This week’s Express Club of the Week is Paisley Rugby Club.
We caught up with club captain Euan Stuart to learn a bit more about this historic side whose roots run back for 150 years.
Tell us a bit about the history and background of the club
Paisley Rugby Football Club was officially formed in 1983 with the merger of Paisley Grammarians and Craigielea, but the club’s roots go all the way back to 1870 and a club known simply as Paisley Football Club – before the word rugby was needed to distinguish rugby from association football.
Paisley FC played at Blackhall in the town, which is believed to be roughly the same area now known as The Anchor where the modern day club calls home.
In 1874, Paisley were admitted to the Scottish Football Union along with the eight original members. The union was renamed the Scottish Rugby Union in the 1920s.
Paisley’s first Scotland international was Mr D Lang who represented Scotland against England, in London, on March 6, 1876, Scotland losing by one goal and one try to nil. Mr Lang was one of the last players to be involved in a rugby match in which each team had 20 players.
The following season in1877 the game changed to allow only 15 players in each team. Mr Lang represented Scotland again, this time beating Ireland in Belfast by four goals, two drop goals and two tries to nil. He wore the number 9 jersey in this match.
After 1880, Paisley FC seems to have disappeared and no records exist of any club under that name until the existing club formed in 1983. However, a club called Craigielea existed in the town from 1883 and played at various venues including Hawkhead Road and Seedhill Road.
In the 1920s, Paisley Grammar School formed a rugby team and the former pupils formed Old Grammarians later in the same decade. Grammarians and the school team played in Gallowhill and later in Penilee before, in the 1960s, Grammarians moved away from sharing with the school to their own ground in Crookston Road in Glasgow.
In the late 1960s, the club changed its name to Paisley Grammarians and moved back to the town, playing at Seedhill and Abbotsinch before settling at the Anchor where a new clubhouse was built.
The merger with Craigielea had been in the pipeline for some time, finally being completed in 1983 with the birth of Paisley Rugby Football Club, often shortened to Paisley Rugby Club depicted on the current club crest.
No Paisley player has represented their country at full international level. However, some have come close. Former Paisley Grammarians player D G M Smith won two Scotland B caps in 1977 and 1978 while playing for West of Scotland and J G Carswell played in a non-capped international match against Japan while playing for Jordanhill College.
How many members does your club have?
We have over 150 club members. This includes two senior teams and we also put out junior teams from P1 right the way up to under-16 level. We currently have a mixed gender touch team who have roughly 20 members also.
Tell us about the leagues you compete in
Our 1st XV compete in Tennents West Division 2. We have been firmly in the promotion hunt for the last few seasons.
The league sees us play anywhere from Oban to Stranraer and everywhere in between. We are the highest placed team in Renfrewshire so you could say we are Renfrewshire’s premier rugby club.
Our 2nd XV compete in West Reserve League Division 3. Our primary school teams play in festivals and friendlies against other clubs, while our high school aged junior teams play in the West Regional League.
Is there a social aspect to the club as well as a sporting side?
Our club run many social events throughout the year, including our annual club dinner, ceilidh and summer ball. We have a bar within the club as well so we are always running quiz nights and other events for our members.
What principles do the club represent and promote?
Our club go with the principles of Play With Pride, Play with Passion, Play with Paisley.
This tag line shows the pride and passion that we would like from our players and members. Our club is really a family club and we encourage our supporters and players to support each other with things inside of rugby and outside. Being a community club, we require everyone to muck in and that’s what we ask of our members.
Are there any particular difficulties the club faces?
Funding is our biggest barrier. We rely on sponsorship and membership for our funding. We work very hard to get sponsorship and we thank all the businesses that have supported us. We always need more funding to improve facilities and to keep the club going. We have bills to pay for the upkeep of our ground and clubhouse and we need as much support as we can get.
Although we put two senior teams out on a Saturday and various junior teams, we are always looking for new blood at Paisley Rugby Club.
How can people get involved?
People can get involved in the club in loads of different ways. We are always looking for volunteers to help in everything from cleaning to working the bar and everything in between. The main way to get involved in the club would be to come and play. We play at a really good senior level and if you have moved into the area and fancy a change, get down to Paisley. Also, if you have kids at school looking for a new hobby, get them down too.
Finally, we are always looking for anyone that is willing to sponsor the rugby club and we have packages to suit all price ranges.
You can contact us on facebook @PaisleyRugbyFC or email paisleyrugbycomms@outlook.com
