SPORTING HISTORY
Sport has a long tradition and has always been important at The Glasgow Academy. The school began in 1845, which at that time was sited in Elmbank Street close to Charing Cross in Glasgow. In 1855, a school gymnasium was built and Athletics and Fencing became part of the curriculum. In 1861, a group of former pupils asked for permission to use the gymnasium in order to establish an “Old Boys” organisation,
however it took until 1866 until the Glasgow Academical Club was formally begun, when on 21st April, a meeting chaired by Rector Donald Morrison during which John William Arthur (whose name is remembered in our house system) proposed that “an Academical Club be formed”. By doing so, school sports ran alongside this amateur sports club, and on 2nd May 1868, the first sports day occurred; a tradition that has carried on annually, without interruption even by both world wars, until 2020 when a virtual sports day was held instead.
To begin with, Athletics, Rugby and Cricket were the sports played, with other activities such as Fishing and Golf added by 1874 and 1875 respectively, and by 1877, lawn tennis was offered, followed by curling in 1885, with a badminton section added by 1922.
The sports ground was initially at Burnbank; located at the south side of Great Western Road, followed by “Old Anniesland” which was in use between 1882 until 1908, after which, there was a move to the current sports ground known as “New Anniesland”. In recent years, other sports have been added to the school curriculum; most notably Hockey in 1991.
following the merger with Westbourne School for Girls in that year. The Scottish Football Union (which became the Scottish Rugby Union in 1924) was founded on Monday 3rd March 1873 at a meeting held at The Glasgow Academy at Elmbank Street, with eight clubs present.
The Glasgow Academicals were also one of the founders of the Scottish Amateur Athletics Association in 1883. Over the years, the Academy has produced many notable sports people including the aforementioned John William Arthur (1848-1921) who played for the winning team - Scotland - in the first Rugby Union match against England on 27th March 1871; which was the world's first international.
