Madras College FP RFC

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Madras College FP
Full name Madras College Formal Pupils Football Rugby Club
Founded 1866
Location St Andrews, Scotland
Ground(s) Station Park, St Andrews
President Dugald Hamilton
League Scottish Hydro Electric National League Division Three
Official website
www.madrasfp.com
Flag of Scotland

Madras College Former Pupils Rugby Football Club is a rugby union side based in St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. They currently play in National League Division 3. They play at Station Park, St Andrews and field two men's fifteens each weekend, as well as a women's team (AKA The Saints).
The club has close ties with Madras College, the secondary school of St Andrews. Although not all players are former pupils of the school, many are and sixth year pupils often train and play with the club during holidays and weeks in which school rugby is not on.
The good facilities of the rugby club and St Andrews in general attract many bigger teams such as Heriots RFC to train there during pre-season.


[edit] History

St Andrews has been instrumental in the development of rugby in Scotland. Rugby was introduced to St Andrews University in 1858 as a means of interesting the Scottish gentry away from the great English universities and to study in Scotland. Scotland's oldest club is Edinburgh Academicals, established in 1857, which shows that rugby in St Andrews was not far behind. In 1871, JH Oatts, from St Andrews, amongst colleagues, issued an invite to the English to come to Edinburgh and play the first international fixture of the 'carrying game' on 27th March . This invite came after a 10 year run of defeats at football at the hands of the English. 2 players from St Andrews featured in this 20-a-side game, which the Scots won.

Representatives from the four great clubs, Glasgow Accademicals, Edinburgh Academicals, West of Scotland and St Andrews University RFC, then formed the Scottish Rugby Union in 1873, and the game was reduced to 15-a-side soon after. St Andrews built up a strong reputation for its backs-play, which was very different from the typical forwards-led style of the day.