History of Scottish football

This article details the History of Scottish Football.

Early history (pre 1867)

Various games, known as "football" (or variants) were played in Scotland in the Middle Ages. However, despite bearing the same name, it should be noted that medieval football bears/bore little resemblance to soccer. The ball was often carried by hand, and the teams were often large or unequal in number, and scrummaging was sometimes involved. Some of these games are still played to this day, notably in Kirkwall and Jedburgh - see Ba game.

The earliest historical reference to "fute-ball" in Scotland was in 1424 when King James I outlawed the playing of it. This was presumably because of the disruption football was having on military training as well its often violent nature. Subsequent kings issued very similar decrees, suggesting that the bans were unsuccessful. Certainly James the VI King of Scots was well aware of the violent nature of football, stating in his personal publication of 1603 a debar from commendable exercise "all rough and violent exercises, as the foot-ball". [Magoun, F.P. (1931) Scottish Popular Football, 1424-1815, The American Historical Review] ] There were, however, times when royal prohibitions seem to have been relaxed, if not officially. In 1497, for example, the accounts of the Lord High Treasurer include the purchase of footballs for the King. It is not known if he himself ever actually played the game himself. There is also a tradition that King James V crossed over from Melrose to Jedburgh to participate in the Jedburgh ball game. There is, however, no documented evidence to corroborate this belief and the earliest contemporary account of the game at Jedburgh comes much later at the beginning of the eighteenth century.

The origin of football in Scotland is uncertain. The Highlanders apparently never played such a game (unlike other Celtic regions, such as Cornwall, Wales and Brittany. It has therefore been suggested that football reached Scotland from France or England [ Marples, M. 1954. A History of Football, Secker and Warburg, London, p38 ]

Violence in early Scottish football games was certainly an important reason for these royal decrees and further evidence comes from sixteenth century Scottish literature, for example in the following poems.

Between 1501 and 1512 Gavin Douglas states:

"This broken shin that swells and will not be relieved, Take it to him; he broke it at ball, And tell him it will be his reward. Take the whole of this bruised arm to him"

Sir Richard Maitland expresses his pleasure in a late sixteenth century poem at being too old for the rough game:

"Quhen zoung men cummis fra the gren,Playand at the futball had bein,with broken spauld,I thank my god I want ein,I am so auld".

In modern English this is translated as:

"When young men come from the greenHad been playing football With broken shoulder,I thank my God that I lack eyesight:Iam so old"

The violence of early football in Scotland is also described vividly by another sixteenth century description, this time anonymous. It is entitled "The Beauties of Foot-ball":

"Brissit, brawnis and broken banis,Stryf, discorde and waistie wanis,Cruikit in eild syn halt withall,Thir are the bewties of the fute ball".

This in modern English is translated as:

"Bruised muscles and broken bonesDiscordant strife and futile blowsLamed in old age, then cripled withalThese are the beauties of football"

It was not just the Scottish monarchy and local municipalities that wished to crack down on the playing of football. In 1546 the Company of Hammermen (i.e. smiths) of Perth issued a decree that "neither servants nor apprentices" play football "under penalty of a pound of wax". Marples, M. 1954. A History of Football, Secker and Warburg, London ] Presumably this was a in order to prevent work absences and injuries to employees. There are other accounts of employers actively participating in attempts to outlaw football in Scotland during the following centuries.

Football in the sixteenth century is also documented as being a pretext for raids across the border against the English.

Early Scottish football sometimes erupted into very extreme violent outbursts, including the use of firearms. For example, in 1606 at Lochtoun during a "fute-ball" match some players "fell in contentioun and controversie, ilk anie with otheris, and schot and dilaschit pistolettis and hacquebuttis" It was clearly a passionate and dangerous pastime.

In an attempt to control such violent outbursts football came under Puritan attack in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and is documented many times as being an offence on a Sunday, presumably because of its disruptive effects on society and likely violent nature. For example the youth of Aberdeen are accused in 1607 of conducting themselves profanely on the Sabbath: "drinking, playing football... and roving from parish to parish" [Marples, Morris. A History of Football, Secker and Warburg, London 1954] ] . Further references to the offence in Scotland of playing football on Sunday come at the end of the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth. In 1656 the Scottish Parliament passed an act outlawing all boisterous games on the Lord's day. Nevertheless, the puritan attack on football was not as severe in Scotland as in England and in both countries the game undoubtedly continued to be played enthusiastically.

There is evidence for schoolboys playing a football ball game in Aberdeen in 1633 (some references cite 1636) which is notable as an early allusion to what some have considered to be passing the ball. The word "pass" in the most recent translation is derived from "huc percute" (strike it here) and later "repercute pilam" (strike the ball again) in the original latin. It is not certain that the ball was being struck between members of the same team. The original word translated as "goal" is "metum", literally meaning the "pillar at each end of the circus course" in a Roman chariot race. There is a reference to "get hold of the ball before [another player] does" (Praeripe illi pilam si possis agere) suggesting that handling of the ball was allowed. One sentence states in the original 1930 translation "Throw yourself against him" (Age, objice te illi). It is clear that the game was rough and tackles allowed included the "charging" and pushing/holding of opposing players ("drive that man back" in the original translation, "repelle eum" in original Latin). It has been suggested that this game bears similarities to rugby football. Contrary to media reports in 2006 there is no reference to forward passing, game rules, marking players or team formation. These reports described it as "an amazing new discovery" but has actually been well documented in football history literature since the early twentieth century and available on the internet since at least 2000. .

Violence continued to be a regular complaint about Scottish football games for many centuries. Sir Patric Hume of Polwarth wrote to his wife in March 1648 that their son“hurt himself so evill at football in Polwart upon Sunday that he was not able to sturre.“ In Jedburgh the ball game was outlawed by the town council in 1704 stating that "sometimes both old and young near lost their lives thereby". As a result it was decided to "discharge the game now and all time coming". This attempt was initially unsuccessful as in 1706 even local trades at Jedburgh were cooperating to try to suppress the game, as shown by the Fleshers' Corporation's fining of some members for "rastling at the football".. Similarly at Duns in 1724 a complaint reads "football... did always end and determine in the effusion of blood among the inhabitants". Toward the end of the eighteenth century the poet Skinner noted in his poems some of the injuries sustained playing foortball in Monymusk: "Has ne’er in Monymusk been seen Sae mony weel-beft skins; Of a’ the ba’-men there was nane But had twa bleedy shins"

Sir Walter Scott described football as "his favourite border sport". He too, however, talks about the rough nature of nineteenth century Scottish football in his text the Lay: "In riot, revelry, and rout, Pursued the football, play". . Scott also states that in the "foot-ball": "The victory is contested with the utmost fury, and very serious accidents have sometimes taken place in the struggle".

Scottish football continued to be a very violent affair well into the nineteenth century. For, example the game in Hawick was described in 1825 as "a species of war or fighting". In 1826 the game was banned in Kirkwall as it was disturbing the peace. From this time until the late 1860s there is a lull in references to football in Scotland, suggested that banning of the game had at last proved successful. As a result of the level of violence often seen in early Scottish football games, a lot of traditional ball games were modified or died out in the nineteenth century. Examples still exist today, however, of traditional Scottish football, in particular the Ba game (although many of these have been revived in the modern time).

The earliest evidence of the use of codified rules of any type of football in Scotland came in 1851 when rugby football was adopted by the Edinburgh Academy, in order to be able to play with other schools. The Edinburgh Academical Football Club, is the oldest football club of any code in Scotland (rugby football).

A "Foot Ball Club" was founded in Edinburgh in 1824 [ [http://www2.umist.ac.uk/sport/SPORTS%20HISTORY/BSSH/The%20Sports%20Historian/TSH%2021-1/21] ] It is no longer in existence.

Early modern history (1867-1900)

Scotland was one of the earliest modern footballing nations. The game started to become popular in Scotland following the development in London in 1863 of the first ever rules of soccer, established by The Football Association. Scottish football clubs started to be formed towards the end of the 1860s and 1870s. Queen's Park was Scotland's first football club and was founded in 1867. It is the oldest existing soccer club outside England. In its very early years it played in the English FA Cup, reaching the final twice.

In the late 1860s football rules in Scotland still allowed the ball to be handled by all the outfield players, as well as the goalkeeper, whereas in England only the keeper was permitted to handle the ball and then only in his own area [http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/article/0010/ BBC - A Sporting Nation - Scottish League formed ] ] According to the Scotsman newspaper on the 2nd December 1872 at this time there were only about ten Soccer clubs in Scotland.

Starting in 1870 a series of four matches between representatives of England and Scotland took place The Oval, London in London. England was the winner of these two games and a letter by C. W. Alcock in The Scotsman on the 28th September 1870 challenged Scotland to a football match which would draw upon the best players "north of the Tweed" rather than those based near London. Scotland was therefore host of the world's first "official" football international. This match was the brainchild of C. W. Alcock and it was noted in the FA's minutes of October 3 1872: '"In order to further the interests of the Association in Scotland, it was decided that during the current season, a team should be sent to Glasgow to play a match v Scotland"' [Minutes of the Football Association of October 3rd 1872, London] . The world's first official international match would take place between Scotland and England on November 30 1872. This match was played under the Football Association rules. Over the following decades soccer was to become the most popular sport in Scotland.

There is a tradition in Scotland that there was a slight clash of styles in 1872 when Scotland played England in the first official international as a result of the teams adopting different ways of exploiting the Off-side rule. This had been introduced in the 1866 revision of the rules by the Football Association. This rule stated that: "If the ball has passed a player and has come from the direction of his own goal, he may not touch it till the other side have kicked it, unless there are more than three of the other side before him. No player is allowed to loiter between the ball and the adversaries' goal." [http://www.kenaston.org/History/OffsideHistory.html] . This rule had been part of the 1856 Cambridge Rules, but had been not included in the 1863 Football Association rules. At the match England played a a 1-2-7 formation [http://www.englandfootballonline.com/Seas1872-00/1872-73/M0001Sco1872.html] and favoured dribbling the ball at the opponents and passing the ball up field ("passing on") before being tackled. One of the seven forwards, following behind, would chase the ball. Scotland played a slightly more defensive 2-2-6 formation, with forwards divided into pairs. Certainly, by the early 1870s there had evolved in Britain the tactic of 'passing and running' which became known as the "combination game". Exactly where this happened is contentious. Critics of the theory of Scotland as the origin of the passing game note that there were many Scottish people living and playing football throughout Britain in the 1860s (i.e. prior to the first official international match) and given this it is unlikely that such a technique would evolve in isolation. They attribute any difference in playing style to the fact that the players in the Scottish side came from one team and knew each other well, whilst the English team consisted of players from nine teams. Despite the clash of tactics the game still resulted in a 0-0 draw, suggesting that any benefit of the Scottish style was minimal. Certainly the defensive, passing game continued to undergo much development in later years, as is shown by typical modern football formations of 4-4-2. There are other places and teams which claim the innovation of the combination game [ [Cox, Richard (2002) The encyclopaedia of British Football, Routledge, United Kingdom] ] .

In the next international in 1873 Scotland lost away to England in London, but in 1874 Scotland had their first international victory, beating England 4-2 in Glasgow. In 1875 the two nations drew again, but after this there followed a period of Scottish dominance for the following ten years, with only one defeat against the English.

Association football quickly became the most popular sport in Scotland, particularly in Glasgow and the west. The Scottish Football Association was formed in 1873 and is the second oldest in the world.

William McGregor who grew up in Perthshire and lived most of his life in Birmingham is credited with the establishment in 1888 of The Football League in England, which is the world's oldest and richest soccer league.

In the late 1880s significant number of Scottish players participated in English football clubs Payments to players had been made legal in England in 1885 and professional footballers were paid decent salaries. Ironically this attracted many Scottish players southwards to ply their trade in England. Some earned the epithet "Scotch Professors" [cite web | author=Scottish Football Association | year=2005 | title=The Professional Game | work=www.scottishfa.co.uk | url=http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_football.cfm?curpageid=395 | accessdate=April 7 | accessyear=2007 | quote=impressed by the playing ability and teamwork shown by the Scots in meetings with England were soon looking north to snag their own "Scotch professors" of the game.] . English football teams with Scottish players included Preston North End which fielded eight Scots in one team and Liverpool Football Club, founded in 1892 with eleven Scots. In Scotland the game remained, in theory anyway, an amateur game until 1893.

In 1894 soccer was taken to Brazil by Charles William Miller, who was of combined Scottish-English descent. He had not lived in Scotland and learned to play football whilst at Banister Court School in Southampton, England. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/southampton/footballfirst/scrapbook/charles_miller.shtml BBC - southampton Football First ] ]

1900 - today

As of the beginning of 2007, it could be said that Scottish football is enjoying a resurgent period, with both halves of the Old Firm being involved in European competition after Christmas for the first time in decades - Celtic progressed to the last 16 of the Champions League and Rangers to the last 32 of the UEFA Cup. Also the national team are top of their Euro 2008 qualifying group - above Italy, France and Ukraine.

References

ee also

*Timeline of Scottish football
*History of the Scotland national football team
*Scottish clubs in the FA Cup