Harris Academicals RFC

Harris Academy FPRFC
Full name Harris Academy Former Pupils Rugby Football Club
Union Scottish Rugby Union
Founded 1926
Location Dundee, Scotland
Ground(s) Elliot Road
League(s) Caledonia 2 Midlands
2011/2012 3
Team kit
Official website
www.harrisrugby.com

Harris Academy FPRFC is a rugby union club based in Dundee, Scotland, originally for the former pupils of Harris Academy. It was originally founded on 5 November 1926 in Room 8 of Harris Academy. The club ceased to exist throughout the latter part of the 1990s and the early 2000s due to dwindling numbers. However, the club was reformed in August 2007 with an ever growing enthusiasm from former players combined with a large senior squad of players who had left the school the previous season after a successful tour to Latvia which saw them beat a local club side before going on to be beaten by a Latvian under 19 select squad. The club currently plays its home games at Elliot Road while The Speedwell Bar currently provides as a club house offering post-match food and beverages.

Harris currently competes in Caledonia League 1.

The club is currently coached by Bruce Beckett.

2008/09 So close but so far

This was to be the season where Harris wouuld make its first real promotion fight. The club began the season by making Bruce "Brucee" Beckett Head Coach; a person that far exceeded their coaching expectations having previously been with the much better Dundee HSFP. Under his direction Harris narrowly missed out on promotion to Alloa RFC, and reached the 3rd round of the Scottish Cup competition where they were narrowly defeated by Hillfoots RFC (a club 3 leagues above Harris).

2007/08 Resurrection season

Pre-season training began in late June for the club's first season back at competitive level. Numbers were constantly increasing in the buildup to the season, with Harris playing "friendly" warm up matches in the form of Madras RFC and an inner squad match. Coaching for this season came largely in the form of sessions taken by Kenneth Clarkson at both Elliot Road when weather permitted it and in the Harris Academy boys gym. On match day Bruce Dyer (club treasurer) acted largely as the club manager. In this season the club qualified for the top half of the split, as they finished in the top half of the league after round 1 of games eventually finishing 5th in the Caledonia 2 proving that they were a more than adequate addition to the roster. The club also reached the quarter finals of the Scottish Plate competition who were they eliminated by eventual winners Aberdeen University RFC. The club also went on to tour to Whitley Bay and Newcastle where they competed in a 10-a-side tournament.

Current Squad

Backs Forwards
Name Position Name Position
Blair Smith Scotland scrum half Charles Quin Scotland (1st XV vice-captain) prop
Peter Burgon Scotland (club captain) stand off Malcolm Mckenzie Nigeria Scotland hooker
Rory Wears Scotland scrum half James Carr Scotland prop
Samaan Akel Lebanon Scotland centre Ian Anderson Scotland 2nd row
Michael Devlin Scotland wing Tom Spowart Scotland No.8
Roger McGill Scotland centre Scott Lambert Scotland 2nd row
Adam Wood Scotland full back Colin Gourley Scotland 2nd row
Duncan Fraser Scotland wing Andrew Clarkson Scotland 2nd row
Michael McDonald Scotland wing Andrew Quin Scotland hooker
Niall Quinton Scotland wing Crawford Lesley Scotland prop
Joe Abbott Scotland full back Finlay Smart Scotland 2nd row
Mark Hogg Scotland wing Peter Bruce Scotland flanker
Marc Wilson Scotland wing Alisdair Findlay Scotland flanker
Callum Leesk Scotland stand off Ben Gunn Scotland flanker
Come Premont France wing Scott Farren Scotland 2nd row
Paul Gordon Scotland centre William Curran Scotland 2nd row
Stewart Walker Scotland stand off Marc Moghbel Switzerland flanker
Euan Millar Scotland wing Martin Forrester England 2nd row
Jack Reavely England scrum half Owen McDonald Scotland 2nd row
Struan Simpson Scotland wing Geoff Cain Canada hooker
Iain Ayton Scotland (1st XV captain) centre Graham Thom Scotland No.8
Kevin Ingham England prop

Club Committee:

Name Position
Neil Mason England President
Iain Gillespie Scotland Vice-President
David Stibbles Scotland Secretary
Bruce Dyer Scotland Treasurer
Colin Petrie Scotland Match Secretary
Peter Burgon Scotland Match Day Secretary
Alisdair Findlay Scotland Social Convener
Bruce Beckett Scotland Head Coach

Awards

Player of the Year
Year Name
2007/08 Richard McIver* Scotland
2008/09 Michael Devlin* Scotland
2009/10 Richard McIver* Scotland
Most Improved Player of the Year
Year Name
2007/08 Ben Ford Scotland
2008/09 Joe Abbott* Scotland
2009/10 Malcolm McKenzie* Scotland

References

    Template:Caledonia 1


    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, December 02, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.