Birth name | Rob W. Flockhart | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
School | High School of Dundee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
University | University of Edinburgh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
127th President of the Scottish Rugby Union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 2016–2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Ed Crozier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Dee Bradbury | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rob Flockhart is a Scottish former rugby union player. He was the 127th President of the Scottish Rugby Union. [1]
He played for Boroughmuir. As SRU President he recalled this time at the Edinburgh club when opening the 2016 Melrose Sevens:"The profile of sevens has never been higher and Melrose - where I have happy memories of representing Boroughmuir in the tournament in the 1970s –continue to play their part in extending its appeal through the quality and imagination of the guest sides invited to the Greenyards." [2]
Flockhart coached the Scotland U21 side in 1998 and 1999. [3]
He has been a citing commissioner for Six Nations Championship matches. [4]
He has acted as a citing commissioner for European Cup and Challenge Cup matches. [5] [6]
He was voted a Vice-President of the Scottish Rugby Union in 2015,beating Ian Barr of Lasswade by four votes. [8]
Flockhart became the 127th President of the Scottish Rugby Union. He served the first two-year term in office from 2016 to 2018. [1]
On his election he said:"I am very keen,having spent this past year learning to ensure that there is strong trust,between the stakeholders,the clubs,the Council and the Board,that is where we start. That allows us to move forward with the club game to develop it and make it more sustainable. I think now what Mark Dodson and the executive team have done in making sure the professional game is on a solid footing,is fantastic. It allows us,with the debt where it is,to start thinking about how we drive forward and sustain the domestic game in Scotland." [9]
During Flockhart's time as president the SRU received criticism for the way it handled the sacking of their Director of Rugby,Keith Russell - the father of Scotland international Finn Russell - and the introduction of 'Agenda 3' which created an Edinburgh-centric national professional league competition,the Super 6,with 3 of the 6 sides coming from the capital - and no sides from the cities of Glasgow,Aberdeen,Dundee or Inverness. [10]
In his annual report address to the SRU delegates,Flockhart stated:"Over the last six weeks or so there's been a cloud over Scottish Rugby,I believe caused by two things:Firstly,the findings of the employment tribunal in relation to our former director of domestic rugby Keith Russell –I want to reassure you that through Council and board we will learn the lessons from the tribunal findings,we will implement recommendations from the review undertaken by Lesley Thomson,Scotland's former solicitor general. And I want to take this opportunity today to apologise to you all for the manner in which these matters have transpired. We must do better in this regard. Secondly,the concern and uncertainty surrounding Agenda 3. Agenda 3 was only ever a response to a recognition by many of our clubs and those volunteers in them that change is needed if our game is to survive and flourish. Ladies and gentlemen,we need to resolve these reservations,those concerns and those uncertainties and I hope that today we can go some way towards that." [10]
He was bullish about the finances of the SRU. "It's hugely pleasing. It helps drive Agenda 3,but the whole change in the past decade has been absolutely remarkable. The idea that we were so strung up with debt that it was difficult to do any forward planning until the debt was reduced means that the financial results allows us to show that we can handle debt and focus on future projects. There have been eight consecutive sell-outs at BT Murrayfield. 67,000 at the Samoa game. The performances of the Men's and Women's national teams,as well as Glasgow and Edinburgh,have all contributed to these recent figures;you don't get to turn over £57 million unless there are big crowds at the very biggest games and successful teams are at the root of that. The turnover means that we can fund better professional teams but more importantly,we can fund club investment and the intention is to put more and more into the domestic game. The three strands of Agenda 3 –the Finance,Performance and Participation –money is needed for all of these. When I was elected I promised that I would try and brings clubs to the forefront of everything that happened at BT Murrayfield,which I think there's no denying has been the focus. Clubs wanted change and that's what Agenda 3 has tried to produce. There will be more discussion of course,and that's absolutely welcome;the finance allows other things to happen." [11]
The Scottish Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby,it is the second oldest Rugby Union,having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league system,known as the Scottish League Championship,and the Scottish National teams. The SRU is headed by the President and Chairman,with Mark Dodson acting as the Chief Executive Officer. Dee Bradbury became the first female president of a Tier 1 rugby nation upon her appointment on 4 August 2018.
Edinburgh Rugby is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship,along with the Glasgow Warriors,its oldest rival. Edinburgh plays the majority of its home games at Edinburgh Rugby Stadium.
Murrayfield Stadium is a rugby stadium located in the Murrayfield area of Edinburgh,Scotland. It has a seating capacity of 67,144 making it the largest stadium in Scotland and the fifth largest in the United Kingdom.
Sean Lineen is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He was a former Head Coach of Glasgow Warriors from 2006 to 2012. He was a Director for the Scottish Rugby Union until December 2021.
Ayr Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club. Its professional men's side currently plays as Ayrshire Bulls in the Super 6 competition;and its women's side play in the Scottish Womens National One. The club also runs a "Club XV" which competes in the Tennent's National League 1,a 2nd XV "Ayr-Millbrae",which plays in the SRU West Reserve League Division 1,and various age group teams,from age 4,up to age 18.
Rugby union in Scotland is a popular team sport. Scotland's national side today competes in the annual Six Nations Championship and the Rugby World Cup. The first ever international rugby match was played on 27 March 1871,at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh,when Scotland defeated England in front of 4,000 people. Professional clubs compete in the United Rugby Championship,European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup,while the Scottish League Championship exists for over 200 amateur and semi-professional clubs,as does a knock-out competition,the Scottish Cup. The governing body,the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU),is one of the ten first-tier member nations of World Rugby.
Edinburgh Wanderers is a former rugby union club,founded in 1868. It was latterly a tenant of the Scottish Rugby Union,playing home fixtures at Murrayfield Stadium for nearly 75 years. In 1997 it merged with Murrayfield RFC to form Murrayfield Wanderers.
The Scottish Premiership is an amateur league competition for Scottish rugby union clubs. First held in 1973,it is the top division of the Scottish League Championship. The most recent (2019) champions are Ayr,while the most successful club is Hawick,who have won the competition twelve times.
Caledonia Reds are a Scottish rugby union professional district team who participate in the Scottish Inter-District Championship and have participated in two seasons of the Heineken Cup. They evolved from one of the traditional four amateur districts of Scotland,North and Midlands,in 1996.
Rugby union in Scotland in its modern form has existed since the mid-19th century. As with the history of rugby union itself however,it emerged from older traditional forms of football which preceded the codification of the sport. In the same manner as rugby union in England,rugby union in Scotland would grow at a significant rate to the point where Scotland played England in the first ever rugby union international in 1871,a match which was won by the Scottish team.
The Scottish Cup is the annual knock-out cup competition for domestic rugby union clubs in Scotland. The cup has been competed for since the 1995-1996 season. The competition was in abeyance between 2019 and 2022,initially due to the Covid-19 pandemic,and made its return in the 2022-23 season. Despite many structural changes the competition has always culminated with the final at Murrayfield Stadium.
The Scotland national Club XV rugby union team is one of several national rugby union teams behind the Scottish national side.
The 1996–97 season was the first in the history of the Glasgow Warriors as a professional side. The Warriors rugby union provincial side was created by turning the amateur provincial side Glasgow District into a professional outfit. During this season,the newly professional side competed as Glasgow Rugby.
Derek Stark is a Scottish former international rugby union player who played for Glasgow Warriors at the Wing positions
Darren Burns is a former Scotland A and Scotland 7s international rugby union player who played for Glasgow Warriors. He played in the Lock position.
The Scottish Rugby Academy provides Scotland's up and coming rugby stars a dedicated focused routeway for development into the professional game. Entry is restricted to Scottish qualified students and both male and female entrants are accepted into 4 regional academies. The 2016–17 season sees the second year of the academy.
The Scottish Rugby Academy provides Scotland's up and coming rugby stars a dedicated focused routeway for development into the professional game. Entry is restricted to Scottish qualified students and both male and female entrants are accepted into 4 regional academies. The 2017–18 season sees the third year of the academy.
The Scottish Rugby Academy provides Scotland's up and coming rugby stars a dedicated focused routeway for development into the professional game. Entry is restricted to Scottish qualified students and both male and female entrants are accepted into 4 regional academies. The 2018–19 season sees the fourth year of the academy,now sponsored by Fosroc.
Bert Duffy is a Scottish former rugby union player. He was the 117th President of the Scottish Rugby Union.
Bill Watson is a former Scotland international rugby union player.