ANDREW WATSON
Scotland's first black player?
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See also |
Andrew Watson
(born May 1857, Georgetown, British Guiana; died in Sydney, Australia, date
unknown) was the world's first black international football player, capped
three times for Scotland between 1881 and 1882 and considered as one of the
top ten most important players of the 19th century. He was the son of a wealthy Scottish
sugar planter Peter Miller and a local girl Rose Watson. At the age of 14, he
was schooled at the exclusive King's College London, where school records
show he excelled at sports including football. He later studied philosophy,
mathematics and engineering after enrolling at Watson enrolled to take three classes
that year - Natural Philosophy, Mathematics (Senior Class) and Civil
Engineering and Mechanics. The course content was recorded in detail in the
University Calendar, showing the books to be read, the lecture regime to be
followed and the fees to be paid. It is possible that Watson intended at the
outset to study for the Certificate of Proficiency in Engineering but that
other things, maybe football, overtook his academic career in 1875-6. However
it is equally possible that he simply did not need a piece of paper giving
him a qualification - he maybe just needed the knowledge that his professors
could give him. Watson is recorded as paying his fee of
£4 4s on the 8th of November, to take Natural Philosophy with the world
famous physicist, Professor Sir William Thomson later Lord Kelvin. The class
roll books kept by Lord Kelvin and his assistants state that his studies were
incomplete on 31 March 1876. As the Class did not officially finish until
April, it can only be assumed that he had already abandoned his studies.
Watson had in fact missed 18 of the weekly examinations and achieved only 8
marks when the highest mark of 1548 marks was given to a classmate, David
Wilson. He did not borrow any books from the Library although he may of
course have bought his own or read the books in the Library without actually
borrowing them. There are no surviving records in the
University Archive to state whether he was more or less conscientious with
his Maths and Engineering studies. He had enrolled to take the Senior
Mathematics class with Professor Hugh Blackburn. To undertake this rather
than the Junior class, he is likely to have demonstrated existing ability in
the subject. It would have cost another £3 3s to study Maths and another fee
again for Professor James Thomson’s Civil Engineering & Mechanics class.
There is no record of Watson receiving a University bursary so it can be
assumed that he was financing his studies from another source - possibly the
same source which funded his education at public school in After first playing for Soon Watson won three international caps
for In 1882, he was the first black player to
play in the FA Cup when he turned out for London Swifts FC. In 1884 he was
the first foreign player to be invited to join the most exclusive of English
football teams, the Corinthians, which was created to challenge the supremacy
of Queen's Park and the Scottish national side. It had been maintained that the first
black footballer was Arthur Wharton, until it was only recently noted that
Watson pre-dates him by 11 years. One reason is that when historians consider
black footballers, they tend to concentrate on professionals and not amateurs
such as Watson. Another is that there are no known written records or match
reports that mention the colour of Watson's skin. One match report is more
interested in that Watson played in unusual brown boots rather than the
customary black boots of that time. 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. 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. 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." There is almost no record of his later
life, though it is known that Watson later emigrated to In 1926 the renowned sportswriter
"Tityrus" (J.A.H. Catton, editor of the Athletic News) named Andrew
Watson as left back in his all-time International
Appearances March 12, 1881 - Kennington Oval, March 14, 1881 - Wales 1-5 March 11, 1882 - |
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