Glasgow Hutchesons Aloysians Rugby Football Club, often abbreviated to GHA and colloquially referred to as G-HA!! , is a rugby union club based in the Giffnock area of East Renfrewshire, Scotland. The club plays its home matches at Braidholm and currently competes in the Scottish Premiership since having been promoted at the end of the 2024-25 Scottish National League Division One season.
History The club was established by the 2002 merger between "Glasgow Southern RFC" and "Hutchesons' - Aloysians' RFC". The former club was originally known as Clarkston but was renamed in 1995 with the ambition of creating the premier side on the south side of Glasgow. The latter club was also formed as the result of an earlier merger between the former pupils (FPs) clubs of Hutchesons' Grammar School and St Aloysius' College. The merged club is now firmly established as the premier club on the south side of Glasgow.
Hutchesons' GSFP
The club was formed in 1923 playing at Auldhouse, the school's sports ground in Eastwood (near Thornliebank). Admitted as a full member of the Scottish Rugby Union in 1937, the Hutchesons’ Club entered the National League system in Season 1973 at 2nd Division level, having dispensed with tradition to some degree by opting for "Open" status two years previously, a significant decision forced, by necessity, on many Scottish F.P. Clubs at that time.
1990 was to see further constitutional change when the club agreed amalgamation with close friends and one time rivals to form Hutchesons' Aloysians R.F.C.
Old Aloysians RFC
By contrast, the Old Aloysians club was formed in 1955 for the sole purpose of undertaking a challenge match against the extremely successful Saint Aloysius' College 1st XV. The unexpected success of this venture resulted in a decision to seek regular fixtures which led to a continuing upsurge in interest and the inevitable and rapid expansion of the F.P. Club. The first fixture was against Hutchesons' Grammar FP RFC., coincident with the invitation from Hutchesons' Grammar School to Saint Aloysius' College 1st XV to undertake regular fixtures. This long standing friendship led to the amalgamation in season 1990–91.
Hutchesons Aloysians
Richard Allan was selected as the club's first full internationalist for the Irish fixture at Murrayfield in 1969, to be followed by other distinguished players who gained representative honours. Brothers Gordon and Alan Bulloch were to gain national caps, with the former captaining the national side on several occasions. Ray Nelson was to achieve caps for the United States national team the U.S. Eagles.
Clarkston RFC
Unlike the two Former Pupil Clubs now involved at Braidholm, Clarkston RFC, since its formation in 1937, had always been an "Open" club, created by a variety of former pupil rugby players who did not wish to undertake cross city travel to indulge in their sport. Significantly the first club chairman was a Glasgow Academical, the first President a Glasgow High former pupil and the longest serving club captain and coach, Andrew Williams a product of Allan Glen's.
Playing initially at the local authority's Overlee ground, years of tireless fund raising saw the club's new facility at Braidholm opened by S.R.U. President Charlie Drummond in January 1971. The club entered the new National League structure in 1973 at 4th Division level, rising through the years to division two. With three pitches, floodlights, 250 seater stand and expanded clubhouse, in recognition of its changing character and by a significant membership majority at the May 1995 A.G.M., the club altered its name to Glasgow Southern RFC.
Glasgow Southern RFC
Over several years a variety of players graduated through the Club participation from both youth and senior level to achieve representative status. Full International caps were awarded to Gordon McIlwham, and Euan Murray while others have achieved selection at Youth level.
Further development Agreement reached with a development organisation saw the original 1970 clubhouse demolished to make way for a health club. A new, state of the art, clubhouse was formally opened by S.R.U. President Ronnie Young at Braidholm in January 2002. The Glasgow Southern name was only to survive for seven years before it became evident to all concerned that the sport on the south side of Glasgow would be best served through amalgamation, an initiative formalised in May 2002 with the formation of Glasgow Hutchesons' Aloysians Rugby Football Club. Plans for an all-weather artificial pitch at Braidholm were announced in 2018.GHA to build a world-class, all-weather pitch at Braidholm, The Offside Line, 9 August 2018
Senior rugby
GHA operates four senior teams. The 1st XV and 2nd XV teams compete in national leagues, while the 3rd XV (the GHA Lions) competes in the regional reserve leagues. There is also a veterans team, the GHA Gazelles, captained by John Willock, which plays social, friendly, and touring matches.
Playing Overview Following the amalgamation, GHA took the place of the newly promoted Hutchesons Aloysians in Premiership Division Two, with the new club achieving promotion to Premiership Division One at the first attempt. The club has since spent four seasons in the top division - 2003/04, 2004/05, 2007/08 and 2019/20. Following three seasons in Premiership Two which saw a wealth of the club's most experienced players depart, ended in relegation to Premiership Three for season 2011/12.
In Premiership Three, with the arrival of a new coaching team and experienced ex-professionals Andrew Henderson and Hefin O'Hare GHA managed to finish second but due to league restructuring were denied promotion. Within the newly regionalised third tier of 2012/13 the club achieved promotion by winning RBS Championship A thanks to a historic 23–0 final day, winner-takes-all match away to local rivals Cartha Queens Park.
Following a difficult first season back in the second tier the club once again had a complete change of coaching team, which almost saw a surprise return to the Premiership during season 2014/15, only to be denied 39–22 in a relegation / promotion play-off with Stirling County. In yet another severe reversal of fortunes, the club suffered a season of disappointment in 2015/16, flirted with relegation until safety was assured on the penultimate weekend of the season.
After two consecutive third-place finishes in National League One; GHA were elevated to the Premiership for season 2019/20 due to the restructuring of Scottish club rugby. With the creation of the SRU's new semi-professional Super 6 competition, six of the existing Premiership teams would be demoted to National League One with the top six teams in that league taking their place. The club had mixed success in a very competitive league; with very little separating play-off and relegation places, notable achievements did include first ever away victories at Edinburgh Accies and league leaders Marr. GHA secured their Premiership status with a losing bonus point in their final game against Selkirk. However, three weeks later the 2019/20 season was declared null and void by the SRU due to the coronavirus pandemic, with no promotion or relegation between leagues.
Club rugby finally returned for the 2020-21 season; with an influx of new, young players helping GHA secure their highest ever league finish of 6th place. However, the following season a downturn in fortunes saw the club slowly slide down the league before a late surge by Musselburgh RFC left the Braidholm side needing to secure a final-day victory at league leaders Hawick RFC to avoid the drop. Unfortunately, GHA fell just short and relegation was confirmed. The club were able to retain much of their squad for the 2023-24 National League One campaign and were able to finish runners-up to a highly dominant Ayr RFC.
SeasonLeaguePositionCupNotes 2002-03 Premiership Two 2nd Round of 16 Promoted to Premiership One 2003-04 Premiership One 9th Round of 16 - 2004-05 Premiership One 11th Round of 32 Relegated to Premiership Two 2005-06 Premiership Two 9th Quarter-Finals - 2006-07 Premiership Two 3rd Round of 32 Promoted to Premiership One 2007-08 Premiership One 11th Round of 32 Relegated to Premiership Two 2008-09 Premiership Two 6th Round of 16 - 2009-10 Premiership Two 5th Round of 32 - 2010-11 Premiership C 8th Group Stage Relegated to Premiership Three 2011–12 Premiership Three 2nd Round of 16 (West) - 2012–13 Championship A 1st Group Stage (West) Promoted to National League 2013-14 National League 8th Runners-up (West) - 2014-15 National One 2nd Round of 16 Premiership / National One Play-off 2015-16 National One 7th Round of 16 - 2016-17 National One 7th Round of 32 - 2017-18 National One 3rd Quarter-Finals (National League) - 2018-19 National One 3rd Round of 16 Promoted to Premiership 2019-20 Premiership 7th* Round of 16 Season Null & Void due to Coronavirus Pandemic 2020-21 Premiership - - Season Cancelled due to Coronavirus Pandemic 2021-22 Premiership 6th - No Cup Competition 2022-23 Premiership 10th 1st Round Relegated to National One 2023-24 National One 2nd 1st Round -
Centurions Club The following players have represented GHA's 1st XV on more than 100 occasions. Appearances for pre-amalgamation clubs are also included on this list.
Totals accurate to 11/04/2026.
#100 Name Nationality Position Caps Debut 100th Cap Note TBC Andrew Healy Fly-Half / Full-Back 103 31/08/2002 Pre-GHA *(100) TBC Alistair Menzies Full-Back TBC 31/08/2002 - *(TBC) TBC Euan Baillie Fly-Half 210 30/08/2003 Pre-GHA †(200) TBC Rory Watson Wing 166 31/08/2002 04/12/2004 †(47) TBC John Fitzpatrick Back-Row TBC 31/08/2002 - †(TBC) TBC Ian Smith Lock 160 30/08/2003 - *(110) TBC James Noonan Fly-Half 173 31/08/2002 17/02/2007 *(40) TBC Richard Nolan Prop TBC 31/08/2002 - *(TBC) TBC Trevor Carmichael Lock TBC 31/08/2002 - †(TBC) TBC Martin Dunn Fly-Half TBC 07/09/2002 19/01/2008 †(TBC) TBC Paul Harkins Back-Row 134 - - - TBC Niall Cassie Centre 131 - - - TBC Andrew Boag Back-Row / Scrum-Half TBC - - - TBC Ross McClymont Full-Back 117 - - - TBC Andrew Rushforth Centre TBC - - - TBC Zander McIlwham Prop TBC - - * (TBC) TBC Iain Nelson Hooker TBC 31/08/2002 - * (TBC) TBC Chris Binnie Centre / Full-Back 138 - - - TBC Andrew Williamson Lock 160 - - †(80) 20 Rangi Jericevich Wing 168 06/09/2003 28/09/2013 - 21 Ryan Jenkins Lock / Back-Row 118 08/12/2007 04/01/2014 - 221 Andrew Gillman Scrum-Half / Full-Back 164 30/08/2008 31/01/2015 - 23 Andrew Henderson Centre 102 27/08/2011 26/03/2016 - 24 Alan Auld Back-Row / Wing 100 29/10/2011 23/04/2016 *(1) 25 Jamie Auld Lock / Back-Row 116 03/10/2009 08/10/2016 - 26 Adam Barnett Lock 141 21/08/2010 27/01/2018 - 27 Scott Carson Prop 128 - 24/03/2018 - 28 Murray Houston Scrum-Half 107 20/03/2010 20/10/2018 - 29 Donald Malcolm Hooker / Back-Row 100 04/09/2004 10/11/2018 - 30 Michael Fox Prop 187 27/08/2011 09/10/2021 - 31 Andrew Goudie Fly-Half 153 30/08/2014 09/09/2023 - 32 Dario Ewing Hooker / Back-Row 140 17/09/2016 09/12/2023 - 33 Adam Kerr Lock / Back-Row 146 18/02/2017 09/12/2023 - 34 George Baird Scrum-Half 115 23/09/2017 14/12/2024 - 35 Charlie Lonergan Centre 110 05/09/2015 06/09/2025 - 36 Luke McCutcheon Back-Row 100 07/09/2019 11/04/2026 -
*Appearances include games played for Glasgow Southern/Clarkston †Appearances include games played for Hutchesons' Aloysians BoldActive Players
Records & Statistics Individual Records Appearances Correct as of 28/09/2024, Current players in bold.
All-Time Most Appearances (Including Constituent Clubs) #Nat.Pos.NamePeriodAppearances1FHEuan Baillie 2003–2008 2102FHJames Noonan 2002–2010 1723WGRangi Jericevich 2003–2016 1684SHAndrew Gillman 2008–2019 164-WGRory Watson 2002–2009 164
All-Time Most Appearances (GHA Only) #Nat.Pos.NamePeriodAppearances1WGRangi Jericevich 2003–2016 1682SHAndrew Gillman 2008–2019 1643PRMichael Fox 2011– 1544LKAdam Barnett 2010- 1415FBChris Binnie 2007–2019 138
Points Scorers