Scottish Rugby chairman open to new side

JOHN McGuigan, the chairman of Scottish Rugby Limited, says “never say never” regarding a third professional rugby side being based in the Caledonia region going forward, but admits “certainly the economics of it would be very challenging”.

In a recent interview with Scotland Rugby News, Scottish rugby legend Jim Telfer made it clear that he feels the governing body is “too Central Belt focused” and places like Aberdeen, Inverness, Dundee and Perth are being neglected with Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors being the two pro clubs right now.

“It depends how you look at it,” said McGuigan.

“I think if you are talking about attention to clubs right across Scotland, I’d say that’s not the case (that the Caledonia region is being neglected), but if you look at it at pro team level, you have Edinburgh and Glasgow, so you are Central Belt focused.

“It would be great to be doing more in other parts of Scotland but the economics of it are really, really difficult.

“If you are suggesting another pro team in the north of Scotland, let’s never say never... the economics of it would be very challenging to see a route towards doing it.”

In 2018 Glasgow Warriors played a friendly versus Harlequins at Perthshire’s North Inch ground and then, in 2022, they took on Ayrshire Bulls at Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s stadium.

When asked whether we might see Edinburgh and Glasgow taking games “on the road”, to places like Aberdeen’s Pittodrie, McGuigan said: “In terms of extending the support, we should absolutely look towards that. There is no reason why we shouldn’t.

“Clearly Edinburgh and Glasgow have a core support... so we need to look at that and make sure we don’t somehow start denying the local support access to their team, but there is no reason why we shouldn’t from time to time take games away from those cities to give other people the opportunity.”