A UNIQUE rugby club toasting its centenary will visit Haddington next year.

In the Easter of 1924, Andrew ‘Jock’ Wemyss (Haddington, Wanderers and Scotland) toured with the Barbarians XV and had been struck with the idea of forming a similar invitation club in Scotland.

The Co-Optimists’ objective was to promote rugby in specific locations where it was not the premier sport.

In order to do this, a unique brand of rugby needed to be introduced.

The idea was to primarily use players from local clubs around Scotland, with the occasional international player included within the squad.

The opportunity arose when Haddington RFC invited Mr Wemyss to bring a team to play at Neilson Park and this historic fixture took place on Thursday, September 18, 1924.

Now, it has been confirmed that the team will return to where it all began next spring.

A spokesperson for Haddington RFC said: “The Co-optimist club returned to play Haddington in 1951 to mark the return of the club to Neilson Park following the Second World War and again in 1961 to mark the start of Haddington’s 51st year.

“Since 1957 there has been an annual fixture with an East Lothian XV, and Haddington RFC look forward to hosting the Co-Optimist’s Centenary season fixture in April 2025 at Neilson Park.”