Could Aberdeen be home to Scotland’s third professional rugby team?

Imagine getting your scarf on and going down to Pittodrie to cheer on the north of Scotland’s finest strut their stuff.

You may be thinking (depending on your club allegiance) that you would be going to see Aberdeen FC play, but no, replace 11 players with 15 and the round ball with an egg-shaped one.

There has been talk for years about whether Aberdeen should be home to Scotland’s third professional club rugby side – after Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors – and in 2014 things were looking positive.

Aberdonian founder of Aberdeen Asset Management – now Abrdn – Martin Gilbert held talks with the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) about setting up a new pro team in the Granite City after his company backed the idea.

However, more than a decade on and Scotland still only has two central belt-based professional sides, both of whom play in the United Rugby Championship (URC), which includes four Irish, Welsh and South African teams, as well as two from Italy.

It was in 2014 that former England captain Lewis Moody warned that Scotland could disappear as a rugby force due to having only two pro teams, which has been the case since Galashiels-based Border Reivers folded in 2007.

Since then, the Scotland national team has improved and currently sit 6th in the world rankings and in Finn Russell boast one of the best players in the world, as well as having a number of players based in the English Premiership and France’s Top 14.

Despite these improvements, Scotland has failed to get out of the group stages in the last two Rugby World Cups and are still waiting on a maiden Six Nations title.

Since playing at Pittodrie for the first time against the Barbarians in 2005, the national team have played in the Granite City a further three times; 2008 (Canada), Samoa (2010) and Tonga (2012).

However, 12 years without a game in Aberdeen maybe sums up rugby in the north-east, as the region has presence in the top flight semi-professional Scottish Premiership, after Aberdeen Grammar were relegated in 2022.

A new pro team would not just represent the north-east, but would be for the whole “Caledonia region”, meaning that pro rugby would have a presence in the north and midlands of Scotland, i.e. from Stirling to Shetland.

Effectively, this would be a return of the Caledonia Reds who played matches in Aberdeen and Perth, but were wound up in 1998 after being founded two years earlier and merged with the now Glasgow Warriors.

The P&J spoke to two former Scotland internationals from the north about whether they would support a third pro team in this neck of the woods.

Fly-half Ruariadh Jackson, who won 33 caps for his country, and attended Robert Gordon’s College in Aberdeen said he thinks it would be an “interesting proposition” and that there is “untapped potential” in the Caley region.

If it did get the go-ahead, Jackson thinks it would be “outstanding” for the area and believes a lot of Scottish players are not getting the opportunity at Edinburgh or Glasgow due to the talent already in their squads and the “pressure to win”.

The former Warriors, Wasps and Harlequins player, who is now a coach for Glasgow Academicals, believes “there’s definitely enough support and fans from Aberdeen”.

‘My preference would definitely be Aberdeen’

And Aberdeen is Jackson’s preference for the location of a potential third pro team, rather than the Borders or London Scottish, saying: “I think the Caley region probably deserves it and my hope for that is it spreads the net in terms of Scottish young talent.

“It gives guys in those areas sort of a realistic opportunity, pathway and direction to make it in the pro set up, so my preference would definitely be Aberdeen.”

Torphins-born Moray Low, who won 37 caps for Scotland, is also behind a pro rugby team based in the north of Scotland.

The retired prop, who is now the director of a land and planning company, believes that businesses could back a new team financially, saying: “Aberdeen’s the oil capital of the world, it’s one the biggest money making businesses in the world oil and you think of the capital that’s in Aberdeen.”

Spending his formative years in Moray and attending Lossiemouth High School, Low thinks there is the fanbase for a team.

“There’s a massive interest in rugby up north in the Caledonia area and I think it would be supported. It’s one of the biggest districts and I think people will get behind it and support.”

However, despite this, he and Jackson are worried about sustaining a team financially, especially in the aftermath of Covid-19.

Low, a former Warrior who spent the latter part of his career at English Premiership side Exeter Chiefs, believes the Devon side could be an inspiration for a professional outfit in the Granite City.

Going from the second-tier English Championship to European champions in 10 years, Low said the success of Exeter has been down to mixing “stardust” experienced players with a “good mix of local young guys”.

“These boys can come through an academy and they don’t need to move away. They can stay where they are locally and become a local hero player from Aberdeenshire born and bred and then going through the system,” he said.

‘Probably what rugby needs in the north’

Low added: “I think it would be good to add the depth to Scottish rugby, to the professional game, having more players getting week-in week-out game time in the league.

“It’s probably what rugby needs in the north as well.”

As well as Jackson and Low, two of the north’s leading clubs backed a pro team coming to the north.

Aberdeen Grammar chairman Iain Macadie told The P&J: “Do I think it could today? No. Do I think it could in the future? Yes, why not?”

He added: “A lot of teams in the north-east are producing a lot of good young players and right now the best ones have to go down to Glasgow if they’re going to make it.

“We’re up to working with anyone to try and make sure rugby in the north-east is as strong as it can be.”

President of Inverness-based Highland RFC – who play in the second-tier National League Division One – Roy Dinnes said his club are “as progressive as we can be”.

He added: “We would be in favour as a club of a third pro team without any question of a doubt. With the demise of Super Six, there needs to be something aspirational out there for young players and higher quality players.”

Mr Dinnes would also be keen to take pro games to Inverness and thinks rugby has support in the Highland capital, mentioning the sold out match between Glasgow Warriors and Worcester Warriors that was due to take place in August 2022.

The game, at the Caledonian Stadium, which were part of the club’s centenary celebrations was cancelled due to the English side being served with a winding-up petition by the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) due to unpaid tax.

It is unclear whether rugby fans in the north of Scotland will ever get to witness a pro side taking to the field in Aberdeen or Inverness, however, the idea will not go away.

Do you think Aberdeen would be the ideal place for Scotland’s third pro rugby team? Let us know in the comments.