We caught up with Super6 Finance Director/WFC Treasurer Ramsay Urquhart…
There are many people who have been putting in hard work at Myreside behind the scenes since the advent of Super6 and then the pandemic - and Ramsay Urquhart is one of them.
He is currently the Super6 Finance Director/WFC Treasurer and anyone who was at the recent AGM will know that he is very thorough in everything that he does to help the club. Ramsay, a Chartered Accountant has worked for over 25 years in the UK and Internationally with organisations including the ING Group, Barclays and Alliance Trust.
Ramsay originally got involved with Watsonians at the time of the Super6 franchise bid a few years ago, when he and a couple of others assisted the Committee in their final preparations with the franchise bid and presentation to the Scottish Rugby hierarchy.
“I worked with the Committee on the presentation in an unofficial capacity and then, in around April or May 2019, I became part of things formally when I joined the Board that was set-up to oversee the running of the Super6 part of the club,” Ramsay, whose son Tom currently plays for the club, explains.
“At the time, the club was trying to strengthen the governance around the two legal entities that had been set-up with Super6 coming along and all the additional tasks and requirements that went with it and I was happy to try and help out.
“Once the franchise was approved, I then helped with some of the Commercial requirements of the business and assisted in the operational set-up of the S6 entity, including monitoring the player salaries and helped report back to Scottish Rugby on all things to do with Super6. We have always held monthly Board meetings, even during ‘Lockdown’.
“There were a number of additional needs that the Committee had to deal with, so myself and others just came on board to help out and lighten the load.”
Ramsay’s original ‘in’ to Watsonians was through then Super6 Chairman John Reid who he knew through family and school connections as well as his career in financial services.
When Mike Crerar, the club’s long-serving Treasurer, sadly passed away in early 2020, Ramsay agreed to step into the post and began to help with wider club business rather than just the business that affected Super6.
“It was a tough time for everyone at the club because Mike had played such a big part in things for many years at Myreside and then, soon after, Covid hit,” Ramsay, who is originally from the Aberdeen area, said.
“That meant that there was little rugby for a year and a half or so, but there was plenty of other things to work on to keep the club ticking over.
“Rugby obviously returned as normal in 2021/22 and it has been great over the last year and a half to get to know more people who are involved at all levels with Watsonians face-to-face. It was also fantastic to be at the DAM Murrayfield to watch ‘that great Final’ and for the S6 team to be crowned as FOSROC Champions to add to our previous Sprint title.
“It is a great club with a fantastic history and now that things are back to ‘normal’ I am enjoying helping President Richard Kelly and everyone else on the Board and Committee take things forward in a positive way because there is a lot to be positive about.”
By Gary Heatly
To get in touch with Ramsay, email ramsay.urquhart@watsoniansrugby.com
