Hawick RFC Collection

In October 1872, Hawick and Wilton Cricket Club decided to encourage their members to play football in the winter months to keep fit. There was discussion on whether they should play association and rugby union football. A special match was arranged to decide the matter, with the first half played under association rules and the second under rugby union rules. Rugby union emerged victorious, being thought of as “manlier and more congenial to the Border nature than the tamer association game.”

Hawick’s first fixture was against Langholm on 7th February 1874. They played under Carlisle rules, which were a combination of association and rugby codes. One rule stated that a goal could only be scored if the ball was kicked under the crossbar. A Langholm player kicked the ball over the Hawick bar, which didn't count. The result was a 0-0 draw.

In 1885 the rugby players broke away from the cricket club and reorganised themselves as Hawick Football Club. Some members of the cricket club weren’t happy about the separation and refused to allow the rugby players to continue using their field. They initially moved to Volunteer Park just beyond the cricket pitch, before moving to their permanent home at Mansfield Park three years later. To mark the new era, the club adopted new colours: dark green jerseys and socks, and white shorts.

Hawick won their first Scottish championship in 1896, defeating Watsonians 3–0. At the time, the title was awarded to the team with the fewest defeats, regardless of wins or draws. Despite Hawick winning twice as many matches as Watsonians, both sides had suffered a single loss and went into the final day of the season level, with Hawick’s victory securing the championship.

In the years following the Second World War, rugby in Hawick experienced renewed growth. Attendances rose steadily, and in 1957 the club marked this revival with the construction of a new grandstand at Mansfield Park, capable of seating 1,500 spectators.

The 1950s and 1960s saw the emergence of a remarkable generation of players who came to define the club during the post-war era. Figures such as Hugh McLeod, George Stevenson, Adam Robson and Derrek Grant formed the backbone of Hawick sides throughout the period. Grant would later exert a lasting influence beyond his playing career, going on to become Hawick’s most successful ever coach. By the early 1970s, Hawick were firmly established among the leading clubs in Scottish rugby.

From the 1973–74 season, Scottish Rugby introduced a formal league structure, creating a six-division competition and bringing an end to the long-standing 'unofficial championship'. Hawick immediately asserted themselves in the new era, winning the inaugural Scottish Championship and going on to claim ten of the first fourteen titles.

That period of sustained success wasn’t uninterrupted, with Hawick being relegated from the top division in 2008–09 and again in 2011–12. After a 22-year wait, the club secured its 13th championship in the 2022–23 season, extending its record as the most successful club in the competition’s history.

More than 60 Hawick players have now been capped for Scotland. That such an extraordinary contribution has come from a town of around 15,000 people underlines the depth of rugby culture in Hawick and confirms the club’s central place in the story of Scottish rugby.

The Hawick RFC collection brings together an exceptional selection of match-worn jerseys, international caps, match balls, and ephemera, including items from the distinguished prop Hugh Ferns McLeod (1932–2014). 

Below is a preview from the collection.

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