The story of Black Scottish football pioneer Andrew Watson

Now, on the centenary of his death (March 8, 2021) those fans are pushing for further recognition of Watson’s achievements, which include being the first Black international footballer, football captain, football administrator and financer - as well as potentially the first black professional footballer.

Included in the activities surrounding the centenary is the upcoming restoration of Watson’s grave in London which was lead by Scotland fan Alistair Firth and crowdfunded by Scotland football fans and Watson admirers.

A new crowdfunder has been launched to raise money for a statue or memorial of Andrew Watson in Glasgow lead by Llew Walker, writer of recently published book, Andrew Watson, a Straggling Life: The Story of the World’s First Black Footballer, and Chairperson of the Youth Section of the Corinthian-Casuals, the modern day version of the London based Corinthians, a team Watson played for.

Watson will also be the subject of a Zoom discussion held tonight at 7pm hosted by Guyana Speaks, a London based organisation which aims to connect the diaspora of Guyana, the country of his birth.

And a commemorative pin badge dedicated to Watson is being released this Wednesday by Tartan Army Pins and Fitbaw Pins.

This week also marks two more notable Andrew Watson anniversaries: Friday 12 March is 140 years since Scotland beat England 6-1 at The Oval in London in 1881, which remains a record home defeat for England, and Wednesday 11 March is 139 years since Scotland beat England 5-1 at Hampden Park - Watson played in both games and captained the game in London.

Read more: 'There should be an Andrew Watson statue in George Square': The story of Scotland's black football pioneer

Meanwhile, Ged O’Brien, founder of the Scottish football museum and the person who discovered Watson while digging through the museum’s archives, is preparing to launch the Andrew Watson Institute, an organisation which will celebrate and promote him and his football contemporaries.

O’Brien, who is currently working on the charity application for the institute, has long been one of Watson’s biggest champions, claiming his influence on modern day football cannot be underestimated.

“The centenary gives us a chance to celebrate the life of the most influential black footballers of all time,” he said. “Watson is the embodiment of Scottish sporting genius.”

“Watson was so gifted he was asked to teach the best team in England, Corinthians, how to play the Scottish way.”

“Without Watson, Corinthians would not have been taught the Scottish game of passing and running which was then transported around the world.”

“The centenary reminds us that we would not have modern world football without Andrew Watson and his Scottish contemporaries.”

Andrew Watson’s life story continues to be a source of endless fascination, not just for football fans but for historians interested in the relationship between Scotland, the Caribbean and the slave trade.

He was born on 24th May 1865 in Georgetown, Demerara, British Guiana (now Guyana) to a Scottish father, Peter Miller Watson, and Hannah Rose, a local woman.

His father managed family-owned sugar plantations in West Demerara and used slaves to carry out the work, taking some of his wealth obtained by slave labour to send Watson to Heath Grammar School in Halifax where he was educated alongside the UK’s elite.

At 19, Watson studied at Glasgow University for a year before leaving to set up a wholesale warehouse business and spend more time on his true passion: football.

Throughout his 14 year career, which spanned 1874 to 1888, Watson played for a number of Scottish and English teams, including Liverpool’s Bootle and Glasgow Parkgrove FC and Queen’s Park which was considered to be one of the best teams in the world at the time (he was also match secretary at both clubs and a financier at Parkgrove).

In 1883 Watson was invited to play for the Corinthians, an exclusive London club made up of upper class gentlemen. In 1882, while playing for London Swifts, he became the first black football player to play in the FA Cup.

The potential title of first black professional footballer comes from his time at Bootle; there are suggestions he was paid to play for them which would have broken the rules (only players who lived in the local area for a number of years were entitled to be paid) but there is no evidence of this and other accounts dispute it. If Watson was professional he would have preceded Athur Wharton, who many assume to be Britain’s first black professional player, by over a decade.

As restrictions on playing professionally weren’t lifted until years later, it has been argued that the “first professional” distinction is meaningless as it wasn’t yet possible for Andrew Watson to play as a full professional.

Despite Andrew Watson’s incredible achievements, his legacy was unknown until 1990 when Ged O’Brien uncovered his photograph in the Scotland Football Museum archives. Ged, along with other Scottish football historians, began to piece together details of his life story.

His grave was discovered by sports historian Andy Mitchell in London (initially it was thought he had died in Sydney, Australia), in a state of disrepair, a dilapidated headstone spelling out his name, date of birth and death in letters so faded they were barely readable, with no mention of his football career.