Edinburgh Leisure and a Commonwealth Games Legacy
As Scotland prepares for Glasgow 2026, Edinburgh Leisure can reflect on the Commonwealth Games history held within two of its venues. Meadowbank Sports Centre and the Royal Commonwealth Pool were hosts to Edinburgh’s editions in 1970 and 1986, with a supporting feature at the Glasgow 2014 games.
Meadowbank Stadium (now Meadowbank Sports Centre) was purpose built as the main athletics venue, while the Royal Commonwealth Pool opened in January 1970 as a purpose-built aquatics venue. Until its demolition in preparation for its modern redevelopment in 2019, it served as both a local sporting amenity outside of the games and even a music venue – once hosting amongst countless others, famous names like Radiohead in 2006 and Elton John in 2016! Now, under the care of Edinburgh Leisure, a local charity seeking to help make the lives of Edinburgh residents healthier and happier, it offers affordable and high-quality fitness and sporting facilities for all.
The Royal Commonwealth Pool – or the ‘Commie’ for short – is a category-A-listed building in Edinburgh that houses one of Scotland’s main swimming pools and is run by Edinburgh Leisure. The pool was commissioned by the Council under a plan by the then Lord Provost, Sir Herbert Archbold Brechin in 1966 with architecture by Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall as part of a wider project to bring the Commonwealth Games to Edinburgh. Construction began in 1967 and was completed in 1970. It was opened by Her Royal Highness, The Princess Anne on Friday, 16 January 1970, on the invitation of the Lord Provost, The Rt Hon James W McKay.
Edinburgh 1970: the ‘Friendly Games’
Now known lovingly as the ‘Commie’ by Edinburgh locals, it continues to be a first-class venue particularly for swimming and diving, and regularly hosts international sporting events.
Edinburgh’s first Commonwealth Games in 1970 brought 42 nations to the city and marked a number of firsts for the Games, including metric distances and electronic photo-finish technology. It was often retrospectively described as the ‘Friendly Games’ because of the warm Scottish hospitality offered across the city.
Team Scotland 1970 highlights included gold medals for Ian Stewart, Lachie Stewart, Rosemary Stirling and Rosemary Payne, with a total of 25 medals won overall.
Sometime later in 1976, Edinburgh would have a reappearance at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, with David Wilkie of Warrender Baths Swim Club winning the gold medal, setting a record in the 200m breaststroke at 2:15.11.
Edinburgh 1986: the ‘boycott’ year
When the Games returned in 1986, Edinburgh became the first city to host the Commonwealth Games twice, held again in both Meadowbank Stadium and the Royal Commonwealth Pool. However, the event was overshadowed by the boycott led by 32 nations protesting the UK Government’s position on apartheid-era South Africa.
Meadowbank again served as the main athletics and ceremony venue, with an opening ceremony themed around the ‘Spirit of Youth’ that began at Edinburgh Castle before schoolchildren ran down the Royal Mile to the stadium. The Royal Commonwealth Pool also hosted aquatics events, reinforcing its long Commonwealth connection. Despite the political and financial difficulties, Scotland recorded what was then its highest medal tally, with golds for Liz Lynch, Dan Travers and Billy Gilliland, and George Adrain and Grant Knox.
Members of the Warrender Baths Club, to this day still meeting at the Victorian Warrender Swim Centre in Marchmont, continued their sporting prowess. Members Paul Easter, Colin Bole and Andrew Smith all earned places in the 1986 Scottish Commonwealth Games team, though sadly gained no medals.
Glasgow 2014: a Commonwealth role beyond the host city
The Royal Commonwealth Pool was closed from August 2009 to March 2012 for a £37m redevelopment, revitalising this light and airy 1970s building, giving it a new lease of life in time for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where it hosted the diving competitions, making it the world’s only three-time Games venue.
For the Edinburgh Leisure team now operating the site since 1998, Glasgow 2014 was also a major operational transformation. Claire Rusack, who was managing the Royal Commonwealth Pool at the time and now works as Operations Director at Edinburgh Leisure, recalls that the Games took around two years of planning.
The delivery model saw the Games committee take over the whole operation of the building, with the venue emptied of its usual furniture and every space converted for a new purpose. The gym became a PR area, Clambers Soft Play was turned into the athletes’ lounge, the foyer became a workforce area, and the studio was used as a VIP lounge. The building looked almost unrecognisable by the time the takeover works were complete, and had to be carefully unpicked and put back into usual public operations at the Games’ conclusion.
Glasgow 2026: Looking ahead
Glasgow is preparing to host the Commonwealth Games once again. Although Meadowbank Sports Centre and the Royal Commonwealth Pool are not part of this year’s competition programme, both venues remain an important part of Scotland’s Commonwealth Games history and continue to serve Edinburgh as active public sports facilities.
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