Boroughmuir Bears will open their season against Stirling County on 8 November at Meggatland under the lights to kick-off the tournament.

Chris Laidlaw has been announced as the Captain of the Boroughmuir Bears in its inaugural season. Prior to his selection, Chris played for the First XV at Boroughmuir joining the club in 2014/2015 from his home club Jed-Forest.

His career accolades include lifting the Scottish Cup in his first season at the club, representing Scotland as part of the Club XV and being part of a number of touring 7s teams. In addition to his playing career, Chris has held a number of coaching and youth development roles, including his current role at Boroughmuir as Performance Academy Manager which identifies and supports talented young players within the Boroughmuir Academy.

On his appointment Chris said ‘I am delighted and excited about being captain of the Bears, it’s a real privilege and honour to lead this group of players as we prepare for what will be a massively competitive league and a challenge all the players, staff and everyone at the club is looking forward to.

“With the club in its centenary year it adds to the excitement and as Bears players we look to add to the centenary celebrations with positive performances on field. There is a strong senior group of players within the squad and I look forward to working with them to drive the Bears forward on and off field!”

Chris also gave an insight as to the mood in the Bears camp, “There is a massive amount of excitement around the playing group with the first competitive match getting closer and closer. There is also a sense of realisation that we have a lot of work to do between now and Stirling to make sure we are ready to put in a performance we can be all proud of on the 8 November. The new players who have joined the group have been great and are helping to drive the high standards we need to have to be successful.”

As well as crediting his fellow players with their drive to succeed, Chris was keen to emphasise the quality of the Bears training program as implemented by the coaching team, ‘Preparation has been ongoing for some time now and everyone is ready to play.

There has been a lot of time and effort put into our physical development over the summer with some pretty tough sessions! All the staff are pushing us as players to make sure we are as best prepared as possible for the season ahead.

A massive credit to them for the program they have put in place led by Shiely, and now its up to us as players to deliver performances on field to back up all the work that has been done off it. With 2 pre season hit outs over the next 2 weeks I’m sure everyone is looking to put in a strong performance to make Shiely and the other coaches job as hard as possible to select the squad that gets to represent the Bears in their first ever competitive match’.

Bears Head Coach Graham Sheil said “Chris has been a key member of Boroughmuir over the last 5 seasons. Chris performs at a very high level on the pitch and he brings experience to the playing group along with leadership qualities and an excellent understanding of the game.’

Tickets are available online via Citizen Ticket, and first 500 through the gate at Meggetland will receive a Boroughmuir Bears T shirt.