Scottish Inter-District Championship
| Scottish Inter-District Championship | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Rugby union |
| Instituted | 1953-54 |
| Number of teams | 3–5 |
| Country |
 Scotland |
| Most titles | South (17 outright championships) |
The Scottish Inter-District Championship is a rugby union competition between regional sides in Scotland. Established in 1953, the tournament went through several formats.
Scotland had four District Sides – the combined North and Midlands district side; South; Glasgow District and Edinburgh District. Glasgow and Edinburgh were formed in 1872 and played the world's first ever inter-district match in that year.
The district sides capped the best amateur players from their area's club sides to play inter-district matches and matches against touring sides.
The Inter-district championship was established in the 1953–54 season. The first season saw Glasgow, Edinburgh, North and South challenge for the championship. The North of Scotland District in that first season contained many Midlands players and the Midlands District complained to the Scottish Rugby Union that they should have acknowledgement for their contribution to the North squad. The SRU agreed to this and from 1954–55 season onwards the combined North of Scotland and Midlands side was known as North and Midlands.
The Glasgow, Edinburgh, South and North and Midlands sides would play off to see which district was best in Scotland. In later years a Scottish Exiles team was also invited into this championship.
Whether with four or five sides each team would play one another only once; either at home or away. Usually contested with only the four home-based Scottish districts, this meant that each team only played three matches. This created a situation where the tournament winners were often shared with two or three teams. It was thus a difficult tournament to win outright.
Occasionally though a deciding system was used. In 1972–73 Glasgow and Edinburgh tied for the Championship and a separate play-off was agreed; which Edinburgh won. A knock-out system was used in 1993–94. In 1997–98, the last year before the four professional sides merged into two sides, it was agreed beforehand that – should the league places be tied – the number of tries would decide the winner. The season ended with a three-way tie between Edinburgh Rugby, Glasgow Warriors and Caledonia Reds with Edinburgh coming out on top with tries scored.
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