Edinburgh Academical Football Club
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| Full name | Edinburgh Academical Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Union | Scottish Rugby Union | |
| Nickname(s) | Accies, Acads | |
| Founded | 1857 | |
| Location | Edinburgh, Scotland | |
| Region | Edinburgh | |
| Ground(s) | Raeburn Place, Stockbridge, Edinburgh (Capacity: 5,000) | |
| Coach(es) | Charlie Shiel, Jamie Sole, Simon Berghan | |
| Captain(s) | Jamie Loomes, Neil Armstrong | |
| League(s) | Scottish National League Division One | |
| 2024–25 | Scottish Premiership, 11th of 12 (relegated) | |
 
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| Official website | ||
| www | ||
Edinburgh Academical Football Club, also known as Edinburgh Accies, is a rugby union club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club is currently a member of the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish club rugby. Its home ground is Raeburn Place, in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. The team is coached by Charlie Shiel, Jamie Sole, and Simon Berghan.
The club regularly fields three teams and is also involved with Broughton and Trinity Accies in the Edinburgh BATs initiative, a community amateur sports club providing youth rugby across northern Edinburgh.
History
The club was formed in 1857 and is the oldest surviving football club of any code in Scotland,[1] and the second oldest rugby union club in continuous existence in the world, behind Dublin University Football Club (founded 1854). They were one of the founding members of the Scottish Rugby Union.

In the 1873–74 season, they played ten matches, and won all of them.[2]
In season 2007–08, the club's 1st XV finished second in Premiership Division 2, thereby securing promotion to the Premiership Division 1. That same season they experienced a successful Scottish Cup run, reaching the final with victories over Premiership 1 teams Currie, Hawick and Boroughmuir. The team lost the final 24–13 to the Glasgow Hawks. The club played a match against the Barbarians in April 2008 to mark the club's 150th anniversary.[3] A book was also published that had been commissioned to celebrate the club's 150th anniversary, The Accies: The Cradle of Scottish Rugby.[4]
In season 2009–10 the club's 1st XV was relegated to Scottish Premier Division 2 after they lost to Heriot's FP in the last game of the season and on the same day Watsonian's beat Melrose.
In season 2010–11 the club were Premier 2 League champions and returned to the top level of Scottish club rugby, the Premier 1 League, for the 2011–12 season. They remained in the Scottish Premiership after the restructure of the Scottish league system.
Ground
The Accies' home ground, Raeburn Place, is the location of the first rugby international. Seven players of the original Scotland side were Academicals, including the captain, FJ Moncrieff.[2]
Honours
Men
- Scottish Unofficial Championship 
- Champions (16 + 4 shared): 1865–66, 1866–67, 1867–68, 1868–69, 1870–71, 1874–75, 1876–77 (with Glasgow Academicals), 1877–78, 1878–79 (with Glasgow Academicals), 1879–80 (with Glasgow Academicals), 1885–86, 1886–87, 1887–88, 1897–98, 1898–99, 1899–1900 (with Edinburgh University and Hawick), 1905–06, 1929–30, 1955–56
 
 - Scottish National League Division One 
- Champions (3): 1996–97, 2010–11, 2017–18
 - Runners–Up (2): 2007–08, 2016–17
 
 - Scottish National League Division Two 
- Champions (2): 1999–00, 2003–04
 
 - Scottish Cup 
- Runners–Up (2): 2006–07, 2023–24
 
 - Langholm Sevens 
- Champions (1): 1929
 
 - Melrose Sevens 
- Champions (3): 1928, 1930, 1949
 
 - Hawick Sevens 
- Champions (3): 1929, 1936, 1946 (jointly fielded team with Edinburgh Wanderers)
 
 - Gala Sevens 
- Champions (1): 2019
 
 - Peebles Sevens 
- Champions (3): 1947 (jointly fielded team with Edinburgh Wanderers), 1984, 1989
 
 - Edinburgh Charity Sevens[5] 
- Champions (5): 1929, 1932, 1933, 1942 (jointly fielded team with Edinburgh Wanderers), 1945 (jointly fielded team with Edinburgh Wanderers)
 
 - Highland Sevens[6] 
- Champions (9): 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1954, 1970, 1998
 
 - Edinburgh Borderers Sevens[7] 
- Champions (1): 1966
 
 - Broughton Sevens[8] 
- Champions (1): 2007
 
 - Lismore Sevens[9] 
- Champions (4): 1975, 1982, 1986, 1991
 
 - Haddington Sevens[10] 
- Champions (1): 1989
 
 - Edinburgh Northern Sevens[11] 
- Champions (1): 2015
 
 - Musselburgh Sevens[12] 
- Champions (2): 1979, 1992
 
 - Berwick Sevens 
- Champions (1): 2023
 
 - Jed-Forest Sevens 
- Champions (1): 2025
 
 
Women
- Mull Sevens 
- Champions (4): 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997
 
 - Edinburgh Northern Sevens[13] 
- Champions (1): 2001
 
 
Notable players
British and Irish Lions
The following former Edinburgh Academical players have represented the British and Irish Lions.
Scotland internationalists
The following (not previously listed above) former Edinburgh Academical players have represented Scotland at full international level in rugby union.
 John Allan
 Lewis Bell
 Dave Callam
 Alexander Clay
 Jack Crabbie
 George Crabbie
 David Denton
 Francis Dods
 John Dods
 Cornell du Preez
 Douglas Elliot
 Arthur Finlay
 James Finlay
 Ninian Finlay
 George Gallie
 John Gordon
 Ian Graham
 Gussie Graham
 Chris Gray
 Ian Henderson
 Mac Henderson
 Hamish Inglis
 Bulldog Irvine
 Duncan Irvine
 Walter Irvine
 William Lyall
 Donnie Macfadyen
 John Macphail
 George Macleod
 Arthur Marshall
 William Marshall
 Hugh Martin
 George Maxwell
 Tommy McClung
 John McCrow
 Bill McEwan
 Saxon McEwan
 Dave McIvor
 James Mein
 Stuart Moffat
 Alex Moore
 William Morrison
 Scott Murray
 Brian Neill
 George Paterson
 Tom Philip
 Charles Reid
 James Reid
 Jeremy Richardson
 Alec Robertson
 Duncan Robertson
 Ernest Roland
 Graham Ross
 William Roughead
 James Sanderson
 Jock Scott
 Hamish Shaw
 Allen Sloan
 Donald Sloan
 Pat Smeaton
 Errol Smith
 Archibald Stewart
 Barry Stewart
 Jock Stewart
 John Guthrie Tait
 Thomas Torrie
 Phipps Turnbull
 Gordon Watt
 Tom White
 Francis Wright
 Arthur Young
Other internationalists
The following former Edinburgh Academical players have represented their nations at full international level.
 Bill McEwan
 Alastair Reed
Cross-Sporting internationalists
Cricket
The following former Edinburgh Academical players have represented both the Scotland rugby union team and the Scotland cricket team.[14]
Rugby league
The following have represented Scotland at full international level.
SRU presidents
Former Edinburgh Academicals have been President of the SRU:
- 1883–84 Gussie Graham
 - 1893–94 Leslie Balfour-Melville
 
References
- Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997, ISBN 1-86200-013-1).
 - Massie, Allan A Portrait of Scottish Rugby (Polygon, Edinburgh; ISBN 0-904919-84-6).
 
- ^ Edinburgh Accies Club History, "Edinburgh Academical Football Club History". Edinburgh Academical Football Club. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
 - ^ a b Bath, p86
 - ^ "Barbarians: A club in touch with history". The Scotsman. 8 April 2008. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
 - ^ Morrison, Ian (24 January 2009). "Book review: The Accies: The Cradle of Scottish Rugby". Scotland on Sunday. Archived from the original on 27 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
 - ^ "Edinburgh Charity Sevens". 22 June 2019. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
 - ^ "Highland Sevens". 10 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
 - ^ "Edinburgh Borderers Sevens". 9 June 2019. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
 - ^ "Broughton Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
 - ^ "Lismore Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
 - ^ "Haddington Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
 - ^ "Edinburgh Northern Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
 - ^ "Musselburgh Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
 - ^ "Edinburgh Northern Sevens". 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
 - ^ Bath, Richard (ed.) The Scotland Rugby Miscellany (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ISBN 1-905326-24-6), pp 104, 105; note list shows initials not full names
 
External links
- Official website 

 - 'The Accies – The Cradle of Scottish Rugby' Archived 14 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine – Club history written by David Barnes
 
