Andrew Watson (footballer)

Andrew Watson

Watson (top centre)
Personal information
Full name Andrew Watson
Date of birth 18 May 1857(1857-05-18)
Place of birth Demerara, British Guiana
Date of death 16 January 1902(1902-01-16) (aged 44)
Place of death Sydney, Australia
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Full back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
? Maxwell
1874–1880 Parkgrove
1880–1882? Queen's Park[1] 0 (0)
1882–? Swifts
1884-? Corinthians
?–1887 Queen's Park[1] 0 (0)
National team
1881–1882 Scotland 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Andrew Watson (born 18 May 1857, Demerara, British Guiana; died 16 January 1902, Sydney, Australia) is widely considered to be the world's first black association footballer to play at international level.[2][3][4] He was capped three times for Scotland between 1881 and 1882. Although Arthur Wharton is commonly thought to be Britain's first black player, Watson's career predates him by over a decade, although Wharton was the first black player to turn professional.

Contents

Early life and education

Andrew Watson was the son of a wealthy Scottish sugar planter Peter Miller Watson (the son of James Watson, of Crantit, Orkney) and a local woman named Anna Rose. He was educated at King's College School, where records show he excelled at sports including football. He later studied natural philosophy, mathematics and engineering at University of Glasgow when he was 19, where his love of football blossomed. He played in the full back position, on either the right or the left flank.

Footballing career

At club level

After first playing for Maxwell, in 1876 he signed for local side Parkgrove where he was additionally their match secretary,[2] making him the first black administrator in football.[4] On 14 April 1880, he was selected to represent Glasgow against Sheffield—Glasgow won 1–0 at Bramall Lane. After marrying in Glasgow, he soon signed for Queen's Park F.C. – then Britain's biggest football team – and later became their secretary. He led the team to several Scottish Cup wins, thus becoming the first black player to win a major competition.[4]

In 1882, he was the first black player to play in the English Cup when he turned out for Swifts.[2] In 1884 he was the first foreign player to be invited to join the most exclusive of football teams, a team that allowed only 50 members of high elite to join—the Corinthians.[5] During his time there, this included an 8 - 1 victory against Blackburn Rovers, who were at that time the English Cup holders.

Watson's entry in the Scottish Football Association Annual of 1880–81 reads as follows:

"Watson, Andrew: One of the very best backs we have; since joining Queen's Park has made rapid strides to the front as a player; has great speed and tackles splendidly; powerful and sure kick; well worthy of a place in any representative team."

The colour of his skin was of no significance to his peers and there is no historical record of racism on the part of the Scottish Football Association. One match report is more interested in Watson's unusual brown boots rather than the customary black boots of that time. As written in the minutes, before one match where Watson was injured and unable to play, an SFA vice-president said if Watson had been fit he would have happily drugged a fellow Scottish international to give Watson his place.

At international level

Watson won three international caps for Scotland.[3] His first cap came for Scotland v. England on 12 March 1881, in which he captained the side[6]; Scotland won 6 – 1. A few days later Scotland played Wales where they won 5 – 1. Watson's last cap came on Scottish soil against England on 11 March 1882. This was a 5 – 1 victory again to Scotland.[7]

Later life

In November 1877 he married Jessie Nimmo Armour - their son, Rupert, was born the following year and a daughter, Agnes Maude, in 1880. Watson later emigrated to Australia. He died in Sydney circa 1902 and is buried there.[5] In 1926 the sportswriter "Tityrus" (the pseudonym of J.A.H. Catton, editor of the Athletic News) named Andrew Watson as left back in his all-time Scotland team — a remarkable endorsement of the talent of a footballer who had played at such an early date, from a man who had watched almost every England-Scotland international over the preceding 50 years.[8]

External links

References

  1. ^ a b The Scottish Football League did not commence until the 1890–91 season.
  2. ^ a b c "First Black footballer, Andrew Watson, inspired British soccer in 1870s". Black History Month. http://www.black-history-month.co.uk/articles/andrew_watson.html. 
  3. ^ a b "Andrew Watson". 100 Great Black Britons. http://www.100greatblackbritons.com/bios/andrew_watson.html. 
  4. ^ a b c "Andrew Watson". Football Unites, Racism Divides. http://www.furd.org/default.asp?intPageID=37. 
  5. ^ a b "Andrew Watson". Spartacus Schoolnet. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/QPwatsonA.htm. 
  6. ^ The Times, 14 March 1881, p.6, col C.
  7. ^ "Andrew Watson - Scotland". LondonHearts.com. http://www.londonhearts.com/scotland/players/andrewwatson.html. 
  8. ^ Catton, J.A.H. ("Tityrus") (2006 reprint of 1926 original). The Story of Association Football. Cleethorpes: Soccer Books. ISBN 1-86223-119-2.