Sports in Edinburgh

Edinburgh has two professional football clubs: Hibernian and Heart of Midlothian. They are known locally as Hibs and Hearts. Both teams play in the Scottish Premier League: Hibernian at Easter Road Stadium near Leith and Hearts at Tynecastle Stadium in Gorgie. There are many reputable non league sides such as Spartans and Edinburgh City. Although Edinburgh is Scotland’s capital, the Scottish national team usually play at Hampden Park, Glasgow.

Scotland’s national rugby team’s base is Murrayfield Stadium. Rugby union internationals and “home internationals” (i.e. Scotland, England, Ireland & Wales) are played at Murrayfield, owned by the Scottish Rugby Union. (Murrayfield is also used as a venue for other events, including music concerts.) Edinburgh’s professional rugby team, the Edinburgh Gunners, play in the Celtic League at Murrayfield.

The Edinburgh Capitals are one of United Kingdom’s biggest ice hockey clubs. The club play their home games at the Murrayfield ice rink and are currently the sole Scottish representative in the Elite League.

Edinburgh has also hosted various national and international sports events including the World Student Games, the 1970 British Commonwealth Games and the 1986 Commonwealth Games. For the Games in 1970 the city built major Olympic standard venues and facilities including the Royal Commonwealth pool and the Meadowbank Stadium.