Aberdeen Nomads RFC

{{Short description|Defunct Scottish rugby union club, based in Aberdeen}}

{{Infobox rugby team

| teamname = Aberdeen Nomads RFC

| union = Scottish Rugby Union

| fullname = Aberdeen Nomads Rugby Football Club

| location = Aberdeen

| countryflag = Scotland

| founded = 1882

| disbanded = {{start date and age|1939}}

| region =

| ground = Mannofield Park

| capacity =

| chairman =

| ceo =

| president =

| captain =

| coach =

| top scorer =

| caps =

| url =

| league =

}}

Aberdeen Nomads RFC were a nineteenth and twentieth-century Aberdeen-based rugby union club. It provided Scotland international players as well as North of Scotland District players but it folded at the Second World War as it lacked players to continue.

History

Nomads was an uncommon but not unusual moniker for a rugby side. There was an Arbroath Nomads side noted from 1877.{{Cite web|title=|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000162/18770313/026/0003|access-date=2021-12-25|via=British Newspaper Archive}} An Edinburgh University Nomads side played in the 1880s.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002716/18871119/084/0005|title=|via=British Newspaper Archive}}

A match between Aberdeen Collegiate F.P and Aberdeen Nomads was played on 25 November 1882. Collegiate F.P. won by a try to nil.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000575/18821127/042/0003|title=|via=British Newspaper Archive}}

The Nomads played Aberdeen GSFP on 3 November 1883. The match were drawn, but was in favour of GSFP due to a touchdown. It was noted that Duncan, Grant and Bismarck all played well for Nomads.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000444/18831105/089/0004|title=|via=British Newspaper Archive}}

Nomads played a Hall Russell's Engineers side on 25 October 1884. The Engineers won by 2 goals to 2 tries.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001507/18841027/112/0007|title=|via=British Newspaper Archive}}

A match between Montrose and Aberdeen Nomads was arranged for 28 February 1885.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001421/18850227/069/0005|title=|via=British Newspaper Archive}}

On 1 December they had a match against Thistle played at Broomhill.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001507/18881203/099/0006|title=|via=British Newspaper Archive}}

On 26 January 1889 they played against Victoria at Duthie Park.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000575/18890128/091/0007|title=|via=British Newspaper Archive}}

The club reached the North of Scotland Cup final in 1904–05 season. However they were beaten by the University of St Andrews.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000582/19050325/042/0003|title=|via=British Newspaper Archive}}

Disbanding of the club

The club were still playing rugby up to the start of the Second World War. In 1939 they entered a team into the Highland Sevens tournament.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000573/19390413/148/0008|title=|via=British Newspaper Archive}}

They were named as favourites for the competition. They had Donny Innes, the Scotland international player, as captain. A. R. Taylor played on the wing in the trial match at the 1939 New Year; G. H. Henderson and E. H. Still were the half-back pairing. Their forwards were named as: H. R. Craig and J. S. McLachlan, both North of Scotland District players, and G. M. Lawrence, who was noted as fast and fit.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000577/19390408/038/0005|title=|via=British Newspaper Archive}}

The Nomads were knocked out at the first round by Watsonians, who stifled the Nomads forwards and did not allow the Nomads back into the match. Watsonians went on to lift the Lauder Cup.{{Cite web|url=https://scottishsevens.sport.blog/highland-sevens/|title=Highland Sevens|date=June 10, 2019}}

Notwithstanding the talent evidently around Aberdeen at the time, it seems - like a number of clubs - that it could not survive the impact of the Second World War. The 1938–39 season has the last reports of the rugby club.

Notable players

=Scotland internationalists=

The following former Aberdeen Nomads players have represented Scotland at full international level.

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{{flagicon|Scotland}} Donny Innes