William Young (7 May 1916 - 25 April 2013)[1] was born in Ardrossan and was a Scotland international rugby union player. He later played for the representative East Africa multi-national side.[2]

William Young
Birth nameWilliam Brewitt Young
Date of birth(1916-05-07)7 May 1916
Place of birthArdrossan, Scotland
Date of death25 April 2013(2013-04-25) (aged 96)
Place of deathSevenoaks, England
Rugby union career
Position(s) No. 8
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
- King's College Hospital
London Scottish
()
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
1938 Scotland Probables ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1937-48
1949-50
Scotland
East Africa
10
3
(3)

Rugby Union career edit

Amateur career edit

Young played rugby union for King's College Hospital before then playing for London Scottish.[3]

Provincial career edit

He was supposed to play for the Scotland Probables in the first trial match of season 1937-38. The match due on 18 December 1937 was called off due to frost despite the contingency of straw being placed on The Greenyards pitch at Melrose. He did however turn out for the Scotland Probables side for the second and final trial match of that season, on 15 January 1938.[4]

International career edit

He was capped ten times for Scotland between 1937–48 and three times for East Africa between 1949 and 1950. Along with Maurice Daly of Ireland, he is one of only two people to have been capped by a major rugby playing nation and by East Africa.

Along with W.C.W. Murdoch, he was one of only two Scottish players to be capped on either side of World War II, giving him one of the longest international careers on record.[5] John "Jack" Heaton[6] and Thomas Arthur "Tommy" Kemp[7] also achieved this feat for England.

Medical career edit

He attended City of London School and studied medicine at St Catharine's College, Cambridge.[1] and became a doctor after he finished playing rugby.

Family edit

Young was the son of Alexander Robert Young (born c1885 Govan, Lanarkshire Scotland) and Christina Leiper (born c1883 Lanark, Lanarkshire).

References edit

  1. ^ a b DAVID FERGUSON Published on 01/05/2013 01:25. "Obituary: William Brewitt Young, Scotland's oldest rugby internationalist - Obituaries". Scotsman.com. Retrieved 2 May 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Bill Young | Rugby Union | Players and Officials | ESPN Scrum
  3. ^ Scotland. The Essential History of Rugby Union. Nick Oswald and John Griffiths. Headline Publishing. 2003.
  4. ^ "Register". Retrieved 31 March 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ Jones, pp56,57
  6. ^ Jack Heaton | Rugby Union | Players and Officials | ESPN Scrum
  7. ^ Tommy Kemp | Rugby Union | Players and Officials | ESPN Scrum
Sources
  • Bath, Richard (ed.) The Scotland Rugby Miscellany (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ISBN 1-905326-24-6)
  • Jones, J.R. Encyclopedia of Rugby Union Football (Robert Hale, London, 1976 ISBN 0-7091-5394-5)
  • Massie, Allan A Portrait of Scottish Rugby (Polygon, Edinburgh; ISBN 0-904919-84-6)
  • Campbell, M; Cohen, E.J. (1960). Rugby Football in East Africa 1909-1959. Rugby Football Union of East Africa.