Clubs
Traditionally, rugby clubs were very often formed by universities, ex-pupils of independent schools and large state schools, and many clubs names still to this day include abbreviations such as:
- 'High School Former Pupils' (for instance, Dundee HSFP RFC)
- 'Former Pupils' (for instance, Stewart's Melville FP RFC)
- 'Grammar School Former Pupils' (for instance, Aberdeen GSFP RFC)
- 'University' (Aberdeen University Rugby Football Club AURFC)
However, with the introduction of the league system in the 1970s, and the resulting increase in competitiveness and standard of play, most of these clubs have had to loosen their participation criteria to include non ex-pupils, although in most cases the clubs squads do still comprise a large proportion of individuals with connections to the schools. Often the clubs will be part-financed, and their grounds maintained or even owned, by the schools themselves.
Amalgamations of clubs are also reasonably frequent, and when this occurs the clubs often combine names, as in Hillhead/Jordanhill RFC, Hillfoots/Alloa RFC or Waysiders/Drumpellier RFC.
Read more about this topic: Rugby Union In Scotland
Famous quotes containing the word clubs:
“Remember that the peer group is important to young adolescents, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Parents are often just as important, however. Don’t give up on the idea that you can make a difference.”
—The Lions Clubs International and the Quest Nation. The Surprising Years, I, ch.5 (1985)
“Women realize that we are living in an ungoverned world. At heart we are all pacifists. We should love to talk it over with the war-makers, but they would not understand. Words are so inadequate, and we realize that the hatred must kill itself; so we give our men gladly, unselfishly, proudly, patriotically, since the world chooses to settle its disputes in the old barbarous way.”
—General Federation Of Women’s Clubs (GFWC)
“Neighboring farmers and visitors at White Sulphur drove out occasionally to watch ‘those funny Scotchmen’ with amused superiority; when one member imported clubs from Scotland, they were held for three weeks by customs officials who could not believe that any game could be played with ‘such elongated blackjacks or implements of murder.’”
—For the State of West Virginia, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)