1872-73 in Scottish football - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

1872–73 in Scottish football

Teams in the FA Cup
Queen's Park Queen's Park F.C. Queen's Park Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. The club are currently the only amateur club in the Scottish League; their amateur status is reflected by their motto, Ludere Causa Ludendi – to play for the sake of playing.Queen's Park are the oldest...

Season 1872–73 was the first in Scottish football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

in which the national team

Scotland national football team

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

participated in officially recognised matches. There were as yet no organised domestic competitions.

Overview

Queen's Park

Queen's Park F.C.

Queen's Park Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. The club are currently the only amateur club in the Scottish League; their amateur status is reflected by their motto, Ludere Causa Ludendi – to play for the sake of playing.Queen's Park are the oldest...

continued to be pioneers in the development of the sport in Scotland. As in the previous season, they entered for the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

, albeit they failed to play any active part in this season's tournament.

Their most significant action in the 1872–73 season was to help initiate the birth of international football, organising the Scotland side which took on England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

in what is considered the first "official" international match.

FA Cup

In recognition of the travel difficulties they faced in reaching South East England

South East England

South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...

, where the other entrants were all based, Queen's were allowed a bye directly through to the semi-finals, where they were drawn against Oxford University

Oxford University A.F.C.

Oxford University Association Football Club is an English football club representing the University of Oxford.-History:Formed in 1872, the club was a giant of the 1870s, winning the FA Cup 2-0 against Royal Engineers in 1874 and finishing the competition as runners up in 1873, 1877 and 1880, the...

, however Queen's were still unable to finance the journey and withdrew from the competition.

Queen's Park
Queen's Park F.C.
Queen's Park Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. The club are currently the only amateur club in the Scottish League; their amateur status is reflected by their motto, Ludere Causa Ludendi – to play for the sake of playing.Queen's Park are the oldest...

: (R1) Bye; (R2) Bye; (R3) Bye; (QF) Bye; (SF)

Oxford University

Oxford University A.F.C.

(A) - Queen's Park withdrew

Scotland national team

Overview

This season saw the first official international match

Scotland v England (1872)

Scotland v England was the first ever official international football match to be played. It was contested by the national teams of Scotland and England. The match took place on 30 November 1872 at West of Scotland Cricket Club's ground at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland...

take place against England

England national football team

. Whilst a series of "England v Scotland" matches organised by C. W. Alcock

C. W. Alcock

Charles William Alcock was an influential English sportsman and administrator. He was a major instigator in the development of both international football and cricket, as well as being the creator of the FA Cup....

had taken in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

over the previous two years, these matches were never considered truly representative, with the Scottish sides being composed almost entirely of London residents. In 1872, Queen's Park

Queen's Park F.C.

, as Scotland's leading club, took it upon themselves to organise what has entered the history books as the first "official" international, despite the fact there was as yet no Scottish Football Association

Scottish Football Association

The Scottish Football Association is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA include clubs in Scotland, affiliated national associations as well as local associations...

to sanction it. Appropriately enough, the match was arranged for St Andrew's Day, and the West of Scotland Cricket Club

West of Scotland Cricket Club

The West of Scotland Cricket Club is a large cricket club based in Glasgow, Scotland. Their ground is Hamilton Crescent located in the Partick area of Glasgow's West End...

's ground at Hamilton Crescent

Hamilton Crescent

Hamilton Crescent is a cricket ground located in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club.Hamilton Crescent is famous for holding the first ever international football match, played between Scotland and England...

in Partick

Partick

Partick is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch. Partick was a Police burgh from 1852 until 1912 when it was incorporated into the city.-History:...

was selected as the venue. A crowd of approximately 4,000 people attended on the day, although the time of the match had been delayed by fog.

The Scottish eleven was selected by captain and goalkeeper Robert Gardner

Robert W Gardner

Robert W. Gardner was an important figure in football history. He was match arranger, goalkeeper and team captain for Queen's Park during the 1860s up till 1874, and a letter of his, dated 1868, is the oldest surviving letter pertaining to soccer...

and was drawn entirely from Queen's Park members, although some played with other clubs as well. The dark blue shirts which would become synonymous with the national team were worn on this first occasion because they were at that time the colours of Queen's Park. The English wore white shirts. The English wore caps, while the Scots wore red cowls. The match itself contrasted the dribbling style then popular in England with the Scots' passing football, but finished goalless. The Scots had a goal disallowed in the first half after the umpires decided that the ball had cleared the tape which was used before crossbars were introduced. The latter part of the match saw the Scots defence under pressure by the heavier English forwards. The Scots played two full backs, two half backs and six forwards. The English played only one full back, one half back and eight forwards. Since three defenders were required for a ball played to be onside, the English system was virtually a ready-made offside trap.

The return fixture the following March marked the first official meeting of the sides in England, and again took place at a cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

ground, The Oval, with the English adopting Scotland's 2-2-6 formation. The severely limited funds available to the fledgling SFA meant they were only able to finance rail fares to London for eight players, so the team was augmented with three Anglo-Scots who had appeared in the earlier unofficial series, Lord Kinnaird

Arthur Kinnaird, 11th Lord Kinnaird

Arthur Fitzgerald Kinnaird, 11th Lord Kinnaird KT was a principal of The Football Association and a leading footballer....

, John Blackburn and Henry Renny-Tailyour

Henry Renny-Tailyour

Henry Waugh Renny-Tailyour was an amateur all-round sportsman who appeared for Scotland in some of the earliest international football and rugby union matches, remaining to this day the only player to have represented the country in both codes...

. The latter had the honour of scoring Scotland's first international goal, but the match ended in a 4–2 defeat.

Results

Date	Venue	Opponents		Competition	Scotland scorer(s)
30 November 1872	Hamilton Crescent Hamilton Crescent Hamilton Crescent is a cricket ground located in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club.Hamilton Crescent is famous for holding the first ever international football match, played between Scotland and England... , Partick Partick Partick is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch. Partick was a Police burgh from 1852 until 1912 when it was incorporated into the city.-History:... (H)		0–0 Scotland v England (1872) Scotland v England was the first ever official international football match to be played. It was contested by the national teams of Scotland and England. The match took place on 30 November 1872 at West of Scotland Cricket Club's ground at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland...	Friendly
8 March 1873	Kennington Oval The Oval The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval... , London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... (A)		2–4	Friendly	Henry Renny-Tailyour Henry Renny-Tailyour Henry Waugh Renny-Tailyour was an amateur all-round sportsman who appeared for Scotland in some of the earliest international football and rugby union matches, remaining to this day the only player to have represented the country in both codes... , William Gibb

Key:

(H) = Home match
(A) = Away match

External links

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