London Scottish F.C.

London Scottish
Full name	London Scottish Football Club
Union	Middlesex RFU, Scottish RU
Nickname(s)	The Exiles, Scottish
Founded	1878; 146 years ago
Location	Richmond, London, England
Ground(s)	Richmond Athletic Ground (Capacity: 4,500 (1,000 seated))
President	Paul Burnell
Director of Rugby	Bryan Redpath
Coach(es)	Joe Gray
Captain(s)	Joe Rees
League(s)	RFU Championship
2023–24	9th
1st kit	2nd kit
Official website
	londonscottish.com

London Scottish Football Club is a rugby union club in England. The club is a member of both the Rugby Football Union and the Scottish Rugby Union. The club is currently playing in the RFU Championship and share the Athletic Ground with Richmond.

History

Founding (1878)

In early 1878, three Scottish members of a team called St. Andrew's Rovers FC decided to break away to form their own club for Scots.^[1] These men, George Grant, Neil Macglashan and Robert Arnot attracted a number of responses to a circular they sent out. The London Scottish Regiment in particular were very warm to the idea. Very soon after, on 10 April 1878, London Scottish FC was founded^[2] in The Queen's Head, in Water Lane, Blackfriars, London (universally known as MacKay's Tavern, frequently mis-recorded, as Ned Mackay the jovial Scottish landlord ran the pub),^[3] initially played on Blackheath Common,^[1] and later at Richmond Athletic Ground in Surrey.^[2]

They had a sizable fixture list and played some of the leading clubs of the time immediately, such as Ravenscourt Park Football Club and Queen's House Football Club (the latter being the only London team to have never lost to London Scottish).^[1] They also played St Andrew's Rovers that season. St Andrew's, who had lost the core of their best players, lost twice to London Scottish and folded at the end of the season.^[1] London Scottish had a very successful first season, and having played 15 matches they only lost four (against already well established sides, Flamingoes, Guy's Hospital, Queen's House and Wasps).^[1]

In 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War all sixty members of the four London Scottish teams who played in their last matches in April enlisted. Fifteen survived. Only one played Rugby again. They are commemorated in Mick Imlah's poem "London Scottish".^[4]

Early history

London Scottish was the first of the "Exiles" rugby clubs to be founded, and the last of the main three – after London Irish and London Welsh – to go "open" in 1996.^[2]

London Scottish made the John Player Cup Final in 1974, where they lost 26–6 against defending champions Coventry.

The club regularly featured at the Middlesex Sevens tournament, winning the trophy in 1937, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965 and 1991. They have won the Melrose Sevens three times, in 1962, 1965 and 2019.

Professional era (1996–2020)

Scottish turned professional in 1996. Tony Tiarks bought the club for £500,000 in 1996.

In the summer of 1998 Scottish, co-tenants of Richmond at the Athletic Ground, were promoted to the top division via a play-off, and Tiarks forced through an ill-fated groundshare with Harlequins and London Broncos at the Stoop Memorial Ground.

In the 1998–99 season, Scottish made their only appearance in the English Premiership. Under coach John Steele, and despite limited resources, the team finished 12th out of 14 teams, which would have saved them from relegation had they not fallen into administration at the season's end. Notable wins that season included: versus Bath (13–11), Saracens (24–7) and Newcastle Falcons (27–17). That season's squad included Scottish international stars Ronnie Eriksson, Simon Holmes and Derrick Lee, Australians Seán Childs, Simon Fenn and Eddie Jones, and the South African Jannie de Beer.

Midway through the 1998–1999 season, Tiarks became disillusioned and discussed selling Scottish's place in the Premiership to second-division Bristol. He bailed out in the summer of 1999. The professional club London Scottish Rugby was placed into administration in 1999 and nominally merged into London Irish (who moved their games to the Stoop) along with Richmond, who were also placed into administration.

The original amateur club rejoined the RFU leagues at the bottom of the pyramid after effectively having been relegated nine divisions by the RFU. The club progressed back up through seven divisions in 10 seasons to RFU Championship for the 2011–12 season.

The club was promoted to the English National leagues (National Division Three South) for the 2007–08 season after an eight-year absence. The club was unbeaten in the 2008–09 season, earning promotion to the revamped RFU National 1 Division for the 2009–10 season. In 2009–10, the club finished second in their first season in RFU National 1 Division.

The club secured promotion to the RFU Championship for the 2011–12 season. During the 2012–13 season, the club made the switch to a full-time professional set-up, with many of the club's part-time professional players leaving and new coaches brought on board, this included former Leicester Tigers hooker James Buckland and France and London Wasps legend Serge Betsen. The fully professional set-up was credited for an impressive performance away to Championship leaders Newcastle Falcons, where three penalties brought them to the brink of a shock win, but they lost 12–9. There followed significant wins in the second half of the season, including a 26–23 victory over Bedford Blues, a 25–13 win over Nottingham and a 20–17 win away at Cornish Pirates. Scottish were still challenging for a place in the top four of the Championship until as late as March, when they were beaten by Leeds Carnegie, and they ended the season in mid-table.

The Scottish again finished mid-table in the Championship in the 2013–14 season. The team had four players named in the Championship Best XV – American international Eric Fry, Tomas Francis, Mark Bright and Championship top try-scorer Miles Mantella.^[5]

Following a mediocre 2016–17 campaign, the club appointed Loughborough Students director of rugby Dave Morris as director of rugby and the club saw a change at the top, with Malcom Offord becoming chairman of the club and Carson Russell as CEO.

Semi-professional club (2021–)

Following a reduction in funding from the RFU, Scottish adopted a semi-professional model from the 2020–21 season, with players and coaches being employed part-time.^[6] Following this, in February 2021 it was confirmed that due to funding cuts and the costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic Scottish would not take part in the upcoming season.^[7]

Scottish were to leave the Athletic Ground after 127 years, with the first team temporarily relocating to Esher's rugby ground in Hersham and the rest of the club also seeking relocation.^[8] However it was later confirmed they would remain at the Athletic Ground for their return to the Championship in the 2021–22 season.^[9]

Sevens

London Scottish have been great exponents of rugby sevens, winning the Melrose Sevens three times, Middlesex Sevens seven times and the Rosslyn Park London Floodlit Sevens seven times.

Captains and league position (since 1999–2000)

Season	Division	Captain	Position
1999–00	Non League (London Senior Clubs)	Ewan Kearney	Winners of Merit table
2000–01	Herts/Middlesex 1	Damian Lilley	Runner-up
2001–02	London 4 NW	Steven Wichary	Champions
2002–03	London 3 NW	Magnus Macdonald	Champions
2003–04	London 2 North	David Watt	Champions
2004–05	London 1	Karl Hensley	4th
2005–06	London 1	Karl Hensley	3rd
2006–07	London 1	Alex Alesbrook	Champions
2007–08	National Division Three South	Alex Alesbrook	4th National
2008–09	National Division Three South	Gary Trueman	Champions
2009–10	National League One	Gary Trueman	2nd
2010–11	National League One	Ian McInroy	Champions
2011–12	The Championship	Lewis Calder	9th
2012–13	The Championship	Mark Bright	8th
2013–14	The Championship	Mark Bright	5th
2014–15	The Championship	Mark Bright	3rd
2015–16	The Championship	Mark Bright	8th
2016–17	The Championship	Rory Bartle	7th
2017–18	The Championship	Lewis Wynne	11th
2018–19	The Championship	Mark Bright	9th
2019–20	The Championship	Chris Dean	11th
2020–21	Did not compete due to COVID-19 pandemic	-	-
2021–22	The Championship	Brian Tuilagi	11th
2022–23	The Championship	Joe Rees	11th
2023–24	The Championship		-

Head coach and management (since 1999–2000)

Season	Division	Head Coach	Manager
1999–00	Non League	Iain Morrison	Colin McIntyre
2000–01	Herts/Middlesex 1	Brett Cookson	Colin McIntyre
2001–02	London 4 NW	Kevin Powderly	Colin Mcintyre
2002–03	London 3 NW	Kevin Powderly	Colin McIntyre
2003–04	London 2 North	Rick Scott	Colin McIntyre
2004–05	London 1	Rowly Williams	Colin McIntyre
2005–06	London 1	Rowly Williams	Colin McIntyre
2006–07	London 1	Terry O'Connor	Colin McIntyre
2007–08	National Division Three South	Terry O'Connor	Colin McIntyre
2008–09	National Division Three South	Brett Taylor	Colin McIntyre
2009–10	National League One	Brett Taylor	Colin McIntyre
2010–11	National League One	Simon Amor	Colin McIntyre
2011–12	The Championship	Simon Amor	Ross Macgregor
2012–13	The Championship	Simon Amor	Ross Macgregor
2013–14	The Championship	Simon Amor	Laurence Bruggemann

Overall league statistics

Season	Division	Played	Won	Draw	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Diff	Points	Pos
1987–88	National League 2	11	4	1	6	141	158	–17	9	7th
1988–89	National League 2	11	3	1	7	146	160	–16	7	11th
1989–90	National League 3	11	11	0	0	258	92	166	22	1st
1990–91	National League 2	12	7	0	5	240	178	62	14	5th
1991–92	National League 2	12	11	0	1	304	130	174	22	1st
1992–93	Premiership	12	3	1	8	192	248	–56	7	10th
1993–94	National League 2	18	6	0	12	232	325	–93	12	8th
1999–00	Non-league	26	19	1	6	775	341	434		1st
2000–01	Herts/Middlesex 1	18	17	0	1	554	118	436	34	2nd
2001–02	London 4 NW	18	14	0	4	533	214	319	28	1st
2002–03	London 3 NW	18	16	0	2	560	199	361	32	1st
2003–04	London 2 North	22	20	1	1	752	277	475	41	1st
2004–05	London 1	22	15	0	7	676	343	333	30	4th
2005–06	London 1	22	16	1	5	840	324	516	33	3rd
2006–07	London 1	22	20	0	2	997	235	762	40	1st
2007–08	National Division Three South	26	17	0	9	633	410	223	83	4th
2008–09	National Division Three South	26	25	1	0	1092	328	764	120	1st
2009–10	National League One	30	22	1	7	938	569	369	108	2nd
2010–11	National League One	30	27	0	3	958	516	442	132	1st
2011–12	The Championship	22	6	0	16	422	543	−121	34	9th
2012–13	The Championship	22	10	0	12	456	610	−154	45	8th

Honours

London Scottish

Melrose Sevens champions: 1962, 1965, 2019^[10]
Hawick Sevens champions: 1965^[11]
Kelso Sevens champions: 1991^[12]
Ross Sutherland Sevens champions: 1990^[13]
Glasgow Academicals Sevens champions: 1979, 1989^[14]
Haig Trophy Sevens champions: 1980^[15]
Stirling Sevens champions: 1988^[16]
Middlesex Sevens champions: 1937, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1991
Courage League Division 3 champions: 1989–90
Courage League National Division 2 champions: 1991–92
London Division 4 North West champions: 2001–02
London Division 3 North West champions: 2002–03
London Division 2 North champions: 2003–04
London Division 1 champions: 2006–07^[17]
National League 3 South champions: 2008–09^[18]
National League 1 champions: 2010–11

London Scottish Lions (amateur side)

Herts/Middlesex 2 champions: 2018–19

Current standings

2024–25 RFU Championship table
Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Coventry	5	5	0	171	74	+97	4	0	24	Promotion place
2	Ealing Trailfinders	5	4	1	247	102	+145	5	1	22
3	Bedford Blues	5	4	1	149	138	+11	4	0	20
4	Hartpury University	5	3	2	164	152	+12	4	1	17
5	Nottingham	5	3	2	155	102	+53	3	1	16
6	Chinnor	5	2	3	150	134	+16	3	1	12
7	London Scottish	5	2	3	104	142	−38	2	1	11
8	Ampthill	5	2	3	109	223	−114	3	0	11
9	Doncaster Knights	5	2	3	113	142	−29	2	0	10
10	Cambridge	5	2	3	108	179	−71	2	0	10
11	Cornish Pirates	5	1	4	109	130	−21	2	3	9
12	Caldy	5	0	5	91	152	−61	0	2	2	Relegation place

Updated to match(es) played on 19 October 2024. Source: Source: RFU Championship ^[19]
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

Number of matches won
Difference between points for and against
Total number of points for
Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled

Current squad

The London Scottish squad as announced for the 2023–24 season was:^[20]

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player	Position	Union
Garin Lloyd	Hooker	Wales
Toby Tyson	Hooker	England
Austin Wallis	Hooker	England
George Cave	Prop	England
Ashley Challenger	Prop	England
Rhys Charalambous	Prop	England
Will Prior	Prop	England
Graham Geldenhuys	Lock	South Africa
Marijn Huis	Lock	Netherlands
Matt Wilkinson	Lock	England
Lewis Barrett	Back row	England
Jack Ingall	Back row	England
Bailey Ransom	Back row	England
Ioan Rhys Davies	Back row	Wales
Brian Tuilagi	Back row	England

Player	Position	Union
Stephen Kerins	Scrum-half	Ireland
Jonny Law	Scrum-half	England
Dan Nutton	Scrum-half	Scotland
Alec Lloyd-Seed	Fly-half	England
Harry Sheppard	Fly-half	England
Robbie McCallum	Centre	Scotland
Will Simonds	Centre	England
Will Talbot-Davies	Centre	Wales
Billy Wara	Centre	Scotland
Will Brown	Wing	England
Noah Ferdinand	Wing	England
Luke Mehson	Wing	England
William Panday	Wing	Hong Kong
Sam Smith	Wing	England
Elliot Haydon	Fullback	Wales
Charlie Ingall	Fullback	England

Current staff

First team

Director of Rugby – Bryan Redpath
Head coach – Joe Gray
Backs Coach –
Head of Strength and Conditioning - Boris Pineles

Commercial

Chief Operating Officer – Louise Newton

Notable former players

Scotland internationalists

The following former London Scottish players have represented Scotland at full international level. London Scottish have produced more than 220 Scottish international players, more than any other club.^[21]

John Allan
David Bedell-Sivright
John Bell
William Berkley
Alastair Biggar
Mike Biggar
Norman Bruce
Paul Burnell, their most-capped player, who played 52 matches for Scotland (3 World Cups – 1991, 1995, 1999)
George Campbell
Mike Campbell-Lamerton
Damian Cronin (2 World Cups – 1991, 1995)
John Dykes
Ronnie Eriksson
Max Evans (1 World Cup – 2011)
Frank Fasson
Pringle Fisher
Charles Fleming
Iain Fullarton
David Gilbert-Smith
Colin Gilray
Phil Godman
Fraser Gore
Donald Grant
John Hart
Gavin Hastings (3 World Cups – 1987, 1991, 1995)
Sandy Hinshelwood
Simon Holmes
William Holms
John Hunter
Doug Keller
Ian Kilgour
Walter Kerr
Iain Laughland
Alan Lawson
Derrick Lee
Kenny Logan (3 World Cups 95, 99, 03)
John MacDonald
Gregor MacGregor
Andrew MacKinnon
Bill Maclagan 1st British Lion Captain 1891 (South Africa)
David MacMyn
John Marshall
Alastair McHarg – one of the many stalwarts of the club
Ernie Michie
Iain Morrison (1 World Cup – 1995)
Hugh Monteith
Hugh Orr
Douglas Schulze
Jim Shackleton
Ian Smith Joint-record Scotland try scorer with 24 tries
Arthur Smith
Ken Spence
Ronald Stevenson
Ian Swan
Malcolm Swan
Frans ten Bos
David Thom
Bruce Thomson
Rob Wainwright (1 World Cup – 1995)
Leonard West
Derek White (1 World Cup – 1991)
Robert Whitworth
Ron Wilson

Wales internationalists

The following former London Scottish players have represented Wales at full international level.

Tomas Francis

England internationalists

The following former London Scottish players have represented England at full international level.

Elliot Daly

Ireland internationalists

The following former London Scottish players have represented Ireland at full international level.

Kieran Treadwell

Other nationalities

Bibliography

Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1-86200-013-1)
Bath, Richard (ed.) The Scotland Rugby Miscellany (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ISBN 1-905326-24-6)
Godwin, Terry Complete Who's Who of International Rugby (Cassell, 1987, ISBN 0-7137-1838-2)
Massie, Allan A Portrait of Scottish Rugby (Polygon, Edinburgh; ISBN 0-904919-84-6)