Poynder Park

The ground sits where Kelso High School once stood. Kelso RFC took possession of the site in 1908, long before the formal ownership transfer in 1950.

It is an old place. The pitch is natural grass and, by the time winter arrives in the Borders, it is usually muddy. The surface does not lie flat; it is a working rugby field, not a showpiece. The capacity is 3,000. There are no records of this number changing.

The name comes from John Dickson-Poynder, 1st Baron Islington, a local landowner who held the land before the school moved away. The stadium has never been renamed, never sponsored. It remains Poynder Park.

This is the home of the Border League , the world’s oldest established rugby union league. Kelso RFC has won the Scottish Premiership twice, in 1988 and 1989, and the Division 2 Championship in 1992. Those victories were sealed here, on the heavy turf. The club reached the Scottish Cup finals in 1998 and 1999, but those matches were played elsewhere, at Murrayfield in Edinburgh.

Every May the Kelso Sevens tournament takes over the ground. It is part of the 'Kings of the Sevens' circuit.

There is no artificial turf, no hybrid surface. The club kept its heads. They have not added a new name to the sign, nor have they added a new surface. It is still the same ground, playing for the same league, with the same capacity.