Scottish Club Rugby - Plus Ca Change

THERE HAS been much talk this week about the future of Scottish Rugby and what the club game will look like going forward. We had the SRU announcing their strategy moving forward and recovering from the Covid pandemic, while in the columns of The Offside Line – now unquestionably Scotland's leading platform for rugby – we have had interesting pieces from Rangi Jericevich of GHA and former Scotsman Rugby Correspondent David Ferguson.

Well, here's part one of my take on things, in which I start by going backwards, to the start of league rugby, on 6 October, 1973. Back then, 48 years ago, the brand new National Leagues lined-up thus:

Division One	Division Two	Division Three	Division Four
BOROUGHMUIR	ABERDEEN GRAMMAR	ALLAN GLEN'S FP	ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY
EDINBURGH WANDERERS	AYR	BROUGHTON FP	ARDROSSAN ACADEMICALS
GALA	DUNFERMLINE	GLASGOW UNIVERSITY	CLARKSTON
GLASGOW ACADEMICALS	EDINBURGH ACADEMICAL	GORDONIANS	DUNDEE HSFP
GLASGOW HSFP	EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY	KELVINSIDE ACADEMICALS	GREENOCK WANDERERS
HAWICK	HILLHEAD HSFP	KILMARNOCK	HADDINGTON
HERIOT'S	HUTCHESON'S GSFP	LEITH ACADEMICALS	HIGHLAND
JORDANHILL	JED-FOREST	MUSSELBURGH	HOWE OF FIFE
LANGHOLM	KELSO	OLD GRAMMARIANS	KIRKCALDY
MELROSE	ROYAL HSFP	PERTHSHIRE	MADRAS COLLEGE FP
WATSONIANS	STEWART'S-MELVILLE FP	TRINITY ACADEMICALS	MARR
WEST OF SCOTLAND	SELKIRK		PANMURE

When league rugby resumes on 4 September, the National Leagues line-up will be:

Premiership	National One	National Two	National Three
ABERDEEN GRAMMAR	AYR	DUNFERMLINE	ARDROSSAN ACADEMICALS
CURRIE CHIEFTAINS	BIGGAR	FALKIRK	BERWICK
EDINBURGH ACADEMICAL	CARTHA-QUEEN'S PARK	GHK	GREENOCK WANDERERS
GHA	DUNDEE HSFP	GLASGOW ACADEMICALS	HILLHEAD-JORDANHILL
GLASGOW HAWKS	GALA	GORDONIANS	HOWE OF FIFE
HAWICK	HERIOT'S BLUES	HAMILTON	LASSWADE
JED-FOREST	HIGHLAND	KIRKCALDY	MURRAYFIELD WANDERERS
MARR	KELSO	NEWTON STEWART	PERTHSHIRE
MUSSELBURGH	MELROSE	PEEBLES	STRATHMORE
SELKIRK	STIRLING COUNTY WOLVES	PRESTON LODGE	WEST OF SCOTLAND
		STEWART'S-MELVILLE FP
		WHITECRAIGS

Back in 1973, we had 47 “National League clubs,” playing in four divisions. This year we have 42 “National League clubs” still playing in four divisions.

We have lost the three university sides, who now direct their attentions to the UK-wide British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) competitions. In addition amalgamations have done for some other clubs: Hutcheson's GSFP and Clarkston are now GHA, Hillhead High School FP and Jordanhill have combined too. Glasgow Accies and GHK – already an amalgamation of Glasgow High School FP and Kelvinside Academicals briefly combined to form Glasgow Hawks, before some of the backwoodsmen either side of the Anniesland hedge decided they preferred to be separate clubs again.

Any way, this has led us to today's situation whereby 33 of the 47 NL clubs of 1973 still have a presence in the National Leagues today – a survival rate of 70%. I have highlighted the surviving clubs in red in the second table above. Hawks, I outlined in purple since they were the outcome of an amalgamation, since superceded.

Fourteen clubs have fought their way up from the District Leagues of 48 years ago. Currie has risen highest, advancing from the Edinburgh District League to the Premiership. Stirling County Wolves have gone from playing friendlies to National League One – although, we must remember, the Wolves are the second team at Bridgehaugh, the County first team is one of the six FOSROC Super6 franchises, along with Ayrshire Bulls (Ayr), Boroughmuir, Heriot's, Southern Knights (Melrose) and Watsonians.

Cartha-Queen's Park is now an NL1 club, whereas, back in 1973 the then separate Cartha and Queen's Park clubs were in Division V West of the new leagues – one tier down from a truly national league. A further nine clubs: Falkirk, Hamilton, Newton Stewart (who didn't exist in 1973), Peebles, Preston Lodge and Whitecraigs, all of National League 2 and Berwick, Lasswade and Strathmore of National League 3, have risen through the ranks to today's higher status.

But, whereas these are success stories, spare a thought for Langholm, original members of Division One, Allan Glen's, Broughton, Kilmarnock, Leith Academicals, Old Grammarians and Trinity Academicals of the original Division Three, plus Haddington, Madras College FP and Panmure, of the foundation Division Four, all of whom have fallen on harder times and are now playing in the regional leagues.

Mind you, that 70% survival rate over 48 years might persuade the casual observer that predestination, that old Presbytirian tenet, so beloved of the likes of Burns' Holy Wullie, actually still holds firm in 21^st century Scottish rugby.

If I was connected to any of the clubs in National Leagues 2 and 3, I'd be enjoying this status while my club still enjoyed it – because, if fear your days of basking in National league status may be short.

After he announced the SRU's strategy for the next three years, earlier this week, TCD sat down with the press and answered some pointed questons. I refer readers to David Barnes' excellent piece on this Q & A in The Offside Line, particularly section 6, wherein The Great Leader discusses the future of Super6.

Clearly Super8 is coming, with the smart money on a Glasgow franchise and London Scottish getting involved to join the six existing franchises. But, TCD also speculates, saying: “The ecosystem has got to expand. We’re looking at Super8, probably Super10, even Super12 as it gets stronger and stronger. It depends on depth of talent and economics. Once you have a broadcaster in place you’ll find there’s a natural acceleration of how that competition is perceived by the public.”

Two or three paragraphs on, he added: “Maybe Super6 will be the model with more than one league, with a second division. I don’t know. It’s not meant to disenfranchise, it’s meant to show the standards that’s required to be a performance path.”

There you have it, Murrayfield thinking. Maybe five or ten years down the line, we could see two divisions of semi-professional Super Rugby, under-pinning the fully-professional game. Below that would be the club game, which the SRU sees as being strictly amateur.

Suppose the Super second division includes one team in Aberdeen, one in Dundee, one in Greater Glasgow, at least a couple in the Borders, maybe Highland, that's going to take a huge chunk out of the National Leagues, might the amateur clubs left be better off playing in regionalised competitions?

If that was the case – then you are making a case for District representative teams, if only to allow the franchised Super Rugby teams assess the quality of the players at a lower level whom they maybe missed first time round.

Mind you, I sense self-interest being behind the support for a return to District games. If the alternative to being a third or fourth tier National League team is a down-grade to a Regional team, then some clubs, with fading delusions of grandeur will still want to cling on to National League status – and if a return to the Districts brings that about, they are all for it.

Another reason we are given for bringing back the Districts is a belief that somehow we will, by ditching Super Rugby for a return to Districts – bring the big name players back to the club game.

Rubbish! Ok, back in the day, British Lions such as Gordon Brown, Andy Irvine, the Hastings brothers and “Semmit and Drawers” or John Rutherford and Roy Laidlaw would be seen playing for their clubs.

Today, if Rory Sutherland was to be named in a Hawick team, Zander Fagerson named at tight-head for Glasgow Hawks or Ali Price playing scrum-half for Ayr, the wails of anguish and cries of “unfair” from potential opponents would be deafening.

The other clubs don't want to see otherwise idle Super6 players turning out for their parent club's “Club XV” in NL1 – so they are not going to allow full-time professionals to do this, are they?

We are facing a major change in how Scottish Rugby operates. When, I don't know, but, it will be sooner rather than later. Some clubs will win out of it, others will lose. It is coming, but, I can guarantee, a return to District play, as we understood it in the past – ain't going to happen.

I will be commenting further on this issue in the days and weeks to come.

Once again, apologies for the shite show of the two tables. They look ok when I preview the post, but, when I hit publish, they come outas the mess you see above. I've tried everything I know, but, cannot get them to display properly. And yes, it has already been pointed out, I've left-out Boroughmuir and Watsonians from the 2021 table. A rush of shite to the brain is my only excuse.