Fans given opportunity to pick Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame inductee

• Hall of fame judges, from left, John Beattie, John Jeffrey, Ian McGeechan, Chris Rea and Norman Mair met at Murrayfield yesterday to discuss potential inductees. Picture: PA

Up to a dozen people from all eras of the game will be inducted at an inaugural dinner in November. Coaches, administrators and volunteers as well as players will all be eligible for inclusion, and subsequent inductions are expected to take place every 18 months or so.

All but one of the November inductees will be decided by a five-man Hall of Fame panel, which had its second meeting at Murrayfield yesterday. The quintet is composed of former Scotland and Lions coach Sir Ian McGeechan, ex-Scotland forward John Jeffrey, and three internationals turned journalists - Norman Mair, Chris Rea and John Beattie.

The five have divided Scottish rugby into eight periods, and plan to select at least one person from each. The eras are: the early years of the game from around 1870; 1900 until the First World War; the inter-war years; 1945-59; and then each of the last five decades.

Supporters' involvement will begin by their going to the Scottish Rugby Union website, www.scottishrugby.org, from today, and voting for the era from which they would most like to induct someone. If, for instance, you were keenest on nominating someone from the 1984 Grand Slam team, you would vote for the Eighties. Once it becomes clear which era has attracted most interest, the panel will nominate a shortlist, which will again be put to an online vote.

"Obviously there's going to be players overlapping from one era to another," Jeffrey said yesterday. "We decided to break it down into those different tranches so hopefully we wouldn't miss anybody.

"The website will have a flavour of what we thought were the two or three greatest players from each era, and also what we thought were the two or three greatest achievements of the Scottish team. I hope that some people, instead of immediately picking everybody from the last ten years, will say 'Hang on, did Scotland win three Triple Crowns between 1901 and 1907?'

"They might look back and see that Scotland have actually been hugely successful over the years. So, with a bit of luck it will stimulate a bit of interest and research.

"The first time we will probably have at least one person selected from each era. Then after that, whether it is in a year and a bit or whenever, we probably won't have as many as a dozen. There might just be six, but it will still be spread across eras and across different types of nominee.

"It's administrators and coaches as well as players. Anybody who has been involved in the game at all is eligible for selection.

How selection works

UP TO 12 people will be inducted into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame on 4 November. A five-man panel will choose all but one of the entrants, with the other decided by supporters.

Step One for fans who want to have a say is to visit www.scottishrugby.org. You will then be invited to vote for an era from which you want an inductee to come. The eight eras are: the early years (late 19th century); 1900-14; the inter-war years; 1945-59; the 1960s; the '70s; the '80s; the '90s; and 2000 to the present. If the figure whom you would like to see inducted was active in more than one era you should vote for the period where you think he had the greatest influence. Step Two comes once the panel has decided which era will be chosen by supporters, A shortlist will be selected, and each supporter can vote once for one inductee. The criterion we have is achievements for Scottish rugby on the worldwide stage, so you do not need necessarily have to be Scottish to be included. If [national coach] Andy Robinson carries on the way he's going at the moment, he could be in.

"We've had our initial drafts and thrown up a couple of names from each era, Wilson Shaw for his famous try [in a Calcutta Cup match] could be one of the suggestions from the 1930s, for example.

"Or Ned Haig, for example, from an earlier era, is an example of someone who did not play for Scotland but had a significant impact. He was just a butcher, but he invented sevens.

"Between the wars, you could take somebody like Eric Liddell. Then Paddy Wallace, who came across from Australia, was capped for Scotland, then went back. And when he went back he took back everything he learned from Scotland, including the fact Scotland were trying to make space [on the field] for Liddell. The Australians' flat passing came from that."

Although there will not initially be an actual, physical Hall of Fame, there will be a permanent record of the inductees within a suite at Murrayfield. "There will be a board in one of the suites, which are being upgraded at the moment," Jeffrey continued. "Hopefully, there will be memorabilia from all the inductees included as well.

"It's going to be done properly and the dinner will be a top-quality event. It is overdue. We're not good in Scotland at beating our own drum. If we do that now, and then every 18 months or whenever, I think that's great."

The dinner, hosted by broadcaster Dougie Donnelly, will take place on 4 November and be attended by the Scotland squad, who will be in camp preparing for the Autumn Tests against New Zealand, South Africa and Samoa. Individual tickets or tables for ten are available, and two voters on the website will win a place each.