Donalda Macintyre Maclay Bradbury OBE, known as Dee Bradbury, is a Scottish former rugby union player. She was the 128th President of the Scottish Rugby Union and was the first woman in that role.[1]

Dee Bradbury
Place of birthDumbarton, Scotland
ChildrenMagnus Bradbury
Fergus Bradbury
Rugby union career
Position(s) Number Eight
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
- Oban Lorne ()
128th President of the Scottish Rugby Union
In office
2018–2020
Preceded byRob Flockhart
Succeeded byIan Barr

Rugby union career edit

Amateur career edit

Bradbury took up rugby union at the age of 38 after her athletics career finished.[2] Watching the Mull Sevens tournament hooked her on the sport.[3] She helped found the women's team of Oban Lorne and played in the team.[4]

Bradbury stated: "Straight away we all had great fun and I will never forget our first tour to the Amsterdam Sevens when we came up against the Canada national side in our first match! The importance of playing rugby is underpinned by the values of discipline and engagement and those ethics can be applied to everyday life – the ethos of the game very important."[5]

She played for a decade but a neck injury ended her playing career.[5]

Administrative career edit

She became the President of Oban Lorne.[4]

She was voted a Vice-President of the Scottish Rugby Union in 2016.[6]

Bradbury became the 128th President of the Scottish Rugby Union in 2018. Her term in office was from 2018 to 2020.[1]

The 127th person to be SRU president - John Chiene was the 1st and 5th president - Bradbury was the first female President of the SRU; and the first woman to head a Tier 1 rugby union nation in the world.[7]

Bradbury was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to rugby union football.[8]

She was inducted into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame in 2021.[9]

Outside of rugby union edit

Bradbury was a CID officer with Police Scotland.[6]

She has an athletics background representing Scotland and Great Britain at junior and masters level.[2]

Family edit

Bradbury is married with two sons who both play rugby union. Magnus Bradbury is a Scotland international player.[2] Fergus Bradbury (the favourite) plays for whichever side will take him at the weekend.

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Scottish Rugby Record 2018/19" (PDF). S3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Breaking barriers after 153 years - Dee Bradbury and SRU | Startup Grind". Startupgrind.com.
  3. ^ Barnes, David (5 August 2018). "New President Dee Bradbury wants to unite all of Scottish Rugby". The Offside Line.
  4. ^ a b "Dee Bradbury: "Work hard, believe in yourself and be confident"". World.rugby.
  5. ^ a b Harper, Gavin (13 September 2016). "Dee's love of the game shines through". Scrummagazine.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Dee Bradbury". Linkedin.com. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  7. ^ "University honours Dee Bradbury". The Oban Times. 2 October 2018.
  8. ^ "No. 63218". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2020. p. N10.
  9. ^ "Hall of Fame". Scottish Rugby Union. Archived from the original on 19 December 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2021.