Memorial to ‘Voice of Rugby’ Bill McLaren to be unveiled in Hawick

Published on 24/09/2012 11:36

A MEMORIAL to former BBC rugby commentator Bill McLaren is set to be unveiled in his home town.

Councillors in Hawick, Roxburghshire, hope the £5,500 bust will form part of a new rugby heritage centre to draw tourists from all over the world.

The bust in the likeness of the “Voice of Rugby” – who died in January 2010, aged 86 – will be installed at Hawick’s Wilton Lodge Park within the next few weeks and will sit alongside similar tributes to motorcycle legends Steve Hislop and Jimmie Guthrie.

Hawick community councillor Alastair Cranston, a former Scotland rugby cap, said: “I am hoping that with the bust and the rugby centre together, 
Hawick is going to become a mecca for rugby fans.”

McLaren spent 49 years behind the microphone. His first radio commentary was in 1953 as Scotland lost 12-0 to Wales.

Within six years he was commentating on TV and his wit and wisdom became world renowned until he retired in 2002.