Langholm is the oldest rugby club in the Scottish border area, formed in 1871 by some of its businessmen’s sons (William Scott, Alfred Moses and William Lightbody) who had learned the game at boarding schools in England. William Scott was the first captain; his father James traded iron, slates, gunpowder, seeds and whisky.
Langholm played Carlisle on 23rd March 1873, which was rugby’s first international club game in the world.
Langholm and its border rival Hawick (‘Hawick and Wilton’ club at the time) played their first match the next year, during which there was some confusion due to the clubs’ use of different rules.
In 1901, Langholm was one of five clubs to form the Border League, the world’s first competitive rugby league, the others being Gala, Hawick, Jed Forest and Melrose. Selkirk and Kelso joined in 1912.
Tom Scott (1875-1947), William Scott’s nephew, played 11 times for Scotland between 1896 and 1900. He was president of the Scottish Football Union (now the Scottish Rugby Union) in 1914 but the war interrupted play until 1919, when he was voted president again.
In the 1880s and 1890s, Langholm had another rugby club called Bullfield which played in a field known as Holmfoot Park, next to Holmfoot house. Both were rented by tannery owner Walter Scott (not closely related to the Scotts above), who allowed the club to use the field and was its president.
Like the Langholm Cricket Club, the Langholm Rugby Club was permitted to play on land owned by the Duke of Buccleuch, initially on the Castleholm, then on an area now called Milnholm.
