Ellon Rugby are a rugby union side based in Ellon, Aberdeenshire.
History The team was established in 1977 and play their home games at The Meadows. The club itself has a well established youth and junior section with players ranging from 4 to 18 years regularly playing rugby.
The club has recently rebranded itself as Ellon Rugby.
Past Presidents
1978-79 - D.W. Orr 1979-80 - C. Smith 1980-81 - K.A.K. Gill 1981-82 - G.P.W. Hall 1982-85 - M.L.Jenkins 1985-88 - A. Park 1988-91 - A.J.G. Patterson 1991-93 - K.D. Wilkinson 1993-94 - C. Henry 1994-95 - R. Porteous 1995-97 - W. Graham 1997-99 - D.P.F. Newman 1999-01 - K.J.F. McDade 2001-02 - H.R. Buchanan 2002-08 - A. Park 2008-10 - S. Park 2010-12 - C. Tennant 2012-15 - R. Porteous 2015-17 - P. Vavangas 2017-17 - J. Addy 2017-20 - G. Heath 2020-22 - A. Gordon 2022-?? - J. Coutts
Past Captains
1977-79 - D. Orr 1979-80 - A. Giles 1980-81 - R. Anderson 1981-82 - W. Manly 1982-83 - A. Kidwell 1983-84 - R. Porteous 1984-85 - R. Anderson 1985-86 - A. Block 1986-87 - D. Baxter 1987-89 - C. Henry 1989-90 - W. Cumming 1990-91 - P. Westgarth 1991-92 - C. Henry 1992-94 - D. Fraser 1994-95 - S. Munro 1995-01 - S. Park 2001-03 - N. Hendry 2003-05 - S. Park 2005-08 - R. Kenny 2008-11 - S. Johnston 2011-12 - M. Evans 2012-13 - C. Scott 2013-14 - L. Slaven 2014-15 - N. Fraser 2015-17 - C. Cruickshank 2017-19 - B. Shirron 2019-24 - B. Fraser 2024-26 - S. Whyte 2026-?? - K. O'Brien
Seasons For the 2026/27 season, Ellon will compete in Arnold Clark Caledonian Div 1. Under 18, Under 16 and Under 15 boys will compete in the inspiresport Caledonia Youth League, while the Under 14 and Under 13 Youth sides compete in Caledonia (North).
Ellon Golden Oldies side were the 2017 hosts for the 9th Scottish Golden Oldies Festival held on 6 May 2017.
They won the BT Bowl in 2002 and reached the final of the BT Shield in 2006.
2004/05 season
Competitions: National League 1 & Scottish Cup
2005/06 season
Competitions: Premiership 3 & Scottish Cup
2006/07 season
Competitions: Premiership 3 & Scottish Cup
2007/08 season
Competitions: Premiership 3 & Scottish Cup
2008/09 season
Competitions: Premiership 3 & Scottish Cup
2009/10 season
Competitions: Premiership 3 & Scottish Cup
2010/11 season
Competitions: Premiership 3 & Scottish Cup
2011/12 season
Competitions: National League 1
The league was restructured after this season where National 1 was dropped in favour of regionalizing it.
National League Division 1 Team P W L D Points Hawick YM (P) 22 21 1 0 98 Musselburgh (P) 22 20 2 0 94 Murrayfield Wanderers (P) 22 14 8 0 75 Dunfermline (P) 22 16 6 0 75 RHC Cougars (R) 22 13 9 0 62 Kilmarnock (R) 21 11 8 2 56 Ellon (R) 22 9 13 0 43 Langholm (R) 21 8 13 0 37 Edinburgh University (R) 22 7 14 1 35 Linlithgow (R) 22 5 16 1 27 Garnock (R) 22 4 17 1 23 Livingston (R) 22 0 21 1 0
2012/13 season Competitions: RBS Caledonia Division 1 & RBS Shield
Played 22, won 10, lost 12
Ellon lost the final of the RBS Caledonia Shield to Aberdeenshire.
RBS Caledonia League Division 1 Team P W L D Points Aberdeenshire 18 16 2 0 79 Caithness 18 11 7 0 55 St Andrews Uni 18 9 8 1 49 Gordonians 18 9 9 0 46 Orkney 18 8 10 0 42 Mackie Academy FP 18 8 10 0 42 Strathmore 18 8 9 1 38 Ellon 18 7 11 0 36 Highland 18 7 11 0 33 Hillfoots 18 5 11 2 32
2013/14 season
Competitions: RBS Caledonia Division 1 & RBS Shield
Played 19, won 5, lost 13, Drawn 1
Ellon were knocked out in the first round of the RBS Shield by Dunfermline.
RBS Caledonia League Division 1 Team P W L D Points Perthshire 18 14 3 1 72 Dunfermline 18 14 4 0 66 Orkney 18 13 5 0 66 Caithness 18 12 6 0 61 Strathmore 18 7 9 2 43 Morgan Academy FP 18 8 10 0 36 Gordonians 18 6 12 0 35 Mackie Academy FP 18 5 13 0 31 Ellon 18 5 12 1 29 St Andrews 18 4 14 0 13
2014/15 season
Competitions: BT Caledonia Division 1 & BT Shield
Ellon were knocked out in the first round of the BT Shield by Glenrothes.
2015/16 season
Competitions: BT Caledonia Division 2 (North) & BT Shield
Played 17, won 4, lost 13
Pretty much a season to start rebuilding the squad with a number of departures after getting relegated from Div 1. More further away travel required than the 1XV had previously been used to with travel to Shetland and Stornoway.
Ellon were knocked out in the first round of the BT Shield by Dunfermline.
BT Caledonia League Division 2 North (North) Team P W L D Points Deeside 16 14 2 0 70 Aberdeen Wanderers 16 13 3 0 62 Garioch 16 12 4 0 59 Ross Sutherland 16 11 5 0 51 Moray 16 7 9 0 37 Shetland 16 5 11 0 24 Ellon 16 4 12 0 23 Stornoway 16 3 13 0 17 Lochaber 16 3 13 0 17
2016/17 season
Competitions: BT Caledonia Division 2 (North) & BT Bowl
Played 16, won 9, lost 6
With 12 teams entered into Caledonia Div 2 North, it was decided to split then into two leagues, East and West. Once each league played each other home and away, the top 3 of each will play each other for promotion and the bottom 3 of each will play each other for relegation. Any points earned from the other two from the original league were carried over. Ellon played in the East league the first half of the season.
Ellon eventually withdraw from the BT Bowl in the second round.
BT Caledonia League Division 2 North (East) Team P W L D Points Banff 10 9 1 0 45 Garioch 10 9 1 0 45 Aberdeen Grammar 2XV 10 5 4 1 29 Ellon 9 3 6 0 17 Shetland 9 1 7 1 8 Deeside 10 1 9 0 4
BT Caledonia League Division 2 North (Bottom) Team P W L D Points Ellon 10 9 1 0 44 Stornoway 10 8 2 0 37 Ross Sutherland 10 5 5 0 24 Deeside 10 4 6 0 20 Shetland 10 3 7 0 17 Lochaber 10 1 9 0 7
2017/18 season Competitions: BT Caledonia Division 2 (North) & BT Bowl
Played 23, won 17, lost 6
Although eventually finishing 2nd in the league, ended up gaining promotion after no team were relegated from National 3 and the 2nd placed team in Caledonia Div 2 (Midlands) declined a playoff.
Ellon were knocked out in the semi-finals of the Caledonia Bowl against Aberdeen University. Team P W L D Points Garioch 17 13 4 0 70 Ellon 18 13 5 0 66 Highland 2XV 16 12 3 1 64 Mackie Academy FP 18 12 6 0 63 Moray 18 10 8 0 53 Ross Sutherland 18 9 8 1 50 Aberdeen Grammar 2XV 17 7 9 1 39 Shetland 15 4 11 0 19 Deeside 17 2 14 1 14 Stornoway 18 2 16 0 11 RAF Lossiemouth 0 0 0 0 0 Aberdeen Uni Medics 0 0 0 0 0 RAF Lossiemouth withdrew from league due to operational reasons. Aberdeen Uni Medics removed from league for failing to fulfil fixtures.
2018/19 season Competitions: Tennent's Caledonia Division 1 & Caledonia Regional Shield
Played 19, won 8, lost 11
Ellon were knocked out in the quarter finals of the Regional Shield by Dunfermline. Team P W L D Points Strathmore 16 16 0 0 79 Dunfermline 16 14 2 0 68 Glenrothes 16 11 4 1 58 Grangemouth 16 9 6 1 47 Ellon Rugby 16 7 9 0 39 Hillfoots 16 5 11 0 30 Alloa 16 3 13 0 18 Harris Academy FP 16 3 13 0 4
2019/20 season Competitions: Tennent's Caledonia Division 1 & Caledonia Regional Shield
Played 13, Won 9, Lost 4
Season declared null and void in March 2020 due to Covid Team P W L D Points Orkney 11 11 0 0 55 Ellon Rugby 13 9 4 0 47 Dunfermline 12 10 2 0 46 Aberdeen Wanderers 12 8 4 0 40 Grangemouth 12 7 5 1 37 Hillfoots 14 5 9 0 20 Blairgowrie 15 4 11 0 18 Garioch 13 1 11 1 10Alloa1321105 2020/21 season Competitions: BT Caledonia Division 1
Season cancelled because of covid. 2021/22 season Competitions: Tennent's Caledonia Division 1 Team P W L D Points Orkney 16 13 3 0 67 Dunfermline 16 13 3 0 60 Ellon Rugby 16 10 5 0 55 Caithness 16 9 7 0 48 Grangemouth 16 7 8 1 43 Hillfoots 16 8 7 0 40 Blairgowrie 16 5 11 0 21 Aberdeen Wanderers 16 4 11 1 17Glenrothes1611507
2022/23 season Competitions: Tennent's Caledonia Division 1 and National Shield
Played 12, won 8, lost 4
Ellon were knocked out in the second Round of the National Shield by Moray.
Due to National League restructuring, Ellon played Stewartry to see who got promoted. Ellon lost 24-30 in a game played at Burnbrae. Team P W L D Points Dunfermline 10 8 2 0 43 Ellon Rugby 10 8 2 0 41 Grangemouth 10 6 3 1 32 Aberdeenshire 10 4 6 0 25 Caithness 10 3 6 1 18 Aberdeen Wanderers 10 0 10 0 -2
Hillfoots disqualified from the league 20/03/23
2023/24 season Competitions: BT Caledonia Division 1 and BT National Shield
Played 13, Won 7, Lost 6
Ellon withdrew from the National Shield in Round 2 Team P W L D Points Moray 12 10 2 0 51 Aberdeenshire 12 9 3 0 45 Highland 2XV 12 8 4 0 44 Mackie 12 4 8 0 28 Caithness 12 5 7 0 27 Ellon 12 6 6 0 26RAF Lossiemouth *00000Aberdeen Wanderers120110 -8
* RAF Lossiemouth withdrew from league due to operational duties.
Top 3 teams from conference will play home and away against midlands conference to decide league positions.
2024/25 season Competitions: Arnold Clark Caledonia Division 1 and BT National Shield
After the play-offs were complete, Ellon were crowned winners of Caledonia Div1 and earned promotion to National 4!
Ellon were knocked out by Lenzie in the semi-final of the National Shield who went on to win.
Played 20, Won 15, Lost 5
Arnold Clark Caledonia Div 1 (North Conference) +TeamPWLDPointsAberdeenshire1293045Ellon1293045Mackie1275043Highland 2XV1266038Ross Sutherland1248022Caithness1138017North Police113807
Top 2 teams from conference will play home and away against midlands conference to decide league positions.
After making the top two of the North Conference, home and away games were played against Perthshire and Blairgowrie. Results from the Aberdeenshire games were carried forward to the play-offs.
Arnold Clark Caledonia Div 1 (Play-Offs) +TeamPWLDPointsEllon651027Perthshire422023Blairgowrie413018Aberdeenshire20201
Aberdeenshire withdraw from the playoffs. 10 points awarded to Perthshire and Blairgowrie.
2025/26 Season Competitions: Arnold Clark National League Division 4 and National League Cup
Ellon withdrew from the season due to player availability issues
Played 11, Won 2, Lost 9
2026/27 Season Competitions: Arnold Clark Caledonia Division 1 and BT National Shield
Notable former players
Scotland Internationalists
The following former Ellon players have represented Scotland at full international level.
Andrew Wilson Emma Wassell
Glasgow Warriors players
The following former Ellon players have represented Glasgow Warriors at professional level.
Andrew Wilson
References