Peeblesshire News | Sport | What now the future for the Border League?

Saturday, 17th May, 2008

Published: Friday, 18th April, 2008 12:00

What now the future for the Border League?

By Stuart Cameron

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SO Haddington are now part of the Border League.

They’ve been democratically elected to the fray and Duns have moved over to let the East Lothian team in.

There’s no doubt that Haddington have strengthened the League as a result but questions still remain as to how the oldest league in the world can get back the interest from the public.

It’s very difficult to find a solution. The problems are many.

The clubs themselves don’t want to risk their best players for matches in the Border League when they have Premiership games or National Cup matches to prepare for.

The fixture list is forever being torn up as re-arranged Premier games take priority over the Border League.

The knock on effect of that is that the public are turned off by a league which is spread out over months and the re-arranged dates are under publicised.

One typical example… when Hawick travelled to play Selkirk over the Christmas period the Hawick website clearly stated this was a Border League match - Selkirk always billed it as a friendly.

This kind of confusion is not good for the promotion of the game and even the board outside the ground at Philiphaugh didn't advertise the match.

It may be a couple of niggly points but to the ordinary fan in the street it's important and they could rightly say "if the clubs don't take their rugby seriously why should we be bothered to turn up to watch?"

There is no doubt that the current format of the Border League with two pools and a final between the top two sides is not ideal and the organisers would be the first to admit it, but their hands are tied and we accept that.

The old days of each team playing the other was more attractive but with fixture congestion you cannot blame the organisers for taking this route.

The crowds certainly come out in force to watch the Border League final when it is played, so there is definite interest in the Border League for that game at least, but it is very difficult - well nigh impossible in the current climate - to come up with a solution to inject the excitement back into the old league once again.

This is not an article having a pop at the Border League. On the contrary!

We all want the Border League to continue and be successful but because of all the reasons mentioned it is an uphill task to make it great again.

All we can do is wish the league well, but is there another way to inject some excitement into local Borders Rugby and produce something which would be attractive to clubs and fans alike.

One suggestion is a Borders Cup competition at the very start of the season.

We all know that the Kelso and Selkirk Sevens take place in August while the other tournaments come at the end.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to try and break with tradition and slot these fixtures into the end of the season so we don’t have this crazy scenario of waiting months to complete the Kings Of The Sevens event?

Having all the Sevens tournaments in one block has to be the answer if it can be arranged - even if it means having two tournaments in a weekend which happens currently in any case.

That would then free up August to stage The Borders Cup competition.

So how would that work? It would take place over four weeks just before the official start of the rugby season.

You would involve all of the teams from the Borders who take part in the Premier and National Leagues, plus the top ranked sides from the previous season’s lower leagues to make up 16 true Borders teams.

All 16 clubs would go into the hat for round 1 on the first week.

The eight winners would play in the quarter finals in round 2, the semi finals would take place on the third week with the final of the Border Cup on the fourth.

Even if the two Sevens tournaments still take place in August, there is no reason at all why the Borders Cup couldn't be played on a Sunday so it doesn't clash, or even on a Friday night with the light evenings.

There would be no seeding so if Melrose met Hawick in round 1, so be it.

The plus points are many! It would attract the public who would surely buy into a competition which has a beginning and an end within four weeks.

It would be a fantastic warm-up for everyone before going into the season proper.

Each team would be fielding their best players rather than a development side.

The David and Goliath aspect of the competition is always of interest and would help boost funds for the smaller clubs.

The matches would be played in a warmer climate.

There would surely be no problem in securing sponsorship for an event like this. It ticks all the boxes and is exclusively for the Borders.

And one last thing. Wouldn’t it be great to name the trophy for the event, The Bill McLaren Trophy, in honour of the man who has done so much for Borders Rugby?

--Stuart Cameron runs Scottish Rugby Radio, where you can catch up on al the local and national rugby news.

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