawick v Gala in February 2017, the day the Greens relegated the Braw Lads

(Picture courtesy of Rob Gray) 

Yes folks, we are going back to the days of “It's Aye Been – and aye will be,” as uncivil war breaks out in the Borders. The battle, this time, is in Galashiels, where Gala YM has reacted angrily to what they see as an attempted take-over by the big boys of Gala RFC.

Gala, for so long a powerhouse in the Scottish game, have been in disarray for some years. In season 2015-16, they had to beat Marr 22-10 in the promotion/relegation play-off, to preserve their Premiership status. In 2016-17, they won a mere four matches all season, and were relegated down to National League 1.

There, last season, they finished sixth, 40 points off the blistering pace set by top two Edinburgh Academicals and Jed-forest. This season, after five rounds of games, the Braw Lads are again lying in sixth place, with three wins and two losses, in a very-competitive division.

So, Gala RFC's travails are not exactly a new phenomenon. The current sixth place for the big team in Gala, and a 47-55 home defeat at the hands of Musselburgh, last time out, is not the only sign of distress for the game there.

Gala YM may play in maroon and white, but, that team, currently lying seventh in the ten team East Division 2 is resolutely independent of the Netherdate club – a point I will return to.

 The Gala YM team group from their club website

Gala A, the nominated Gala reserve side, is currently ninth in the ten team East Reserve League, Division 1, and struggling to fulfil fixtures. And there is no immediate sign of reinforcements riding to the rescue.

Gala lies bottom of the SRU's Warrior Borders Towns youth conference. The Under-18 Gala Wanderers have lost all three games, amidst rumours of its early demise. Red Triangle, the Under-16 team is also winless after three rounds of games, propping-up the table, a position also occupied by the Galashiels Academy Under-15 team.

However, the Under-14 and Under- 13 Galashiels Academy teams have both won all three of their games, beating Hawick High School, Selkirk High School and Jedburgh Grammar School, so, the future is bright, perhaps, if they can hold onto this young talent.

However, to the current moger. Some things we know:

• The “war” between Gala and Gala YM has been rumbling-on for two or three years
  
  
• Gala has, over this period, been struggling at first team level, and at Reserve team level
  
  
• Gala were thrown-out of the Reserve League last season for non-fulfilment of fixtures, and they are struggling again this season
  
  
• All efforts to find a compromise or common ground have failed

YM accuse Gala of an attempted “hijack” of their players last season, in an effort to solve their second XV problem. They say Gala threatened to dual-register all the Gala players with another club, to deny YM possible access to them.

Prior to this season, Gala announced they would be running two XVs, and during the close season, there were a series of meetings between officials of Gala and Gala YM, in an effort to solve the impasse.

A protocol was agreed, whereby certain players in key positions, such as the front row, would be dual-registered, so that YM could continue in East 2, and Gala could field a second team. YM were then under the impression, they would be the principal team in this arrangement, East 2 being a higher league than the East Reserve League 1.

However, a spate of injuries etc in the early games showed there were flaws in this system, and the shortage of players was quickly apparent. In an effort to solve this crisis they tried playing the 2^nd XV fixture on a Friday night and the YM one on Saturday, but, prop burn-out immediately became a factor.

YM claim: "The general thinking is that the second XV experiment has failed," and both clubs (Gala and YM) are struggling through a shortage of bodies. Last Saturday both clubs could only put three players on the bench, so, as YM say: “At least, everyone is getting a game.”

Now, however, Gala have ramped-up the pressure. They are demanding, their second team has precedence over YM first team, and the dual-registered players are:”theirs.”

This week, Gala issued what YM are seeing as an ultimatum:

• YM must leave East League 2 immediately
  
  
• YM must commit to playing in the 2^nd XV league as Gala 2s
  
  
• YM players must affiliate to Gala and be coached and selected by Gala RFC
  
  
• Failure to comply will result in Gala RFC withdrawing all support from Gala YM

This did not go down well with YM, and a member of that club told me:

“Not only is this flawed from a regulatory and registration stand point but it fails to acknowledge that in excess of 90% of the Gala YM players do not want to be involved with Gala RFC as they have seen the poisonous atmosphere and culture propagated by a few individuals with herculean egos. For the avoidance of doubt Gala RFC do not provide as much as a pair of socks to the YM which is financially and physically completely independent so what will be withdrawn is not exactly clear.

In a possible first, there was a unanimous agreement at a rugby club that a proposition should be well and truly kicked into touch without any further discussion or consideration.

Gala RFC are lucky to have probably the best facilities in the region, excellent coaching staff, some great 1^st XV players but the whole club sits on the precipice of disaster due to the arrogance and megalomania of a few committee members who dwell on conflicts and allegiances from 30 years ago and others who have never been involved in a rugby club before and really just fancy swanning around in a blazer at the weekend to make up for some other shortcoming.

Intimidation and bullying (or at least trying to) is not the way forward and will result in fewer players staying or joining the club to play for the 1^st XV.”

A harsh view, perhaps, but it does demonstrate how seriously they take their rugby down there in the Borders badlands.

As one Border worthy, from another of the toons, remarked, when I mentioned this case to him:

Gregor Townsend playing for Gala - might he or Chris Paterson, or both, be able to knock heads together

“They should maybe get Chris Paterson and Gregor Townsend down to knock some heads together. Or, they could lock everyone in the committee room at Netherdale and not let them out until they had signed a legally-binding agreement on what was to be done to sort this out once and for all.”

Another keen observer, watching from afar, said: “Sadly, while there appears to be a divisive clash of personalities in Gala, Scottish Rugby needs a strong Gala and a strong Hawick, in fact, a strong Borders rugby scene, which, at the moment we don't have. Today, playing 'fur the toon' doesn't appear to be an attractive proposition.”

I think this story will run, and, looking ahead to Super-6, I don't think such arguments as this will be confined to Gala, as “fewer but stronger” kicks in.