HISTORY isn’t always about kings and queens, nobles and politicians, battles and wars.
Yes, these are the subjects that history concentrates on, usually because they are better chronicled, but whole swathes of human experience have never been recorded, especially times and places of happiness.
One place where I have enjoyed moments of great happiness and not a few occasions of despair is Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, known primarily as the home of the Scotland national team and headquarters of the Scottish Rugby Union, but also a place visited by hundreds of thousands of people who have no interest in rugby.
This week sees the centenary of Murrayfield hosting its first match, and that is a story in itself. But first, some ancient history.
The area is named after Archibald Murray, an advocate connected to the distinguished family of Murray of Cringletie.
In 1733, he bought the land from the Nisbet of Dean family which is why it was known as Nisbet’s Park.
Murray built Murrayfield House in 1735 and the area developed around them, especially after the New Town was created in the 1760s so that the city expanded north and west, eventually engulfing the village of Corstorphine.
Murrayfield remained an area of greenery, however, and the gentlemen of Edinburgh Polo Club secured it as the home of their chukkas. Rugby Union was one of the two fast-growing team sports in the second half of the 19th century, the other being association football.
Confusingly the original governing body of rugby in Scotland was the Scottish Football Union (SFU), established in Glasgow but only after Edinburgh claimed the honour of hosting the first international played under rugby rules in 1871.
It was also in Edinburgh that in 1897, the SFU established Inverleith as the host stadium for international matches, and it remained so into the 1920s. The growth of rugby as a spectator sport meant that the SFU began to look for a new location in Edinburgh and looked at a couple of sites.
The SRU’s own history takes up the story: “While all this exploratory activity was taking place, the then Secretary and Treasurer of the SFU announced that an opportunity had presented itself to possibly acquire
19 acres of land at Murrayfield, belonging to the Edinburgh Polo Club. Negotiations were entered into and, by the end of 1922, the deal for the purchase of the ground had been completed.
“Funds for the preparation of the land and the building of a rugby stadium were raised by way of an issue of debentures. With preparations in full swing, the SFU, in 1924, changed its name to become the Scottish Rugby Union. The cash inflow from the debentures allowed the construction work to go ahead and Scotland played their last international match at Inverleith on January 25, 1925, signing off with a 25-4 victory over France.”
Murrayfield was officially opened on a sunny day on March 21, 1925 and as the official account states “it was pure Boy’s Own stuff!”.
Scotland had beaten Wales in Swansea and Ireland in Dublin (14-8) and that win over France meant that they faced England, the Five Nations champions of the two previous seasons with the title at stake. Only Scotland could secure the Triple Crown as England had beaten Wales but had drawn their game with Ireland.
The official account states: “The 70,000 spectators at Murrayfield were treated to a stupendously exciting match in which the lead changed hands several times before Scotland secured the 14-11 victory which was to give them their first-ever ‘Grand Slam.’
"At the time, the phrase ‘Grand Slam’ had not been created and the players of the day, although aware that they had won all of their matches in the Five Nations series and that they were champions, had never heard of ‘Grand Slam’ in rugby parlance. The phrase was to become popular in time to come being, it is thought, the invention of journalists.”
It was a fabulous start to Murrayfield’s career, and it would go on to set a world rugby attendance record of 104,000, Scotland against Wales in 1975. But sadly the great stadium has only witnessed two Scottish Grand Slams since 1925 – 1984 and the unforgettable championship secured with victory over England in 1990.
That was the year before plans were announced to fully develop the stadium to its present capacity of 67,500, making it the largest stadium in Scotland by capacity.
It’s not just been about rugby. In 1982 the stadium hosted a youth rally attended by 45,000 people, there to greet Pope John Paul II during his tour of Britain.
The following year saw David Bowie become the first music star to perform at Murrayfield, and he has been followed by many legends since – U2, the Rolling Stones, Oasis, Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, and Taylor Swift among them.
To celebrate and promote the centenary, MPs passed the following Early Day Motion: “That this House celebrates the 100th anniversary of the opening of Murrayfield Stadium on March 21, 1925; notes that the first event held at Murrayfield was a Five Nations match between Scotland and England, which saw Scotland win the Calcutta Cup during their first Five Nations Grand Slam; further notes the Stadium has remained the home of the Scottish Rugby Union ever since; notes the stadium has welcomed a number of other major sporting events including football, American football and matches three Rugby World Cups; celebrates the wide range of musicians which have performed at the stadium including David Bowie, Taylor Swift, the Spice Girls and Oasis, as well as the final Live 8 concert in 2005; further celebrates the positive economic impact of these events on the city, with events between June and December 2024 adding £120.4 million to the economy; further notes the economic impact of visitors from outside Scotland to the stadium was £41.9 million; and wishes the Scottish Rugby Union and the team at Murrayfield continued success in the future.”
For once our politicians got it right, and Murrayfield Stadium has secured its place in the history of the Scottish people.
