Currie RFC

Currie Rugby Football Club was founded in April 1970 and played its first match against Gala Wanderers in the October of that year. By January 1971, the club was fielding two teams and by the following year a third had begun to appear. Had it not been for the coronavirus pandemic, the club would have been publicly celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2020. In the event the celebrations had to be delayed but they did take place in June 2022. Unlike most national league clubs in the Eastern Scotland region, Currie RFC’s origins were overtly community-based. Six rugby men - now celebrated by the 6 embedded in Currie Chieftains logo - met regularly in the Weavers Knowe pub in the village of Currie. They came up with the concept of a club ‘to promote and develop the game of rugby within the area, for the benefit of the sport and the community’, and the rest is history. The ‘famous six’ – Bob Kirkwood, Jack Hogg, Roger McLaren, Tom Chandler, David Bisset and Alex Galbraith - were joined by Gordon Stewart and by Currie High School Head Teacher Ronnie Paul. Together they distributed leaflets in Currie, Balerno and Juniper Green announcing an open meeting to ‘discuss the formation of a local rugby club’. Thirty-five interested parties turned up on the night and the show was on the road! In 1973-74 the SRU restructured Scottish rugby. In place of the then unofficial championship, it brought in a formalised and comprehensive league structure. This gave Currie RFC entry to Edinburgh District League, Division 2. Progress and promotion followed, albeit slowly at first. In a season when the club was unbeaten and scored over 1000 points, it eventually was promoted from Edinburgh District League Division 1 to the National League – Division 7! Step by step, the Club progressively worked its way up the National Leagues, with the skill and dedication of coaches Roy Mack and Lyn Tatham. and the huge contribution from more people than can be mentioned here. By 1983-84, Currie RFC was ‘resting’ in National League Division 4. Then, by one of those singular events which make history, former Scottish International wing three-quarter Graham ‘Greco’ Hogg (who had played and later coached with Boroughmuir) accepted the invitation to become Head Coach at Currie. Greco (who sadly died in August 2017) had the skill and experience of international rugby behind him, but he also was an outstanding coach and mentor. Driven by his skills and ambition for the Club’s future, there was quick promotion from the Division 4 and in quick succession from Division 3. The Club was now getting a good deal of publicity and soon was attracting players from other Scottish clubs and from overseas, whilst remaining the community club it has always been. The next few years were to seethe club mature in a rugby sense and to face some of the most well-known clubs in the country. Finally, at the end of the 1989-90 season, the Club won promotion into the Division 1, some 20 years after it had been founded. By that time, the Club had established itself as a known destination for overseas players and, in additional to players from its region it was attracting players from many countries including New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Spain and Italy. Moreover, it had relocated! As things would have it, the development coincided, with the proposal to build Balerno Community High School across the river. The Club’s lease became involved in the planning negotiations and, whilst sole use was lost, a compromise was reached which secured the lease of the land for the rugby club and created the opportunity for the Club to build its Clubhouse at Malleny Park. This project was a live demonstration of the Club at its very best. The finance was raised, and the building was erected through the members efforts. Those with trade skills undertook the building work, whilst the business managers, teachers and bankers in the club undertook the labouring tasks to which they were assigned. Whilst the