Glasgow Hawks RFC are sad to announce that Head Coach Fin Gillies will leave the club at the end of 2018-19 season. He was introduced into the coaching team by Jimmy Sinclair and Jamie Dempsey 5 years ago, where he says they taught him some valuable lessons and a huge amount about some of the nuances of coaching.

Fin, a former Glasgow Warrior and Glasgow Hawks player, became Head Coach at the start of the 2016-17 campaign.

“I would just like to say thanks to everyone at Glasgow Hawks, especially Kenny Hamilton, Club President, who originally gave me the opportunity to coach this great club. I also want to say a huge thanks to my coaching team of Andrew Douglas, Viks Penpraze and especially Andy Hill. Everyone from the committee, the players and the management have given their all over some tough years and I want to thank everyone involved at Hawks for all their support.”

Fin led Hawks to league and cup semi-finals, championed them through play-off success in an emphatic manner and developed some of Scotland’s most talented young players, such as Grant Stewart and George Horne, in their transition to the professional game. During his time at the helm, Hawks have had their fair of share of glorious wins and agonizing losses all with Fin driving standards whilst ensuring players were excited to play for Glasgow Hawks.
Kenny Hamilton describes Fin as “someone who lives every tackle, scrum, pass from the touch line and is emotionally drained after a match. “
“Fin’s rugby knowledge is second-to-none and his passion for the game and for Hawks is evident in everything he has done for the club over the last 5 years”, says Club Captain Stephen Leckey.
With an eye to the future Fin says “the club is in a good place going forward and incredibly driven. There are already lots of exciting changes and developments in place for the coming years. I wish the club and everyone involved all the best moving forward and I will always be keeping a close eye on results and how the new coaching team pushes for league and cup success.”
Fin will leave Glasgow Hawks with the best wishes of the Board, coaching staff and players, in the knowledge that his place amongst the club’s legends is guaranteed. We have no doubt his precocious talent will be highly coveted in Scottish Rugby and wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.