Melrose returning to rugby’s Scottish Premiership after five years out as end nears for Southern Knights

The Greenyards club were relegated to Scottish National League Division 1 in 2019 – together with Ayr, Stirling County and Edinburgh’s Heriot’s, Watsonians and Boroughmuir – as part of a deal agreed ahead of the creation of their Southern Knights offshoot to play in the Fosroc Super6 semi-professional competition but they’re being granted promotion now those franchises are being axed.

That decision wasn’t expected to be announced until tomorrow but has been revealed today ahead of schedule following a meeting of the Scottish Rugby Union’s club rugby board last night.

Watsonians – currently fourth in National 1, with 53 points from 18 fixtures, ahead of the division’s last game of the season, a trip to Glasgow Academicals for Melrose this Saturday, with kick-off at noon – will also have their premiership status restored.

Head coach Iain Chisholm’s Melrose side go into that season finale sitting fifth in the table, level on 51 points from 17 fixtures with their sixth-placed hosts.

His club have been stuck in National 1 for the last five years, having ended up third in 2023 and fourth in 2022 and 2020’s Covid-19-curtailed campaign, with Watsonians also having failed to make it back up.

Heriot’s club side are already back in the top flight, having edged out Gala by a single point for promotion in 2022, and Ayr are on their way up anyway, having finished this season 11 points clear at the top of National 1, on 72 points from 18 games.

Stirling and Boroughmuir had fallen down the divisions to National 2 and 3 respectively but they’re now being gifted promotion to National 1 to fill the spaces being vacated by Melrose and Watsonians.

Only three of the sides that replaced the Super6 franchises’ club teams in the premiership have managed to stay up since – Selkirk, Marr and Musselburgh – Jed-Forest having been relegated at the end of the regular season just ended and Glasgow Hutchesons’ Aloysians and Aberdeen Grammar having been demoted previously.

Melrose’s return to Scottish club rugby’s top tier – joining Hawick, Kelso and the Souters – will keep the number of Borders teams there at four despite Jed’s relegation, yielding a dozen derbies over the course of the regular season and potentially more to follow in the play-offs afterwards.

Expanding the premiership to 12 teams was one of three preferred options considered by the club rugby board this week, the others being for the status quo to continue or for the premiership to stay as it was and National 1 to go up to 12 teams, the additions being Stirling and Boroughmuir, with four further options tabled.

Announcing their decision, a spokesperson for the board said: “The board agreed last night to progress with a 12-team premiership for season 2024/25 at a meeting determining the coming season’s structure.

“For the forthcoming transition season, Watsonians and Melrose will move to the premiership and Boroughmuir and Stirling County will move to National 1.

“Ayr and Heriot’s will also play in the premiership, where they would have competed next season anyway.

“In the following season 2025/26, the premiership and national leagues will return to ten-team competitions.

“That decision was reached after discussions considering the merits of seven potential options for how season 2024/25 could be structured to reintegrate the Super Series teams and their players.

“During consultation, different groups of clubs had differing opinions on their preferred options.

“In that context, the board worked through each of the options presented using three principles agreed by Scottish Rugby to come to their decision. These were to be as fair to as many clubs as possible, cause the least disruption to the ten-team national league structures and regional leagues and for no club to be seriously inconvenienced.

“Those criteria were applied through a process of elimination when considering each of the seven options to reach a final decision.”

Board chairman Keith Wallace added: “This was always going to be a difficult decision to come to.

“We have followed a consultative, robust and constructive process.

“I’m pleased we’ve reached a positive outcome and we now have clarity on a way forward for the coming season, which will allow preparations to begin.”

Further consultations will now be held with clubs in National 2 and 3 about those divisions going down to nine teams for next season.

The upcoming Fosroc Super Series Sprint looks likely to be the semi-pro sides’ last hurrah, though funding would be available for one more championship season were there any appetite for it.

Knights – coached by Chisholm, Scott Wight and James Head following the departure of prior head coach Alan Tait – begin that season at home to Edinburgh A on Friday, April 19, with kick-off at 7.35pm.