January 10th will begin the official Sesquicentennial (150 years)Celebrations for Perthshire Rugby Club who played their first game on that date in 1868, then known as Hansel day, against the Scots Greys on the North Inch.
Previously football had been played on the North Inch of Perth from time immemorial but the Scots Parliament at Perth enacted special statutes against the game of “fit-ball” on the North Inch and the City Trades Incorporations had drastic penalties to stop young apprentices playing.
In 1836 on Hansel Monday, a famous football game was played when the Lord Provost challenged Lord Stormont of Scone Palace and “fifty men a side took part.” The ball was kicked ,mauled and carried and several were lost, burst or swept away on the River Tay.
There were no boundaries and the game “raged furiously” from 2pm to 5pm in front of an estimated crowd of 15,000 and the game was declared a draw by the umpires as the darkness descended.
It ended “in riots and disorders- the last time Football was disgraced in Perth.”
So it fell to the “Rugby Boys and University Men”, who had played the game and knew the rules of the “New Game,” to educate the Perth Academy Boys and the Royal Scots Greys, then stationed in Perth, who were “apt pupils,” in the game of Rugby Football.
And so, on January 10th 1868, in front of 8000 spectators, the “New Game” was played between
Perthshire Rugby Club and the Scots Greys and the rest, as they say, is pure Eagle history.
A number of Key Events will be held to celebrate the clubs 150th Year so keep your eyes peeled on the website and social media: but for now ….
Happy Birthday to you...!