Old Spierians
| Full name | Old Spierians RFC |
|---|---|
| Union | Scottish Rugby Union |
| Founded | 1890 |
| Disbanded | 1972 |
| Location | Beith, Scotland |
| Region | North Ayrshire |
| Ground(s) | Marshalland, Beith |
Old Spierians RFC was an amateur rugby union club in Glasgow, Scotland. The club no longer exists. In 1972 they merged with Dalry HSFP to form Garnock RFC.
Spier's School in Beith, North Ayrshire, had a school rugby union team. Old Spierians RFC was formed when former pupils of the school team wished to continue playing the sport after their graduation.
The Old Spierians side came into existence in 1890.
There was similarly an Old Spierians cricket club, noted as playing in 1895 against the then current Speir's School cricket side. The women graduates also formed a hockey team of this name.
The Old Spierians rugby union side of the former pupils of Spier's School came into existence in 1890.
The team is noted in the Glasgow Herald newspaper of Monday 26 February 1894 as playing Dalry at Beith. Old Speirians won the match with Dalry failing to score. Scorers for the Old Speirians were: 1 goal (dropped by J. Scott) and 4 tries (J. Scott (2), J. A. Macgregor and McDonald (1 each)).
The team is also noted in the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper of Tuesday 25 September 1894 as playing the then current Spier's School at rugby. It notes that the Old Spierians won the match by 1 goal (try and conversion) and 4 tries to Spier's School's tally of 1 goal (try and conversion). Scorers for the former pupil side were Scott (3), Stewart and Gray. For the school Cunningham scored the try and conversion.
In 1900, the Kirkintilloch Herald of Saturday 17 November 1900 noted that the prior Saturday the Old Speirians and Lenzie RFC played out a nil-nil draw at Lenzie.
By 1904, one of the Old Speirians players was selected for the South-West district in an International Trial match at Aberdeen. W. L. Kirkwood is listed in the 10 December match against North, but unfortunately he was not later selected for Scotland. The North side selected was a bit of a misnomer as all the players either came from Glasgow District or Edinburgh District, though admittedly they were slightly based north of the South-West District!
Two of Spier's School notable early pupils left the school before getting to play for Old Spierians. Alex Frew and John Bruce Lockhart both became Scotland international rugby union players; Frew even also managing to play for South Africa.
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