Gala Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. Founded in 1875, it plays its home games at Netherdale. The team currently competes in Scottish National League Division One, the second tier of Scottish club rugby, and the Border League (the oldest established rugby union league in the world).

Early history

The club was formed at a time of change in Galashiels, and the Borders in general, with the increasingly industrial textile industry. Cricket was played by the new influx of workers (particularly Yorkshire) and a winter alternate was needed, so a 'Football club' was formed in 1876. Although named a 'football' club they only ever played rugby union football and never association football. Rugby Union Football is now generally referred to as rugby, but at the time it was still commonly regarded as a code of football, as it technically still is.

In 1883, the club took part in the first ever Sevens tournament in Melrose and competed in the final with the hosts. Within a year they (and many other Border clubs) had started their own Sevens, also known as 'Sports'. In 1994, these separate tournaments were organized into the Borders Sevens Circuit league structure, the winners are crowned as the "Kings of the Sevens". Gala has been 'the Kings' on two occasions, in 2004 and the first ever winners in 1994.

In 1912 the club moved from Mossilee to a new ground at Netherdale, the new pavilion and grandstand built at a cost of 1150. 1931–32 saw Gala's first and only success in the Scottish Unofficial Championship under the Captaincy of Jimmy Ferguson.

From 1979, with Scottish internationalists Derek White and Peter Dods in the team, Gala won the Division 1 title three consecutive seasons.

1995–present

In 1995, Gala was one of eight teams to play in the new Scottish Premier League. In 1999, inspired by a young Chris Patterson at Stand-off, Gala won a treble of medals, the Division 2 title, the Scottish Cup, and Melrose Sevens. The lowest point in modern history came in 2007, when Gala was relegated to Division 3 for the first time in its history. Worse was that it was only points difference of 2 over the whole season. This gave the club the chance to clear out the dead wood and the team bounced back into Division 2 at the first time of asking.

The 2010–11 season saw promotion back into the top flight, its first full season back. 2011–12, saw a 3rd-place finish and the Scottish cup for the second time. Gala finished 2012–13 as both Premier Division and Scottish cup runners-up. 2013–14 saw Gala finish runners-up in the Premiership again. This was a painful result as they were leading for much of the season only to lose out on the final match of the season to local rivals Melrose. They also reached the semi-finals of the Scottish cup and won the Border League.

In February 2017 the club launched a rugby academy, despite the realisation that they would be relegated from the premiership at the end of the season.

Honours

  • Scottish Premiership Champions (3): 1979–80, 1980–81, 1982-83 Runners-up (8): 1974-75, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1978-79, 1983-84, 1993-94, 2012-13, 2013-14
  • Scottish League Championship, second-tier Champions (2): 1998–99, 2003-04
  • Scottish League Championship, third-tier Champions (1): 2007-08
  • Scottish Cup Winners (2): 1998–99, 2011-12
  • Gala Sevens Champions (27): 1884, 1887, 1888, 1890, 1891, 1907, 1908, 1913, 1914, 1920, 1922, 1929, 1930, 1934, 1954, 1963, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1977, 1982, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2013, 2015
  • Langholm Sevens Champions (10): 1908, 1910, 1924, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1993, 1998
  • Melrose Sevens Champions (15): 1884, 1890, 1891, 1903, 1932, 1937, 1959, 1964, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1977, 1981, 1994, 1999
  • Hawick Sevens Champions (16): 1891, 1893, 1901, 1907, 1919, 1923, 1931, 1940, 1949, 1956, 1967, 1972, 1982, 1995, 1996, 2017
  • Berwick Sevens Champions (3): 2004, 2014, 2015
  • Peebles Sevens Champions (5): 1924, 1954, 1957, 1961, 2015
  • Kelso Sevens Champions (15): 1920, 1922, 1924, 1931, 1934, 1938, 1956, 1961, 1964, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 2003
  • Earlston Sevens Champions (18): 1923, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1938, 1952, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1971, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 2000, 2004, 2017
  • Selkirk Sevens Champions (11): 1921, 1925, 1950, 1952, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1992
  • Kings of the Sevens Champions (4): 1994, 1995, 2004, 2015
  • Walkerburn Sevens Champions (3): 1924, 1926, 1938
  • Portobello Sevens Champions (2): 1981, 1985
  • Gala Thistle Sevens Champions (1): 1888
  • St. Boswells Sevens Champions (1): 1978
  • Ardrossan Sevens Champions (1): 1970
  • Edinburgh Borderers Sevens Champions (1): 1923
  • Preston Lodge Sevens Champions (1): 1985
  • Penicuik Sevens Champions (3): 1975, 1977, 1983
  • South of Scotland District Sevens Champions (1): 1974
  • Stirling Sevens Champions (2): 1992, 1996
  • Currie Sevens Champions (2): 1994, 1997

Notable players

British and Irish Lions

Scotland Gregor Townsend Scotland Derek White Scotland Nathan Hines Scotland Tom Smith Scotland Peter Dods Scotland Rory Sutherland

Scotland internationalists

The following former Gala players have represented Scotland at full international level.

Scotland Jim Aitken Scotland Arthur Brown Scotland Peter Brown Scotland Ian Corcoran Scotland Geoff Cross Scotland Bob Cunningham Scotland Gordon Dickson Scotland Peter Dods Scotland Michael Dods Scotland Tom Elliot Scotland Tom Elliot Scotland Jimmy Ferguson Scotland Jim Ford Scotland John Fox Scotland John FrameScotland Drew Gill Scotland Dod Gray Scotland Nathan Hines Scotland Kenneth Lawrie Scotland David Leslie Scotland Nairn McEwan Scotland Alex MooreScotland Chris Paterson Scotland Duncan Paterson Scotland Henry Polson Scotland Stevie Scott Scotland Duncan Shaw Scotland Brian Shillinglaw Scotland Tom Smith Scotland Borth Todd Scotland Gregor Townsend Scotland Jock TurnerScotland Derek White Scotland Bob Wilson Scotland Doddie Wood

Notable non-Scottish players

The following is a list of notable non-Scottish international representative former Gala players:

Samoa Opeta Palepoi

South players

The following former Gala players have represented South at provincial level.

Scotland John Fox Angus Dun Ben Gill Craig KeddieGary Isaac Murray Wilson Robbie Irvine

Notable also outside rugby union

The following is a list of notable former Gala players who have achieved notability in fields outwith rugby union:

See also

Sources

  • Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1-86200-013-1)
  • Godwin, Terry Complete Who's Who of International Rugby (Cassell, 1987, ISBN 0-7137-1838-2)
  • Jones, J.R. Encyclopedia of Rugby Union Football (Robert Hale, London, 1976 ISBN 0-7091-5394-5)

External links