West have enjoyed a long and successful history, winning numerous Scottish Championships and producing an incredible number of international players, and a strong contingent of British and Irish Lions.

The most notable of these luminaries is Gordon Bulloch, who enjoyed sparkling professional career with playing Glasgow and Leeds, captaining Scotland, and playing for the British and Irish Lions, before reportedly rejecting a contract offer from the famous French Champions Stade Toulousain to make a triumphant return to the even-more-famous 'Red and Yellow'.

However, In November 1867, West took to the field against live opposition for the first time – beating Edinburgh Academicals, in one of the first ever rugby matches ever played.

The local football club Partick Thistle decided to copy in the 1930s when they also switched from dark blue strips.

Nonetheless, despite further issues with the cricket club over the lease, West thrived during this era, fielding up to 4XV's, and featuring many players who play at district and international level.

These years also saw people like Bill Nicholson, W. A. Burnet, H. Stewart Mackintosh (later Director of Education for Glasgow ) and Arthur Ferns becoming involved both in playing terms and later in the transfer of West to Burnbrae.

The committee considered grounds in Bishopbriggs, Kirkintilloch, Pollok Estate, Stepps, and Whitecraigs, none of which were deemed desirable.

West teams were littered with international players in all positions at this time, and not withstanding the outstanding pack noted above, Burnbrae crowds were dazzled by outstanding international backs such as David Sheddon, Chris Rea, and Quintin Dunlop, as well as England's scrum-half Lionel Weston.

During this golden era the club enjoyed much on-field success, jointly-shared Championship honours with Hawick in 1965, before once more lifting the trophy in 1971.

In the 1990s, faced with the Border and Edinburgh teams' domination of Scottish rugby, the great old clubs of Glasgow met to discuss amalgamating so as to compete at a higher level.

The 'W' in Hawks is therefore a vestige of West's potential involvement – although the club decided to reject the move, thus maintaining its independence and history.

This marked a strong era for the club, with former players such as British and Irish Lion Gordon Bulloch electing to return to club, alongside brother Alan Bulloch, Rory Kerr, and former Glasgow professional Guy Perrett These 'stars' were augmented by a strong crop of West players including Robert Harley, Robert McAlpine, Murray McConell, all of whom progressed to professional rugby, as well as a selection of young Glasgow professional players, selected in the SRU draft (including Peter Horne, Jon Welsh, Richie Vernon, and Richie Gray).

In 2015, West celebrated the 150th year of their existence with a stellar season, which saw all three senior men's teams gain promotion.

The First XV, captained by rotund flanker Jamie McAuley, gained promotion to National 2, the third highest league in Scotland.

West's youth section was founded in the 1980s, and is now a thriving development centre with over 200 players – and an excellent track record of success, both on and off the field.

[6] Since then, many other players who have pulled on the famous red and yellow jersey have gone on to represent Scotland, with a number reaching the pinnacle as British and Irish Lions.