History

1970 Formation

November 17th, 1970 was a momentous date in the long history of the Royal and Ancient Burgh of Linlithgow, as on that day, in the confines of the back bar of the Star and Garter Hotel, there was formed the present day Linlithgow Rugby Football Club. The impetus for the creation was a desire by the West Lothian Cricket Club to utilise their facilities at Boghall over the winter months and it was their chairman, Cecil Kerr, who called the meeting at which nineteen of those present pledged the sum of five shillings each to fund the embryonic organisation. A constitution was written, based largely on that of Hawick RFC, a rugby ball was purchased and strips were obtained from the Grangemouth ICI Club.

The first match took place on Saturday 21st November 1970 against another newly formed club “Currie RFC” from the outskirts of Edinburgh. As neither team had its own pitch yet, the match took place at Currie High School, with Currie running out 19-3 winners. Fittingly, the first points scored by the new Linlithgow team came through an interception try by Club Captain John Cotton. Yes, it was still the era of the 3 point try!

A Home of Our Own

On account of sustained pressure, West Lothian Council, in 1980, eventually agreed to lease to the Club just over four acres of Mains Park on which the members were permitted to create a pitch and build a clubhouse with changing facilities. The first game at the new venue was played against Portobello on September 12th 1981 – the ball being ceremonially kicked off by Provost David Cook. Work on the Clubhouse began in the summer of 1982 and, with eyes to the future, the posts were taken down at Springfield and fund-raising for a new club venue began.

An incredible effort saw over £95,000 being raised within the first year and KR Joiners of Auchterarder set about completing the new facilities, to a design by the architectural firm of David Le Sueur Partnership. The build was made possible by a loan of £35,000 from Tennent Caledonian Brewers and smaller amounts from West Lothian District Council and the Sports Council. This was the first time that land developed by the Scottish Development Agency had been leased to a private club. A condition of the initial 31-year lease was that a chain link fence, almost 4 metres tall, had to be erected along Mains Road.

The new Clubhouse was officially opened in 1983 by George Thomson, President of the Scottish Rugby Union.

The original Clubhouse consisted of two changing rooms, a set of showers, with Club Lounge and bar. After-match food was served through a hatch from a small kitchen which adjoined the bar cellar. The extent of the original Clubhouse can be best seen from pitchside, as there was originally only one window on the railway line side of the external doors.

Development of facilities

As the Club grew with more players playing the game and more teams turning out, the need for more facilities both in terms of pitches and changing facilities became apparent.

After some negotiation with the Council, in 1992 the Club was granted permission to use the lower Mains Park pitch – a result of football being moved from the ground to new playing areas next to the Kettilstoun Sports Centre. Around the same time, an extension was added to the Clubhouse, largely masterminded by Ian Gibson, and this brought improved changing facilities, a larger lounge (an additional two windows worth and fitted out with a dance floor) and a new dedicated kitchen with full facilities.

The Club could now handle two home matches comfortably, with sufficient player changing rooms and separate facilities for referees and for first aid, plus a small office. It could also entertain larger functions, with space for seating up to 180 guests, as occurred at the 25th anniversary dinner held in the Clubhouse in 1995.

Indoor Training Centre

The Indoor Training Centre (ITC) was built primarily to provide enhanced training facilities for the Club that would ensure all year round training and continuity for Club operations. Previous years had seen training greatly curtailed, with inevitable drop offs in numbers, as bad weather prevented use of outside training areas. In addition, Lower Mains Park was so heavily used that it often became unplayable for matches for extended periods of the winter and spring.

The ITC was built between February and October 2014 – within budget and on time. The Project Team had great help and guidance from Grangemouth Rugby Club, who were going through a similar process at the time, and from the architect Bill Stewart and the contractors Stewart Homes – Alan Stewart and Stewart McGinlay in particular.

The Indoor Training Centre contains a floodlit 3G pitch (39 metres x 19 metres) with a small viewing area, a strength and conditioning gym, two changing rooms with toilets and showers and a large accessible toilet and shower facility. The new facility ensures that training need never be cancelled due to adverse weather. It makes for an improved training experience for youngsters. Additionally, it provides another recreation option for the local community.

Commitment to Youth

The development of young players has been a priority for the Club pretty much since its formation. Indeed, as previously mentioned, 10 of the players from the first ever Reds’ team were under the age of 20. Links with Linlithgow Academy were established from an early time.

Supported first by Gordon Currie and then by Graham Wight, both teachers at Linlithgow Academy, rugby was offered to all of a secondary school age in the north of West Lothian, with training and playing of matches largely at Mains Park, although the school pitch has been used over the years for S1 (U13) matches.

The teachers’ strikes of the 1980s resulted in significant changes to their terms and conditions. The biggest impact felt outwith schools was the cessation of extra-curricular activities, with sports being significantly affected. To ensure that rugby remained an option for secondary school pupils in the area, Linlithgow Rugby Club started a MIDI RUGBY section in 1987 to go alongside its existing MINI RUGBY group. Established by Bert Lawson, Jim Lindsay and George Threadgall, the group set up and ran secondary school rugby in the name of Linlithgow Academy. In effect, this was a composite team drawing players from a number of schools such as Bathgate Academy, Broxburn Academy, Armadale Academy, Whitburn Academy, St Kentigern’s and even some Falkirk schools, although the majority of players attended Linlithgow Academy.

Over the years, the school’s role in rugby has diminished, however there has always been strong support from the school Head Teachers over the years from John Ferguson through John Low and David MacKenzie to Karen Jarvis. More recently, the School of Rugby, a partnership involving the school, the sport and the Club, has been established to continue the development of youngsters in the area. Although largely funded by Scottish Rugby and Linlithgow Rugby Club, the school is very much an active partner.

Club Development Officers

Linlithgow Rugby Club was among the first of the grassroots clubs to go down the path of directly employing someone to reach out into the local community, especially the schools, to promote the game of rugby. It all began in 2006 following the establishment of the Young’s Trust, supported by BP celebrating one of its legacy companies. The Trust involved, in addition, Scottish Rugby, the four local clubs, Linlithgow, Livingston, Falkirk and Grangemouth and the two local authorities, West Lothian Council and Falkirk Council.

Graham McKenzie, a product of Linithgow’s youth rugby and a Reds’ 1st XV player, was the first true Development Officer and he set about establishing the role. When he left to pursue a career outside rugby, the Club immediately recruited a replacement in “PJ” Butler. By then the partnership had simplified to a tripartite arangement involving the Club, Scottish Rugby and West Lothian Council. After PJ’s departure to Newcastle Falcons, Dougie Thomson joined the Club as his replacement.

The Development Officers, in recent years supported by Modern Apprentices and then an Assistant Development Officer (also employed by Linlithgow Rugby Club) do sterling work teaching in Linlithgow Academy, visiting local primary and secondary schools, coaching rugby and organising festivals. They keep the profile of the game high and help to attract youngsters to Linlithgow’s much admired youth section.

Linlithgow Academy – School of Rugby

In 2016 in conjunction with Scottish Rugby and West Lothian Council, the Rugby Club established a School of Rugby at Linlithgow Academy, open to all players attending the local school. Its primary focus is on individual player development, specifically designed to complement the squad training sessions with their age group coaches. This involves specific curricular and extra-curricular rugby activities in Linlithgow Academy and the cluster primary schools, in addition to outreach activities to other secondary schools in the north of West Lothian. The curricular activities are integral to the wider Health and Wellbeing agenda within schools. Sessions are run within the school day by the Club’s Development Officers. One period a week is assigned to the School of Rugby, with a rolling timetable to ensure that other subjects don’t suffer.

Players who participate in the School of Rugby are encouraged to plan to cover course work from other subjects. The areas covered by the School of Rugby include:

individual player development (1 on 1 mentoring),

strength and conditioning planning (appropriate to age and physical maturity),

lifestyle management,

goal setting,

nutrition.

The School of Rugby has strengthened links between school and club again and is clearly seen as a template for the future of youth rugby in Scotland.

Achievements on the field

Linlithgow’s performance in the 1973-74 saw the Club promoted to the Senior East District League in season 1974-75.

With the Club now numbering 56 playing members (and 60 more social adherents) and with several members being selected to play for Forth Valley or Edinburgh District teams, the club was in good heart and performed well in the 1976-77 and 77-78 seasons.

The 1978-79 season saw the Reds perform creditably in the Senior East District League and successfully winning their way through to the Murrayfield Cup Final where they just lost out to Portobello. The next season saw the Reds achieving 3rd place in the League but winning the Murrayfield 7s at the end of the full playing period. The 80-81 season also saw the Reds well placed in the table – but complete success was to come with the winning of the Murrayfield Cup by beating East Kilbride from National Division 5 – a fitting end to Linlithgow’s 10th anniversary season.

That season (1978-79) and the following season (1979-80), Linlithgow were the only “junior” or District League club to be invited to participate in the North of England Merit 7s held at Fylde Rugby Club (Bill Beaumont’s club).

In 1982-83 the Club 1st XV finished as Division VII champions in the newly reconstructed national league system in Scotland and won promotion – an event celebrated at the official opening of the clubhouse and an exhibition game played on the park between President Colin Wells’ select and a Co-optimist side which included such Scottish international players as Finlay and John Calder, Ivan Tukalo, Gerry McGuinness, John Jeffrey and Bryan Gossman.

The 80s saw Linlithgow rapidly rising up the League rankings to Division V with the last game of Season 1984-85 being enlivened with the appearance in the Reds’ ranks of club member and future Scottish internationalist Iain Morrison. The mid to late 1980s were heady days for the Club with five teams being occasionally sent out to the field – in addition to the ‘Peelers’ – a group of keen but marginally ageing members who were finding it increasingly hard to keep up their speed, or their knowledge of the new laws coming into the game.

Meanwhile, in the period 1986-87, the Club’s elite won the Currie Plate, the Edinburgh Northern Jubilee Cup; the Alloa Under 18s Trophy, the Lenzie 7s, the Hillfoots 7s, the Berridge Trophy and the Paisley Plate.

1987-88 saw promotion to Division IV with end of season victories over St Boswell’s and Madras securing the crown of National 5 Division Champions – a feat which saw the club winning both the McEwan’s Brewery and the Smith’s Menswear Club of the Month. Individually, young player Tom Cawood was chosen to play for Scottish schools against Wales with several other players being picked for Divisional selection including Jon Blundell, John Smith, ‘Dinger’ Bell, Craig Carson, Chris Munro and Chris White.

In the 1988-89 season, the 1st XV more than held their own in Division IV, and narrowly lost to a strong Stewart Melville team in the River Series Trophy Competition. However, they went on to win the Gowans Cup against Alloa (see page x).

The 1990s brought mixed fortunes for the Club – with the 1st XV winning only 13 of 32 matches in 1991-92 and faring even worse the next season – a situation which saw the club relegated to Division V. They bounced back in 1993 when some excellent results saw them voted team of the month in October and finishing third in the league.

The 1995-96 season saw Captain Barry McKeown exhorting his players to make themselves truly match fit for the newly revamped 18-game season and his encouragement bore dividends when the 1st XV finished third in new National League Division 3. The new format prompted the Club to take tentative steps towards paying players and two player coaches were appointed from the Stirling County team. In addition, an incentive scheme rewarded players for training and winning games. All this paid off in season 1997-98 when the Reds became Division 3 champions after beating front-runners Ross High in a memorable, final game at Mains Park. What should have been a nail-biting Championship decider turned out to be a rout for the Reds, who were crowned Division 3 Champions. The Club was now one of the top 50 Clubs in Scotland.

The Club also decided to adopt the increasingly common practice of bringing overseas players into the squad. Season 1998-99 saw a South African stand off help the team beat Stirling County in the third round of the Scottish Cup – a cup run only halted by a narrow defeat at the hands of Langholm RFC.

The next year saw two Tongans in the side but unfortunately both got injured towards the end of the season and the resulting loss saw the Reds slipping down the league. Young New Zealand players were also brought over and housed in council accommodation. Unfortunately their expertise and contribution was somewhat varied, with a young Blair Stewart from Christchurch outstanding in a mixed bunch.

Despite a good run in the 2001 National Bowl Competition, the 2000-2001 season league results were poor and ultimately culminated in the Reds being relegated from National League 2.

Restructuring of the league set-up saw the Reds back in National League 2 and then a rebuilding process eventually saw the Club achieve excellent results in 2008-09 and consequently winning promotion to National 1, after winning 20 of their 22 league games, with a squad built around players developed through the Club’s youth system. The following season the Club finished 4th in National League 1, which put the Reds at 40th in Scotland – the highest ever placing in the Club’s 50 year history.

Further restructuring of Scottish Rugby, in 2011, has reduced the number of National Leagues and expanded Regional Leagues as many Clubs were complaining about the travel distances involved in league rugby. Linlithgow found themselves in East 1 league, which is where they have remained to the present.

Recent years have seen a dramatic decline in the number of teams playing senior rugby. This is attributable to a number of factors. The introduction of substitutes / benches means that the average team now consists of somewhere between 19 and 22 rather than 15 players. In addition, there is the general demise of team sports with so many other activities now available to people. Allied to this is the reduced levels of player commitment, with many players not available every week. Evidence from across Scotland suggests that it takes around 45 to 50 players to sustain one team for a season!

Against this backdrop of the falling number of teams, sustaining two regular and competitive senior teams at Linlithgow is now the goal. In recent seasons, Des Martin has very successfully taken on the role of Team Manager for the 2nd XV, motivating and cajoling in his inimitable style, and in 2017-2018 this brought silverware to the Club in the form of the Reserve League East 2 Plate as league champions.

The Reds enjoyed a bit of a resurgence in season 2019-2020, finishing 4th in the Tennents East 1 league with 11 wins and one draw from 17 games played – the Reds had one game left to play (against Haddington at Mains Park where the Reds had not lost since January 2019) when the league was concluded early on account of the Coronavirus pandemic. The 2s also finished 4th in their league (Tennents Reserve League East 2) with 8 wins from 13 matches. A fine 31-0 away victory at Livingston in the New Year derby match, saw the Reds retain the West Lothian Trophy.

A Community Hub

The Rugby Club has always prided itself on its contribution to the local community, not only in its primary role of providing a focus for rugby but, more widely, in organising and staging such local events as the annual Town Fireworks Night in November. Increasingly, in the Club’s fifth decade, this community role has gone to a new level. A wide range of groups now use the Club as a base for their activities. These include LAMP, who rehearse their annual musical productions at the Club, Slimming World andvabwide range of groups who book the 3G pitch in the training centre.

The Club was gratified by the warm expressions of support that were provided by over 20 of these groups in 2018 and 2019 when these were needed to assist the Club in its funding applications for the refurbishment of the roof and kitchen.

As a community organisation, Linlithgow Rugby Club has looked for ways to provide some leadership in the use of renewable energy and other energy saving schemes to make the club more sustainable for the future. In 2013 a biomass (wood pellet) boiler was installed to provide hot water for showers and clubhouse heating. Then in 2019 and again in early 2020, the Club entered into agreements with the local Linlithgow Community Development trust to install Phases 1 and 2 of ‘Linlith-Go-Solar’, a solar energy community power scheme, using the south facing slope of the new Indoor Training Centre. Now there are around 100 solar panels on the roof, generating power for both club and community.

The Rugby Club Today

Linlithgow Rugby Club is a fully sustainable amateur rugby club with modern training and playing facilities and with a fully developed coaching structure covering structured rugby and related skills development for boys and girls from Primary 1 age group through to senior level. It is a strong community club, with key links and partnerships involving local schools, community organisations and sports clubs to promote fitness, wellbeing and community spirit.

The Club is sustained by a large number of trained volunteers who give up their time to train and develop young people through to adults. It also invests in employing two Development Officers who work in the local schools and in the Club to promote best practice in health and fitness, in addition to running the School of Rugby.

Over the last five years, Linlithgow Rugby Club has invested nearly £750,000 in renewing and developing facilities at Mains Park. The Club has been successful in securing around £500,000 of that in grant funding support, with the balance being raised by Club members over the last 10 years. This is a superb achievement in which we all take pride.

Club Membership

250 youngsters playing rugby (from age 2 to 18)

80 adults playing rugby

105 families who are Family Members

650 total number of Members

Rugby Club Societies

Male Voice Choir

Golf Section

Memories’ Group

Affiliated Clubs

West Lothian Eagles (Aussie Rules football)

Linlithgow Rose (Walking Football)