Edinburgh Academical Football Club


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 National League Division One, the 2nd 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, and the second oldest rugby union club in continuous existence in the world, behind Dublin University Football Club. 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.
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. A book was also published that had been commissioned to celebrate the club's 150th anniversary, The Accies: The Cradle of Scottish Rugby.
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.

Honours

Men

  • Scottish Unofficial Championship
  • * Champions : 1865–66, 1866–67, 1867–68, 1868–69, 1870–71, 1874–75, 1876–77, 1877–78, 1878–79, 1879–80, 1885–86, 1886–87, 1887–88, 1897–98, 1898–99, 1899–1900, 1905–06, 1929–30, 1955–56
  • Scottish National League Division One
  • * Champions : 1996–97, 2010–11, 2017–18
  • * Runners–Up : 2007–08, 2016–17
  • Scottish National League Division Two
  • * Champions : 1999–00, 2003–04
  • Scottish Cup
  • * Runners–Up : 2006–07, 2023–24
  • Langholm Sevens
  • * Champions : 1929
  • Melrose Sevens
  • * Champions : 1928, 1930, 1949
  • Hawick Sevens
  • * Champions : 1929, 1936, 1946
  • Gala Sevens
  • * Champions : 2019
  • Peebles Sevens
  • * Champions : 1947, 1984, 1989
  • Edinburgh Charity Sevens
  • * Champions : 1929, 1932, 1933, 1942, 1945
  • Highland Sevens
  • * Champions : 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1954, 1970, 1998
  • Edinburgh Borderers Sevens
  • * Champions : 1966
  • Broughton Sevens
  • * Champions : 2007
  • Lismore Sevens
  • * Champions : 1975, 1982, 1986, 1991
  • Haddington Sevens
  • * Champions : 1989
  • Edinburgh Northern Sevens
  • * Champions : 2015
  • Musselburgh Sevens
  • * Champions : 1979, 1992
  • Berwick Sevens
  • * Champions : 2023
  • Jed-Forest Sevens
  • * Champions : 2025

    Women

  • Mull Sevens
  • * Champions : 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997
  • Edinburgh Northern Sevens
  • * Champions : 2001

    Notable players

British and Irish Lions

The following former Edinburgh Academical players have represented the British and Irish Lions.
The following former Edinburgh Academical players have represented Scotland at full international level in rugby union.
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.
The following have represented Scotland at full international level.
  • P. J. Solomon

    SRU presidents

Former Edinburgh Academicals have been President of the SRU:
  • 1883–84 Gussie Graham
  • 1893–94 Leslie Balfour-Melville