As Scotland prepares to take on England at soccer at Wembley on Wednesday in a special match to recognise the 150th anniversary of the formation of the FA the Herald ran a feature last weekend
What wasn't mentioned in the excellent article was the role played by our founder club Glasgow Accies in the birth of international soccer
Accies having played a central role in the birth of international rugby a year earlier in 1871 at Raeburn Place(where Hawks open their League campaign next week) they were also involved with this venture
Accies offered their ground at Burnbank free of charge to Queens Park to stage the match but Queens instead chose to use the ground at Hamilton Crescent owned by West of Scotland Cricket Club
It didn't stop at that as two Glasgow Accies Tom Chalmers and Willie Cross both of whom had played in the momentous Raeburn Place match trialed for the inclusion in the first Scotland Soccer team
However it seems that despite doing well they both opted to play in the first Inter City Rugby match due to take place the same week hence the birth of the 1872 Cup--and as they say the rest is history


THE HERALD
Wanted: Scotchmen to appear in 'annual trial of skill' against England

Michael Grant
Chief football writer
Saturday 10 August 2013
IT all started with a pen, a piece of paper, an envelope and a stamp.

The story of how the oldest rivalry in world football all began with a letter to The Glasgow Herald

Charles Alcock had decided it was time to rouse the Scotch, and what better way to do it than by writing a letter to appear in The Glasgow Herald?

Picture in your head what the honorary secretary of the Football Association in London was liable to look and sound like in 1870, and what his background was likely to be. Full moustache and facial whiskers? Check. Fastidious use of language and manners? Check. An education at one of England's most exclusive public schools. Check. Alcock had all of that, but more importantly for what became the "Auld Enemy" rivalry he had an evangelical enthusiasm for promoting and broadening football.

An Old Harrovian and a player with Wanderers FC (and later England), he had become the FA's first full-time secretary and treasurer after its formation in 1863. Alcock wanted to establish an England team consisting of the best of the existing club players. One obvious impediment remained: what other country could they play?

There was no SFA in 1860s and nothing which could be considered a Scotland team. The first Scottish club, Queen's Park, was not formed until four years after the FA was established. Alcock was aware of football's growing popularity in Scotland but the game still lacked a governing body and structure. What else could he do, when attempting to stimulate interest in an England-Scotland game, other than make an open appeal to footballers north of the border via the most prominent newspapers of the day?

And so he sent a letter to The Glasgow Herald. It was published on November 1, 1870, in a narrow column of news under the headline: Football-England v. Scotland. This is what he wrote: "Sir - Will you allow me a few lines in your paper to notify to Scotch players that a match under the above title will take place in London, on Saturday the 19th, according to the rules of the Football Association! It is the object of the committee to select the best elevens at their disposal in the two countries, and I cannot but think that the appearance of some of the more prominent celebrities of football on the northern side of the Tweed would do much to disseminate a healthy feeling of good fellowship among the contestants, and tend to promote to a still great extent the extension of the game.

In Scotland, once essentially the land of football, there should be still a spark left of the old fire, and I confidently appeal to Scotchmen to aid to their utmost the efforts of the committee to confer success on what London fondly hopes to find an annual trial of skill between the champions of England and Scotland. Messrs A.F. Kinnaird, 2 Pall Mall, East, London, and J. Kirkpatrick, Admiralty, Somerset House, London, will be glad to receive the names of any Scotch player who will take part against England in the match in question. Charles W. Alcock, Hon. Sec of Football Association, West Dulwich, Surrey."

When he wrote that letter, England and "Scotland" had already played a game eight months previously. They would meet again 18 days after the letter was published, then twice in 1871 and again in February 1872. All five games were before what is recorded as the first official international football match between any two countries in the world: Scotland v England at Hamilton Crescent in Glasgow, on November 30, 1872. The five initial games have never been considered official because there was no Scottish governing body to sanction the Scotland team, and instead the FA was instrumental in the selection and organisation of both teams. Unsurprisingly, England won three of the games and the other two were draws.

Alcock's 1870 letter to The Glasgow Herald and other periodicals did not draw the response he desired. There was reluctance because of the cost and time required to get to London. Also, the game was played to different interpretation and understanding of the rules on either side of the border, a matter not entirely resolved until the four home nations' governing bodies formed the International Football Board and unified the rules in 1886. The fixtures Alcock wanted went ahead but the "Scotland" team consisted simply of Scottish players living in and around London - where all five of the unofficial games were staged - rather than a pick of the best players from, say, Queen's Park.

Another letter appeared on February 13, 1872. "Sir - will you allow me a few lines to notify to Scotchmen that the second match of the present season, according to the rules of the Football Association, will be played in London on 24th February. Scotch players desirous of entering themselves as candidates for a place in the eleven to meet England must send in their names before Saturday 17th."

There was resentment in Scotland to the notion that the team in the colours in these London games was being called "Scotland" at all and Alcock was criticised. These were simply Scots who lived handily for the venue. Alcock was told it would be more accurate to call them "London Scottish". He contested that it was the Scots themselves who were to blame for this, for not responding more enthusiastically. "The fault lies on the heads of the players of the north, not on the management who sought the services of all alike impartially."

But Alcock and his letters had sewn seed. Later in 1872, Queen's Park accepted the challenge to represent Scotland against an England team that would travel to play north of the border. That was the Hamilton Crescent game and the following year the Scottish Football Association was formed to open official lines of communication with the FA. The series was underway and at Wembley on Wednesday it will reach game number 111.

This article was originally posted on 11-Aug-2013, 19:55 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 11-Aug-2013, 21:53.