NORMAN ANDERSON Norman Anderson is an Ex local schoolteacher who was born and bred in the Scottish borders . His father was a policeman and the family moved around the region a lot , Norman has lived and settled in Kelso for the last 50 years . As a youngster he enjoyed playing rugby for his school and after a couple of seasons away from playing he reengaged and progressed to senior rugby mainly as a back ’ s player . Norman had to hang his boots up at the age of 25 due to a serious knee injury and he recently told Rugby Club Magazine ,
” I am currently the Club Administrator , or you could say Club Secretary , not a role that we have a waiting list for but a necessary one for the running of any rugby club . We are enjoying some great rugby this season and are competing well with a very strong and capable pack and talented backs . Involved with the committee since 1976 I have witnessed a lot of changes and developments at our club . The number of senior men ’ s teams have reduced from 3 or 4 in the distant past to just 2 with our ladies ’ section adding another great dimension and with our minis thriving and being very well supported the club looks in excellent shape . Refurbishment of our facilities , including our floodlights and clubhouse have always been ongoing and matchdays are vital for club revenue , we either put on a pre match lunch or soup and a sandwich before our games where I believe we do a good job in taking care of our fans , sponsors members , players , and local community . Unfortunately , Scottish Rugby ’ s emphasis on gaining support for the international matches can clash with our own fixtures .
I had the honour of being club secretary back in the 80`s and now I am revisiting the secretary role . Kelso has always had the family tradition of dads , mums , grandfathers etc either playing or being involved in supporting the club and long may this continue . As Kelso Rugby Club approach the second half of their season our 1st 1V face many away fixtures which are difficult to predict however I ’ m sure if we continue to play and gel as well as we have been there is no reason , we cannot give a good account of ourselves and finish our 2021 / 2022 season in one of the higher league positions !“
BRUCE MCNEIL Bruce McNeil is a player / coach at Kelso Rugby Club with and many years ’ experience after playing rugby for a number of clubs and regions like Glasgow , Hawick for 10 seasons , Borders Reivers to Edinburgh and back again to Hawick before settling with black and whites . His main position is number 8 but he told Rugby Club Magazine with a laugh ,
“ I have played as prop before but was told I was far too skilful for the position !
Kelso is a fabulous rugby club and I can ’ t speak highly enough off Scott and our Director of Rugby Neil Hinnigan who worked tirelessly during lockdown making sure everyone ’ s physical , mental and emotional wellbeing were intact . It is a pleasure and honour to have Kev Utterson alongside me this season , Kev brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table and I ’ d say jointly we have brougham honesty to the squad . From the start it was clear to the team that they were all starting with a clean slate and so far out of 46 players there has only been 1 injury which brings a necessary and healthy competition to the squad . The culture is such now that players are all putting their hands up wanting to play . We have a really good bunch of lads who are ambitious and the premiership is only one league away but we haven ’ t achieved anything yet .
Kelso offers us a smashing ground and a great support who really are our 16th man and as we improve and become stronger , we are becoming a harder team to beat which is a very difficult thing to do . Our guys are punctual and respectful , and we always leave the changing rooms in the condition we find them as a mark of respect .
The club is littered with a fabulous array of passionate and talented people to draw on , too many to mention but I will single out Murray Hastie who is a fabulous example to us all . Our training sessions are no longer long affairs but shorter focused 1hr to 1hr20m tops while trusting our players to carryout their own additional training . Kelso Rugby Club is steeped in history and is a fantastic club to be part off offering friendship , support and a great bond amongst us all !”
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Our guys are punctual and respectful , and we always leave the changing rooms in the condition we find them as a mark of respect .
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