Watson played for Boroughmuir.[2]
He played for Edinburgh District.[2]
Watson was capped by Scotland 'B' once against France 'B' in 1971.
He played for Scotland ten times, from 1974 to 1979.[3] He was the Boroughmuir club's second Scotland international player (after Ken Ross in 1961).[4]
Watson was a Director and then Chief Executive at the Scottish Rugby Union from 2000 to 2003.[5] He was sacked as Chief Executive in 2003 as part of management shake-up. It came after under-performance from the national team and the professional clubs.[6] Earlier that year Glasgow Warriors lost Jason White to Sale Sharks with Watson admitting that the Warriors could not compete with the English club in the cash stakes.[7]
He was a Director at Boroughmuir from 2012 to 2019.[8] He handed over the role of director of finance to Alice Shek in 2018, becoming vice president of the club.[9]
It was while Watson was a director of the club that Boroughmuir instigated the Bill Watson Youth Rugby Bursary Programme. It was backed by the Microtech Group in a four-year deal.[10] It was to cover all the costs of playing rugby for the youngsters, including touring. Watson stated:[11]
I’m delighted that we can actively support the next generation of talented young people to get as much enjoyment out of rugby as I have, without any financial worries. The support from Microtech Group will go a long way in helping our young talent to fulfill their potential, whether that’s playing rugby for pleasure or going on to play the game professionally.
