Andrew Watson, a Straggling Life

Llew Walker

Description

The son of a Scottish plantation owner and a free woman of colour, Andrew Watson was provided for by his wealthy father. Receiving a first-class education in English public schools, he would later reject university to become a footballer in Glasgow. Schooled by the most advanced practitioners of the game at that time, he became one of the best footballers in Glasgow and captained Scotland's invincible national team. He played for the greatest clubs of the day on both sides of the border and as a 'Scottish professor', brought his talent to England and shared his knowledge with the Southern amateurs, helping the game evolve from a public-school pastime to a national obsession. He played alongside and educated many who would represent the English national team, changing the game forever. But the record of his achievements faded as the game he helped change took over the world, leaving his memory in the shadows. Over 100 years later, he was rediscovered in an old photograph, and after years of research, his achievements were finally recognised.

Sujets

• Inglaterra
• Escocia
• Scotland
• England

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 15 février 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785318962
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2021
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Llew Walker, 2021
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Any oversight will be rectified in future editions at the earliest opportunity by the publisher.
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Contents
Acknowledgements
Author s Note
Preface
A Man of Colour
The Game
Origins
The Watson Family
Death of Peter Miller Watson
Watson s Mother
Footnote
Education
Heath School
King s College School
Glasgow University
Estate
Watson, Miller and Baird
Parkgrove Investment
A Civil Servant
Footballer
Maxwell Football Club
Parkgrove Football Club
Queen s Park Football Club
London
Surrey County
The 1884 Corinthian Tour
Return to Glasgow
Immigration
Bootle Football Club
FA Cup
A Player
Coda
Mariner
Gentleman
Annie Laurie
Newspapers
Famous Players by Bauldie
The Corinthian Football Club
Coda
Appendices
Andrew Watson s Playing Record
Watson Family Tree
Watson Fixtures
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Chris Watney for support, guidance and motivational assurance. Norman Epps, the archivist and custodian of the history of Corinthian and Casuals Football Clubs. Richard McBrearty at the Scottish Football Museum for permitting me to use the Andrew Watson pictures, and Ged O Brien, Tommy Malcolm and Brian McColl, the history men of Scottish football. Gary Ralston for support and guidance. Alex Jackson at the National Football Museum. Many, many thanks to Andy Mitchell for generously sharing his time, exceptional knowledge and sound advice.
Natasha Muluswela for her vision and lending her talent to the project.
Katrina DiMuro and Joan Burgess at King s College London Archives. Libby Holmes at the University of Glasgow and Nerys Tunnicliffe at Glasgow Life. Rod Van Cooten and Tikwis Begbie at the BG Colonists Index. Lucy Gibbon and Sarah Maclean at the Orkney Library Archive.
David Alston at Slaves Highlanders for a unique website and sharing his exceptional knowledge.
Matthew Lowing at Bloomsbury for guidance, and Malik Al Nasir for sharing his thoughts.
Jonathan Lees at Crossley Heath School in Halifax for information and permission to use the images.
For permission to use images or sharing information: Louise Elizabeth Boyd for help with Agnes Ann Millett Dods; Bridget Farmer for her help and permission to use the image of her great-great-great aunt, Elizabeth Pinder n e Buchanan; David Baird for help and permission to use the images of his great-great-grandfather, George Baird; Neil Scarrow for permission to use the image of Demerara; and Fawaz Khan in Guiana for use of the Sandbach Parker image, and Jon Martin for use of Willie Clarke image.
Dedication and Author s Note
To Sally, for everything.
At the time of publication, all the facts in this book had been verified as accurate and true. Some interpretations have been made on available facts. However, as the research of the founding fathers of football continues, new information will surface and change again what we know about Andrew Watson. My hope is that this book will inspire further research and discussion, not only about Andrew Watson, but many of his contemporaries who have also disappeared from the historical record. I also hope this book will open more avenues, promote further research and perhaps one day we will know all there is to know about the world s first Black international footballer. LW
Preface
In November and December of 1898, the British press serialised a brilliant series of articles entitled Association Football . Charles Wreford Brown s columns were syndicated to dozens of newspapers nationwide and included topics such as How to Play Association Football and Pressing Questions Affecting the Future of the Game . Brown was held in very high esteem and considered one of the all-time footballing dignitaries. 1
In the first of two articles entitled Some Famous Footballers , Brown praised Andrew Watson:

a West Indian, but of Scottish origin, was another very fine back. But in further editions, this brief acknowledgement included the view that unfortunately, he never kept himself in proper condition, and was therefore unable to utilise to the full, the abilities he possessed . 2
Wreford Brown s inclusion of Watson, albeit brief, was very high praise indeed, even if he felt that Watson had squandered his talents. Still, the undeniable pathos echoed a tone occasionally found in other articles about Watson. Earlier, in 1888, when Watson announced his retirement from football, one journalist wrote:

Andrew Watson has entered upon another phase of his straggling life by taking to the sea as a profession . 3
The reference to a straggling life and Wreford Brown s suggestion that Watson wasted his talent are surprising and unexpected opinions. They shed new light on Watson s story. When Tony Talburt s biography was published in 2017, it appeared Watson s life and his many achievements had finally been recognised and celebrated. 4 But these obscure references to the human side of Andrew Watson suggested there was more to discover.
It is perhaps astonishing that any information about Watson has survived, considering how little remains of many of his contemporaries or team-mates. In truth, Watson s historical record, as well as that of the football players from more than a dozen decades ago, began to erode as soon as they had hung up their boots. It was not until nearly 100 years later that the history of football became legitimate territory for scholarly research. By that time, much of the historical record had been lost or erased. Ostensibly, the players in Watson s era are a forgotten sporting generation, only recently being rediscovered and recognised for their contributions to the birth of the game.
The disappearance of Watson s generation from the record books was a gradual process. The rise of professionalism monopolised and eclipsed the formative years of association football, and this dominance affected subtle changes, reinforcing the superiority of the professional game over the amateur code. The wholesale assimilation of professionalism in football is revealed in the subtle change to the definition of the word amateur . Once used to refer to an honourable sporting ethos, the term is now used to refer to something or someone inexperienced or incompetent. Similarly, the word professional , once used to describe an activity for gain or as a means of livelihood , now tends to mean competence, efficiency and experience.
Watson s generation were all amateurs. Along with their code, their memory gradually faded, and a century later, in 1975, when the Football Association (FA) removed the word amateur from the rule book, their disappearance was complete.
Some mistakenly believe Watson s achievements were deliberately wiped from the records due to his ethnicity, but as the Wreford Brown quote confirms, he was mentioned in books and articles for years after his playing days were over. The fact that more information about Watson has survived is a testament to his fame, talent and the high regard he was held in by his peers, rather than his colour.
After almost a century, the Scottish Football Museum s research produced a list of Watson s accomplishments, and he is now acknowledged as the first Black player to:
represent a British football team internationally
captain an international football team
play for the Scottish national team
captain the Scottish national team
win a major cup competition
play in the English FA Cup
hold the role of a football club administrator
Some suggest he was also the first black professional too, although this accolade probably belongs to Arthur Wharton.
Watson was schooled in the code of amateurism. Through the influence of his public school education and his membership of both the Corinthian and Queen s Park football clubs, he would have been a strict amateur. Like his team-mates, he would have frowned on professionalism.
However, the passionate revelations that accompanied the discovery of Andrew Watson and the eagerness of writers to broadcast the news have resulted in a blurred and inaccurate biography. Since his restoration to the pages of football history, his story has been reduced to a few bullet points:
Black man
slavery
fortune
public school
wealthy
first Black footballer
no racism
erased because of his colour
Such a simplistic and misleading e-biog is almost as sad as forgetting him again, but fresh research has corrected several misconceptions and has fashioned a more complete and detailed picture of Andrew Watson s life and times. For example, he was not an independently wealthy gentleman as his current biography asserts. In truth, he received only a small amount of his father s estate. After his football career had ended, far from being a rich man, he led a quiet, modest life. There is no evidence to prove that Watson or his heirs possessed any significant wealth, even though his extended family contained several of the wealthiest individuals in the country.
What we do know is that Watson was well-liked, affable, had a good sense of humour and made frien