Robinson was no stranger to Scottish rugby as, like his predecessor Hadden, had been the head coach of Edinburgh Rugby and joint coach of Scotland A before being promoted head coach of the national side. Image: Aberdeen Journals. 3) SJ appointed D0R On the occasion that Scotland is the home side and the opposing team normally wears dark colours, Scotland will use its change strip. [47] Scotland have appointed a further three non-Scottish coaches to lead the national side, the others being Scott Johnson, an Australian, Andy Robinson, an Englishman, and Vern Cotter from New Zealand. My hope is that Toonie will stop experimenting quite so much and start picking a more settled side who can really start to gel ahead of the RWC. They made their way through their group and reached the quarter finals, where they were knocked out by Argentina. Ticketing Information. [7], In 1925 Scotland already had victories over France at Inverleith (254), Wales in Swansea (2414) and Ireland in Dublin (148). Just as well winning isnt everything, eh? Scotland: 0: 0: 15/03/1930: Twickenham, London: Five Nations: 1931 Scores and results list England's points tally first. Scotland rugby international Siobhan Cattigan has died at the age of 26, Scottish Rugby and her club Stirling County said on Wednesday. Good article. [126], Scotland competes annually in the Six Nations Championship, which is played against five other European nations: France, England, Ireland, Italy and Wales. The SFU bought some land and built the first Murrayfield Stadium which was opened on 21 March 1925. It would be good to review the world rankings with the win ratio to see how they compare. In 1995, the year the game turned professional, Scotland actually won more games and came much closer to a World Cup semi. His hat-trick against Ireland in 1989 was Scotlands most recent Championship treble until Blair Kinghorn did the same against Italy in 2019. It encompasses some of our glory years (1990, 1999), the advent of professionalism (and Nelson Mandela) in 1995 and plenty of dross before the current purple patch. This roster includes legendary names like former Scotland captain Andy Irvine and former British Lions captain Gavin Hastings. powered by HTML5, CSS3, love and odd-shaped rugby balls, John Barclay scores for Scotland vs Australia - In the same game Chris Paterson moved ahead of Andy Irvine in the list of Scotland's all-time points scorers. Opposing Teams For Against Date Venue Status . In the early years the Scottish rugby team played at Inverleith in Edinburgh. The Triple Crown is awarded to the Scotland, England, Ireland or Wales national side if they can beat the other three 'Home Nation' sides in the Six Nations tournament of that year. Later that year, the side travelled to France for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Birmingham City v Manchester City 55/56 FA Cup Final-5/5/1956 One team change, match day fold and spine starting to split 6.50 plus postage Luton Town v Nottingham Forest 58/59 FA Cup Final- 2/5/1959 Water mark on front top left scorers fain . The very first Scotland national rugby union team can be traced back to the 1870s, despite the sport first appearing in the country back in the 1850s. It was written by Roy Williamson of The Corries in 1967, and adopted by the SRU to replace "God Save the Queen". [81] In 2015, they came within 30 seconds of a famous win over Australia; however, a last minute penalty sealed the win for the Wallabies. [30], In January 1986, a trial match between "Blues" (players expected to feature for Scotland) and "Reds" (emerging players with a possible international future) resulted in a shock 4110 win for the "Reds". [23], Jim Telfer became national coach in 1980,[24] inheriting a squad of genuine potential. January 13, 2019 in Scotland National Team. Here is the list of players of Scotland for the 2022/2023 season with heights, weights, birthdate, ages, contract length. Australia. Follow Rory on twitter @scotrugbyblog. nature of Rennies selections (9 centre combinations in half a season?! He was elected chairman of Stewarts Melville in 2018. He is also involved on the board with London Scottish. The championship was contested by England, France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Rugby : opposing team statistics Bristol Bears and Northampton Saints (England) . The Rugby Championship; IRB World Rankings; General Links. Matt Williams technically took over in December 2003 but presided over no games until 2004. [15] The Calcutta Cup was won 156, the first time since 1950[16] and they shared the Five Nations title in 1964 with Wales. [94] However, Scotland displayed improved performances in their World Cup warm-up games over the summer, with two wins over Italy and narrow defeats away in Ireland and France. He later captained Scotland to the 1999 Five Nations title and retired after the World Cup that year. Milnes Scotland debut came just a year before Scotlands Grand Slam triumph and he ended up with 39 caps and a call-up to the 1993 Lions tour. Defensively, we also need to tighten up and cut out the basic errors. [114], "Flower of Scotland" has been used since 1990 as Scotland's unofficial national anthem. against the US, Ireland in 2018, Wales in the 2018 AIs, SA or close (and, if were being a wee bit childish, totally unjust), such as against NZ. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. According to legend the "guardian thistle" has played its part in the defence of Scotland against a night attack by Norwegian Vikings, one of whom let out a yell of pain when he stepped barefoot on a thistle, alerting the Scottish defenders. For the women's team, see. Gavin Hastings holds the record for most points scored at the Rugby World Cup (RWC) for the Scottish national rugby team with 227 points. Of the 32 years covered, there are only 11 years where Scotland have won more than they have lost and so the top 10 really are about the best years weve seen in this period the others were all losing or drawing years, bar 1991. [57] Scotland also beat England 1812 at home at Murrayfield to reclaim the Calcutta Cup. [39], Scotland went through 1994 without a single win,[40] but bounced back in 1995 to win their first three Five Nations matches. The top five are listed in each category (except when there is a tie for the last place among the five, when all the tied record holders are noted). The question is, now we are going in the right direction, can Scotlands upward trend continue in this World Cup year and beyond? Since retiring, White has enjoyed a second career as an independent financial adviser. Cattigan, who won 19 caps for Scotland between 2018 and 2021 . How to watch France vs Scotland TV channel: In the UK, France vs Scotland is being broadcast live and free-to-air on ITV1, with coverage beginning at 2:15pm GMT ahead of a 3pm kick-off. The captain of the team, prop David Sole is best remembered for leading Scotland to victory in that Grand Slam decider. In the eagerly anticipated Calcutta Cup tie against England at Twickenham,[105] however, Scotland were thrashed 6121. Derek White $5.00 New. Occasional wins were recorded against Wales, Ireland and France. He is trailing far ahead, as the next highest point. 6) Rennie and Cockerill being appointed at the two pro teams His last Scotland cap came just two years after that Grand Slam success and hes since forged a successful coaching career, working with Glasgow Warriors for six years and latterly London Scottish. [13], The teams from 1955 to 1963 were an improvement. Hampden Park. [23] In March 1982 Scotland won away in Wales for the first time in 20 years. Interesting article, and its good to see that the variance in our performance is reducing, even if the peaks are reducing, too. Newsletter Sign-up. Ever alert, his ability to make breaks from around the fringes was uncanny and he was a dangerous threat throughout the 1990 Championship. Both sides had won all their Five Nations fixtures, and England were overwhelming favourites despite being the away side. Between 2008-2015, he worked as a talent manager with the Scottish Institute of Sport and has recently started his own business Stanger Pro. Then they looked at the same metric for the top rugby nations across the last 3 years to see if that helps to figure out who will win the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. Secure your tickets for Scotland's home fixtures against Wales, Italy & Ireland this April at DAM Health Stadium. [61], In 2007, Scotland became the first Six Nations team to lose at home to Italy, 1737. Sports team. [6] The Six Nations started out as the Home Nations Championship in 1883, with Scotland sharing the championship with England in 1886 before winning the title outright for the first time a year later. Since then there have been a total of 99 games played, resulting in 57 wins for France, 39 wins for Scotland and 3 draws, as of March 2021. Calder scored Scotlands first try in their 21-0 win against France, one of just two for his country. In 2020, Lineen coached the Scotland Under-20s side in the Six Nations. Current Scotland Coaches set out on SRU website: Scotland women's national rugby union team, 2012 Scotland rugby union tour of Australia, Fiji and Samoa, Learn how and when to remove this template message, 2013 South African Quadrangular Tournament, List of Scotland national rugby union players, List of Scotland national rugby union team records, Scotland national under-21 rugby union team, Scotland national under-20 rugby union team, Scotland national under-19 rugby union team, Scotland national under-18 rugby union team, Scotland national under-17 rugby union team, Scotland national under-16 rugby union team, Scotland women's national rugby sevens team, "On this day 1871: First ever rugby international", "England v Scotland: The greatest moments", "2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force rugby team (194546)", "2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force rugby team (19451946)", "Rugby stats & records Scotland v England 195563", "Notorious occasion when record crowd packed Murrayfield", "Rugby stats & records Record attendances", "Rugby stats & records Wales v Scotland 196282", "Watch Telfer Talk as Scotland legend insists we CAN claim first Twickenham win in 32 years", "Interview: Scott Hastings, Scottish rugby legend", "Ian is a natural to tackle coaching post", "BBC A Sporting Nation Grand Slam 1990", "The perfect rugby anthem Flower of Scotland! [6] Scotland were the winners of the last Five Nations in 1999, before Italy joined the competition to make it the Six Nations.[6]. Drop off between 1st and 2nd choice. The 1985 Five Nations Championship was the fifty-sixth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. In 1971, the SRU appointed the first coach as "adviser to the captain". They convincingly beat Romania[59] and put up a solid first half performance against the Pacific Islanders. He is now a director of a flooring company. In-form Ben White is relishing the opportunity he has been given by Gregor Townsend to establish himself as the first-choice Scotland scrum-half. This is deeply unfair on the players who were top-class and also those who werent, the vast majority of whom were doing their best within a struggling, debt-ridden national structure which could never quite pull itself out of the mire (at least relative to other unions). K. en Bruce praised the BBC as "still the finest broadcasting institution in the world" despite the "occasional vagary" as he signed off his final show on Radio 2. A farmer, he says his one regret is that he can stand on a hill and see England. The 1986 Five Nations Championship was the fifty-seventh series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. [90] Vern Cotter finally assumed his role as head coach, and in June of the same year Scotland won three tests against the top teams of the Americas, before being hammered by South Africa 556. The rescheduled match was notable for the debut, at fly half for Wales, of Jonathan Davies.[1]. Since retiring, Hastings has worked in media as a freelance commentator for the likes of BBC, Sky Sports and ITV. Where are they now? Before Flower of Scotland was adopted as national anthem, "Scotland the Brave" was played for Scotland in the 1987 Rugby World Cup. Share it ! Get the latest Scotland Rugby team news, fixtures, results and more with Sky Sports . [84] Scotland also recorded away wins over both Fiji and Samoa. [55] On 15 September 2005, he was appointed national coach of the Scotland team. 2) They are being brought effectively into the pro team environments ; or In the 2006 Autumn internationals Scotland won two of three fixtures. Rugby Union; . Some clubs closed down, others amalgamated and carried on playing other local clubs and, sometimes, teams from the armed forces stationed in their various areas. Beating all the sides in the Six Nations is called a Grand Slam but this has no trophy. Its not a scolding, Ruckov. Tries from Jonny Gray and Huw Jones brought Scotland to 1722 with barely a minute to go, but it took a superb cover tackle from the All Blacks fly-half Beauden Barrett to prevent Stuart Hogg from scoring a winning try. [95] Scotland played well at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England; qualifying from their group by beating Japan, USA and Samoa, although they lost to South Africa. You can click to see a larger version (opens in new tab). [120] In May 2007, after seventeen years, The Famous Grouse ended its shirt sponsorship with the team. Check out the brand new Macron Scotland kits for the 2022/23 season. The first Calcutta Cup match was played in 1879 and, since that time, over 100 matches have taken place. *as represented by a squiggly line and some guesswork. A week later Scotland defeated Australia 2419 in Sydney, the second time in a row Scotland had won on Australian soil. How many of those players would have thrived in 2019, I wonder? For example we are worlds away from a backline like: Blair To fans, 1999 feels like some sort of stylistic peak at the try-scoring Five Nations Championship-winning side (who also made the quarters of the World Cup) but there was an extra pre-quarters knockout round against Samoa in those days. Interesting to see what young players take the opportunity this time. [43] However, in the 1999 World Cup they suffered a quarter-final defeat to New Zealand. Scotland did however score ninety-five unanswered points across two wins against Samoa and Russia. 4) Vern Cotter appointed as Scotland coach The Latin Nemo me impune lacessit ("No-one provokes me with impunity!" In 1951, the touring Springboks massacred Scotland 440 scoring nine tries, a then record defeat. Representing Scotland at international level. 1985-10-16. Please read this blog responsibly. As well as this theres the latest fixtures and results for the Scotland national rugby union team. [40] This was Scotland's first win in Paris since 1969. The All Blacks havent dropped below 82% since 2009. A standard points scoring system was only agreed in 1891 . 318K followers. Matches . [7] In January 1946, Scotland played and defeated a strong New Zealand Armed Forces team by 116. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the ninety-second series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Formula 1. BT became the primary shirt sponsor as part of the 20million deal signed in 2014. [129][130], Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Scotland national XV at test level up until 19 November 2022. The Centenary Quaich is awarded to the winner of the Scotland Ireland match in the Six Nations tournament. Official Guinness Six Nations section for the Scotland Rugby Team, including Fixtures, Results, Live Scores, Features and Latest News . Has also appeared as a pundit for BBC Scotland and sat on the World Rugby Council. [109] A week later Scotland registered a record win over the Wallabies, who played with 14 men for the majority of the game after Kepu's dismissal, inflicting eight tries on the visitors in what was the Australian hooker Stephen Moore's final international game. And, a couple of freak results aside, our losses now are largely of our own making e.g. Scotland has a rich history of producing quality scrum-halves, and Gary Armstrong, Grand Slam-winner in 1990 and Five Nations champion in 1999, takes the number nine jersey ahead of Roy Laidlaw. The game versus Japan was played at the home of St Johnstone F.C., McDiarmid Park, Perth. Today, some of those players are still involved in rugby, while others have ventured into very different fields. '1985 NORWICH CITY MILK CUP FINAL'. [41] This run of wins included a 2321 win away against France, courtesy of a last minute try and conversion by Gavin Hastings. [140], The current Scottish coaching set up:[141][142][143], This article is about the men's team. He won 60 Scotland caps, with his last coming in 1999. Download this stock image: England players Delon Armitage and Toby Flood celebrate after defeating Scotland in Rugby World Cup game in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011. Not only are they one of the most successful sides in the Six Nations, Scotland can also boast a number of trophies in their honours list and the national side has featured some of the all-time rugby greats.On this page you can find out more about the Scotland Rugby team such as the teams history and what the current squad looks like. Scotland played Australia in the quarter-finals, and with 30 seconds remaining led 3432, having benefited from an incorrect refereeing decision that resulted in Scotland's second try. It would be interesting to compare these statistics with how many otherwise 1st 15 or 1st 23 players were injured for a majority of each year to see whether theres a correlation between major injuries and lower win rates. Scotland can be immensely proud of that effort. At just 21, Chalmers carried a huge responsibility at fly-half but his goal-kicking was superb throughout the Championship. Scotlands graph looked about as reasonable as youd expect (vaguely upwards after 2015), to which your correspondent scoffed and said yeah but what about the noughties? The Grand Slam in 1990 should perhaps not have been too surprising, given their high win rate the previous year (topping the table) too, but the number of games played in an international season has risen since those days which makes it relatively harder to achieve now (unless you are New Zealand). [35], Their greatest year in the modern era was 1990,[36] when their season came down to one game, a Grand Slam decider at Murrayfield against the "auld enemy", England. Henderson Scotland is the current holder. Theres surely not a bar in Scotland where Stanger couldnt walk into and have a pint bought for him. He demolished the opposition long before WP. [51][52] By April 2005, Scotland had won only three out of 17 matches under Williams. [6] They also contest the Calcutta Cup with England as part of the championship. Scottish Rugby Union BT Murrayfield Edinburgh EH1Z 5PJ SCOTLAND. rugby memorabilia [75] In the Autumn Internationals of 2010, Scotland lost heavily against New Zealand before recording victories against South Africa, 2117, and Samoa, 1916. Scotland won 5324, their biggest ever margin of victory over Australia. [47] However his tenure was both controversial and unsuccessful, marred by a string of poor results and fall-outs with coaches and players. [69], In a dismal 2009 Six Nations campaign, Scotland won just one match for a second consecutive year (against Italy) and thus, on 2 April 2009 Frank Hadden resigned as head coach of the national side. Ph: +44 (0) 844 335 3933 Fax: +353 (0) 131 346 5001. Murrayfield's record attendance of 104,000 was set on 1 March 1975 when Scotland defeated Wales 1210 during the 1975 Five Nations Championship. [40][41] The last Five Nations match was another Grand Slam decider against England; however, this time the English defeated the Scots 2412, largely due to the kicking prowess of Rob Andrew. The Scottish presenter . Thats what a great team looks like, so it is clear Scotland are currently a good team but not much more yet. [103][104] This followed with a defeat in Paris to France. A former lorry driver in the amateur era, Armstrong returned to the lorry business after his rugby career ended while also trying his hand at farming. The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in men's international rugby union and is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. Depending on how the Scottish Cup pans out (a painful exit to Hearts this term is a blot on Johnson's copybook), fifth could even be enough for the Europa Conference League qualifiers, so being . Scottish Rugby is now issuing all tickets digitally via a new FREE Scottish Rugby Ticketing App. pic Alastair Ross / Novantae Photography Scotland v Wales 1985 Rugby Programme - Rugbyreplay 02-03-1985 : Murrayfield Very Good condition Sign in My Account Home About Us Contact Us Shipping Terms Mobile view Your basket is empty. Armed with some figures from ESPN Scrum and a spreadsheet, here is our own graph of the Scotland rugby team win rate throughout the Rugby World Cup era, since 1987. [citation needed] This was introduced in 1973 and still flourishes today with several of the country's original clubs still very much in evidence, such as Heriots, West of Scotland, Watsonians and the famous 'border' clubs such as Gala, Hawick, Jed-Forest, Kelso and Melrose. The SRU cancelled all arranged trial and international matches and encouraged the member clubs to carry on as best they could. His first fixture as head coach was against Italy in Singapore where Scotland won 3413. [96] However, referee Craig Joubert then awarded the Wallabies a highly controversial penalty, later judged by the game's ruling body to be incorrect, which Bernard Foley scored to give Australia victory. Danielli The final of the BT Cup, BT Shield, BT Bowl, Sarah Beaney Cup, BT Women's Bowl and BT Women's Plate, are all staged on the same day, with both the men's and women's teams competing . Will we get a chance to see if it works? Edinburghs revival seems to be a similar story of recurring despair/doldrums to revitalisation. Heriot-Watt University Master's Degree Knowledge Based Systems M.Sc. Their best finish was fourth in 1991. [97][98], Scotland lost their first two games in the 2016 Six Nations Championship, extending their losing streak in the Six Nations to nine matches, their worst run in the championship since the 1950s. [7], Internationals resumed in the 194647 season, although these were not formally recognised and no caps were awarded to participating players. Scotland won their pool, though the game against Ireland was close, and then beat Western Samoa in the quarter-final. Gregor Townsend took over as head coach in June 2017. These are only a couple of examples of the many big names to have featured for the Scotland national rugby union team.The Scotland rugby team today features a number of renowned and popular players within the sport including fullback Stuart Hogg, lock Jonny Gray and fly-half Finn Russell. Sure Cockers is planning that his entire pack plus the prop bench options will be away. This deal is thought to be worth a tenth of the original cost and forbids the Scottish Rugby Union from affiliating itself from any other whisky manufacturer. The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in men's international rugby union and is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. USA Rugby is charged with developing the game on all levels and has over 125,000 active members. Are you looking to grow your network, and make moves off the pitch? This represents the first time since that 1990s heyday where Scotland have kept a win rate above 50% for 3 years running. All original content is 20072023 Scottish Rugby Blog and the respective post author: strictly no reproduction of material without permission. [7], The period after World War Two was not a successful one for Scotland. I guess its like more process things: you get stability then increase performance. Great article, Rory. 8. RUGBY WORLD VERDICT Stuart Hogg gets to wear the ten jersey for the first time and leads a backline designed to fit the attacking mantra "go, go, go!" However they perform defensively, speed going forward is at the heart of their approach. His brothers Iain and David also won Scotland caps but it was just Kenny who was part of the Grand Slam side. The cuffs are white with navy pinstripes. To change that trend, Scotland needed to build an assembly line of winners. Tweet it ! Rory is the editor of Scottish Rugby Blog, and has offered a fan's view on Scottish Rugby since founding the blog in 2007. There are three out of the first four World Cup years present in the 10 best years, which suggests that playing extra fixtures against Tier 2 sides in a year perhaps boosted the score a bit, but as the general standard of world rugby (and World Cups) has improved over time this has had less effect. Former England out-half Andy Goode cant fathom why the SRU have yet to offer Gregor Townsend a contract extension given how great the future now looks for Scotland. Not sure thats true can you even name 5 domestic players whove made the step up to playing pro rugby in the last five years that werent in the Scotland U18 setup, far less U20s? [88] On 27 May 2013, it was announced that Vern Cotter would become head coach of Scotland, but the SRU had to wait until 2014 as club Clermont failed to reach an agreement with the SRU to release Cotter a year early from his contract. Barbarians Clubs International British Lions Celebration and One-Off Matches Club & Regional England - Clubs Bath Named by the Herald as Scotlands greatest ever player in 2015, Gary Amstrongs place among the greats has long been assured. On the left breast is a retro Scotland badge. [citation needed] These teams play in international club competitions such as the Heineken Cup and the Pro14. [10][11] Scotland resumed full international matches in February 1947, losing 228 to Wales at Murrayfield. Scotland have traditionally worn navy blue jerseys, white shorts and blue socks. [74] That summer, Scotland toured Argentina and recorded their first ever away series victory, beating the Pumas in both tests, 2416 and 139. Scotland's Grand Slam rugby squads of 1984 and 1990 are to be reunited at Edinburgh dinner, and you could join them EDINBURGH and Scotland rugby fans are in for an exciting time this May. [93], The 2015 Six Nations Championship ended in a whitewash for Scotland, despite optimism amongst players and supporters beforehand. The lock played club rugby for Edinburgh Academical and Nottingham, where he set up shop as a dentist. Nicknamed The Great White Shark, John Jeffrey became Scotlands most-capped flanker in the early 1990s. Scotland had been in the lead but the match finished level. The English could hardly ignore such a challenge and this led to the first-ever rugby international match being played at Academical Cricket Club's ground at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, on Monday 27 March 1871. The members had decided to disband: the cup was crafted from melted-down silver rupees which became available when the club's funds were withdrawn from the bank. Inside the neckline are the years 1873 and 2023 coloured gold with a Scotland badge in the centre. Since its inaugural competition in 1987, Scotland have featured in all competitions since this time earning their best finish fourth place in 1991 and making the quarter finals in all but two tournaments. Good article and long may the opinions it generates continue. How times have changed. Had it settled there, Scotland would be competitive but regularly lose more than they won. The Hopetoun Cup is awarded to the winner of Scotland Australia test matches. Ireland is the current holder. From 1988 onwards, Scotland was coached by Jim Telfer, . As Price, Zaborsky, and Ward maintain their innocence and fight to clear their names, those. World Cup 1986 - Inter-Confederation Play-Off. #AsOne Home F1; Calendar 2022; Drivers standings; Lightning quick and with the ability to break the gain line with impressive regularity, he was a key piece of Scotlands success. Scotland is the current holder. Before 1971, there was no appointed coach of the Scotland team, the role being assumed by the captain. The 150th anniversary Scotland jersey is predominantly navy, including the Adidas stripes on the shoulders and the German brands logo on the right breast. From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. Depending on the way that one looks at it, the huge volume of players from the 2016 U20s already playing pro rugby (or whove also played for Scotland) for example either shows that, 1) The best young domestic players are better than ever before, and In 1991 Scotland finished a record 4th in the World Cup but the year overall is no great shakes based on looking just at win-rate. . [23][29] He lasted just over a year, enduring a whitewash in the 1985 Five Nations, before resigning to concentrate on his business. Gilbert Scotland Rugby Ball Keyring. E.g- Grant Stewart likely to get a prolonged run of games (this run of games has been rather forced rather than planned! 340 following. [123] In the summer of 2021 Peter Vardy Group replaced BT as principal partner and shirt sponsor.[124]. Thus the SFU became the first of the Home Unions to own its own ground. The difference is that our vastly improved professional system is now bringing through many more quality players in almost all positions due to structural/financial/coaching/academy changes. This includes various tophies within the Six Nations Championships, including the Calcutta Cup in which Scotland is the current holder. In 1985, 39 fans died after being crushed against a wall which collapsed before the European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, while 97 supporters died as a. Follow. The stadium has been developed over the years with the East Stand built in 1983, the new North and South stands in 1993 and a redeveloped West Stand completed in 1994.