@gedboy58
Football History of the Scotch Professor. Telling the story of how Scotland invented modern world football. Working to Preserve, Protect and Publicise the history of the game from a Scottish perspective and crush the myth that England invented the game.
#OTD 11 March 1936, death of Robert Walker, pioneering black football player. Born in Sierra Leone, raised near Dumfries, a Scottish Cup finalist in 1876 with Third Lanark, team mate of Andrew Watson at Parkgrove, a fascinating character. www.scottishsporthistory.com/sports-histo...
4 of 4 So what? Two dodgy wins for England but Scottish supremacy is unquestioned. A country one tenth the size of England. How could this happen? Historians don’t want to answer this. HOLD MY BEER! The answer is: Logic. Science. Combination. Amen, Brothers and Sisters.
3 of 4 Ten years. 6 wins. 2 draws. 2 defeats. In 1873, Scotland could not afford to send a whole team down. 1879 dodgy ref. Disallows Scotland goal. Allows Bambridge to run up the pitch and make it 5-4. Different offside rules then in S and E. But Scottish genius could not be suppressed for long.
2 of 4 George Gillespie, Andrew Watson, Tom Vallance, John McPherson, David Davidson, William McGuire, David Hill, George Ker, Joseph Lindsay, Henry McNeil, John Smith. Write their names in gold upon the stars. They gave us the modern world game, from a patch of grass in Glasgow.
First Hampden Site Mural on the wall of the now defunct Hampden Bowling Club. Two players are shown: Charles Campbell and Andrew Watson. A young boy, a woman and a man are shown, surrounding the information about the game and the date. 5-1 11th March 1882. Beyond the wall of the Pavilion is the bowling green and Kingsley gardens. This makes up about 40% of the site of the pitch.
1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball March 11th 1882 The Game That Broke English Hearts HAPPY BROKEN HEARTS DAY - LOVERS OF THE SCOTTISH GAME! YAY! Scotland had their unusual blue and white hoops for this game. I assume England wore white - with the three leopards on their shirts.
4 of 4 So what? Have you noticed how the Scots flooding into Glasgow gelled immediately with everybody’s football? Because the Combination Game had sunk deep in Scottish culture. Its roots were deep and wide. It is not a coincidence that the #scotchprofessor was from everywhere.
3 of 4 The SFA was the first national association to actually be ‘national’ from the get-go. (Hiya 1863 Sheffield, Nottingham, Oxbridge, - hiya pals). Its DNA was embedded in the northern Scots who had come south - in fact it was in all Scots. The team covered a lot of Scotland.
2 of 4 One game amongst many. Why did we create a mural for 1882 on the back wall of the now defunct Hampden Bowling Club? It was played in the world’s first purpose built national stadium. It was arranged by the Scottish Football Association - note the word. No ‘FA’ #EnglishExceptionalism here.
1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball Tomorrow is the anniversary of the 1882 Game That Broke English Hearts. Born of a decade of Scottish supremacy. First Hampden. 10,000 inside. 15,000 on theProspect Hill. The Scottish fans saw another virtuoso performance 5-1 #scotchprofessor
4 of 4 So What? I continue to talk to Yann at L’Equipe, as he prepares his article for June 10th. What a day! The World Cup ready to burst onto the world. Hopefully, this shines the light on a new French version of the oldest story: how the people of Scotland gave us Football and hope.
3 of 4 And this is where the Denizens of the Dodoball Dungeon cannot lift their heads up. They do not dare. If you accept Andrew Watson, what do you say about his 3 extraordinary Scotland games? How does a black Scotsman get into the Corinthians team? And why? You know why. But you want to know.
2 of 4 How could a Scottish audience not know this? Let me repeat that the information I have is sat there in full view of the honest researcher. Kirk Records, newspapers from the UK and all points across the world. But here’s the thing:you have to want to be challenged with new ideas.
1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball One of the things I noticed during my chat in Kirkcudbright, was the novelty of my comments. Sister number 4 said that it was clear that the audience were hearing all my facts, for the first time. On the one hand that is great: on the other it is tragic.
And the ref blows the final whistle!
Ged at the Scout hut Kirkcudbright.
Ten minutes to kick off.
5 of 5 So What? HES need our help. Write your comments, tinyurl.com/5n8z7bay taking into account the criteria for scheduling tinyurl.com/mtbzrsrh This one of the ways in which we ensure that our Football Heritage is preserved, protected and cherished. Give HES 5 minutes of your time.
4 of 5 Myself, Andy Mitchell and Iain Campbell Whittle have established very cordial relationships with HES. I had forgotten that I had advised them on Listing Sports buildings a decade ago. It needs all of us - not just the Scots Football Historians’ Group to push for recognition of our heritage.
3 of 5 It allows for ‘preservation of, and control of works on, monuments whose survival is in the national interest. ‘ It is still a difficult issue. We need to assure HES that the First Hampden is just such a site. Remember that sport is woefully underrepresented in official recognition.
2 of 5 The First Hampden isn’t a Listed Building because nothing exists above ground. There are foundations left of the Pavilion. The rules for HES state their decision relates to ‘Designating a site or place as a scheduled monument recognises its cultural significance at a national level.’
1 of 5 If you care that #scotsfoundedfootball then take yourself along to tinyurl.com/2x6r453u The Historic Environment Scotland page which is ‘seeking your views on a proposal to designate the remains of First Hampden...’ This matters, for many reasons. Note that it is for ‘scheduling’.
John Harley, a football legend in Uruguay, was born #OTD 5 March 1886 in Cathcart, south of Glasgow. Known as 'El Reformador' in Uruguay for his influence in changing the style of the game there to short passing in the traditional Scottish manner. www.scottishsporthistory.com/sports-histo...
5 of 5 So what? It is why I will get aerated about England inventing football until the last trump. The primacy of Scots in any cultural sphere is a problem. Not our problem. Westminster’s problem. If we don’t tell the truth, we take part in the lie. All hail the #scotchprofessor
4 of 5 Would the media give up their lie, that England invented football? I’ll get this one. They won’t. The rise of civic nationalism in Scotland, complicates matters. 1872, The Vale, Watson, Hampden? They don’t fit the story. They aren’t in the narrative. Not British [English] enough.
3 of 5 The piece (12 Sept 2013) says that culture is seen as an example of ‘soft power’ and a ‘forum for diplomacy’. These quotes were by then DG of the BBC, Tony Hall. The Government knows that culture is an extension of politics. In many ways it beats what the battleship and the gun can do.
2 of 5 We have to look at the world influence of Football. One of the more interesting oblique comments came via an old Telegraph article with the title: ‘Silent diplomacy of Downton Abbey is as valuable as British Army’. tinyurl.com/2zdj4pea Foreigners love ‘British’ culture.
1 of 5 #scotsfoundedfootball If you haven’t watched the Netflix Football Series from 2020 ‘The English Game’ you should do. It is deeply flawed, but it is a start. It led me to consider the issue as to why England has totally crushed any ideas that Scots might have had a hand in founding Football.
Remembering former CFC player Peter Proudfoot who passed away OTD in 1941.
Peter is buried in Cambusnethan Cemetery in an unmarked grave.
buff.ly/NX51Zfk
3 of 3 So What? These are the little steps I must take, to keep the pot bubbling. And who can resist a wee trip to such a lovely town? It will allow me to firm up my ideas in an audience of people who may not be majorly interested in the game, but want to know about Scottish Culture.
2 of 3 I guess there will be lots about Anwoth, given it is just up the road from Kirkcudbright. This will lead us, I am sure, into the First Hampden, via 1872, Inverness, the Vale of Leven and the general brilliance of the #scotchprofessor John McIntosh will be keeping everything in order.
1 of 3 #scotsfoundedfootball This week, I must prepare for my afternoon in the sun with Julie McNeill, at the Kirkcudbright Book Festival. tinyurl.com/y7xafj8t I have just published my book 100 Reasons. Julie will talk about her work with St. Cuthbert Wanderers. I will talk about...