A to Z of Great Scots
Andrew Watson’s historic and groundbreaking exploits on the football pitch
WHEN Andrew Watson stepped onto the pitch at the Oval on March 12, 1881, he probably didn’t realise he was about to make history.
As the captain of the Scottish side facing England, he became the first black footballer in the world to play at international level.
He led his team to a stunning 6-1 victory against the “Auld Enemy”. The match remains England’s most crushing home defeat.
Born in British Guiana – now
Guyana, South America, – in 1856, Andrew was the son of a local woman named Hannah Rose, and Peter Miller Watson, a sugar plantation owner from Ross and Cromarty.
Andrew and his sister Annetta moved to England, and their father died in 1869, leaving them £35,000 – around £4 million today.
Andrew studied mathematics, natural philosophy and engineering at Glasgow University. In his spare time he played football. His extracurricular passion blossomed into a part-time career, and he joined local side Parkgrove, where he played alongside another trailblazing black footballer, Robert Walker.
Andrew quit his studies to become a partner in a warehouse business, got married and started a family, but continued playing football.
In 1880, he signed for Queen’s Park – at the time the most successful club in Scotland – and helped them to Scottish Cup glory three times.
The history books suggest that Scottish football was a refreshingly unprejudiced in the late 19th century. It would be naive, however, to believe that Andrew didn’t experience racism.
He was, according to the Scottish Athletic Journal in 1885, “on more than one occasion subjected to vulgar insults” on the pitch. Yet, “He uniformly preserved that gentlemanly demeanour.”
His magnificent tackling skills, aweinspiring kick and agility
“He helped them to Scottish Cup glory three times
made Andrew one of the leading defenders of his day. It was only a matter of time before he was selected to play for Scotland.
Unfortunately his international stardom didn’t last long, as after just three matches, he moved to London for work. The rules said Scotland players must live in Scotland.
His brilliant career sadly didn’t bring more diversity to the game – in fact, it would be 120 years before another black player was called up for Scotland, when Nigel Quashie played against Estonia in 2004 – but Andrew Watson deserves to be celebrated as a man of firsts.