A special exhibition celebrating Scottish boxing’s greatest moments at the Commonwealth Games will take place this weekend.
A treasure trove of artefacts and images, from the University of Stirling archives, will be displayed at Scotland’s oldest boxing club, the Leith Victoria Athletic Club in Edinburgh, on Sunday.
The event coincides with National Sporting Heritage Day, held annually on September 30, to raise awareness around the relevance of sporting heritage; encourage new and different audiences to access collections; and urge more organisations to recognise sporting heritage.
University of Stirling archivist Karl Magee said: “The University is proud to support National Sporting Heritage Day with a special exhibition at the Leith Victoria, a club which is steeped in history and will celebrate its centenary in 2019."
Archivist, University of Stirling
Our Sporting Heritage Fair will feature boxing items and images from Stirling’s Commonwealth Games Scotland archive and celebrate the contribution Leith Victoria members at the competition.
Mr Magee continued: “Our Sporting Heritage Fair will feature boxing items and images from Stirling’s Commonwealth Games Scotland archive and celebrate the contribution Leith Victoria members at the competition, including Jim Rolland who won Scotland’s first ever gold medal at the Games in Hamilton, Canada, in 1930.
“It will include a gallery of images illustrating the history of Scottish boxing at the Games and we are also encouraging visitors to bring along their own boxing memorabilia, including photographs, which we can digitise at the event and add to our archive.”
The exhibited items are part of the University’s popular ‘Hosts and Champions’ exhibition, which documents more than 80 years of international sporting competition. It celebrates Scotland’s participation and achievement at the Games, from its origins as the British Empire Games in Hamilton, Canada, in 1930, through to the Gold Coast 2018.
The collection includes photographs, designs, clothing, papers and artefacts, which evoke a rich history of Scotland’s involvement in the Games, including as hosts in 1970, 1986 and 2014.
Official Programme from the British Empire Games, 1930.
Earlier this year, the touring exhibition travelled 10,000 miles to the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, where it took centre stage at Team Scotland HQ.
The boxing exhibition will take place between 2pm and 5pm on Sunday 30 September at the Leith Victoria Athletic Club, located at 28 Academy Street, Edinburgh, EH6 7EF.
Background information
Media enquiries to Greg Christison, Communications Officer, on 01786 466 687 or greg.christison@stir.ac.uk