1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball Today is my last day as a member of the Hampden Bowling Club. It is also the last day of the Club. Tomorrow, the site will belong to City Properties. Bowls has been shrinking for many decades. Pollokshields, Govan, Kings Park, Kingston, Farme, Mount Florida. All gone.

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball With the future of Hampden Bowling Club Pavilion in doubt, I hope that the 1882 Mural is saved. It is important to have visual representations of Football history, where no evidence exists of the place in which a historic moment occurred.

March 7th, I will be in Kirkcudbright with Julie McNeill. www.kbtbookfestival.org/saturday-7th The Scout Hut. This will be to talk '100 Reasons' and Anwoth, seeing as it is just up the road. I am proofing it atm (death in family last night has changed plans). I will tell you when it can be bought.

A very wet day in Anwoth. That pitch could take a stud but I would recommend flippers. The oldest known pitch in Scotland and probably the world.

1 of 4 I am looking forward to tomorrow. A road trip with Yann and Alexis from L’Equipe to see the pitch at Anwoth. That’s the L’Equipe who are one of the most respected sporting publications in the world. This is all part of my media strategy to tell the world that #scotsfoundedfootball

The upshot is that I have now managed to complete a record of the league for season 1975-76. As far as I know, the results and league table have never been published before.

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball I chose the players for the Hampden Mural mural. Every time I look at it, I remind myself of Scottish genius. Campbell - Scots born - drank in his Combination Game DNA, with his mother’s milk. Gifted with rare ball skills - he would become a giant of the game.

1 of 5 #scotsfoundedfootball A few Bowls posts, to mourn the loss of the Hampden Bowling Club. F. 1905, it was created when the Polmadie Bowling Club closed. Their Green between Polmadie and Hamilton Streets was taken for development. A common story in Glasgow as it expanded in every direction.

1 of 5 #scotsfoundedfootball I put up an image of my wee book ‘100 Reasons’. It will be familiar stuff to those of you who have followed my posts over the last five years. I self-published just to get round having to throw a six to start. I have been burnt enough in the last quarter of a century .

Remembering former CFC player Bobby McNeil who passed away OTD in 1948. Bobby is buried in Cambusnethan Cemetery. buff.ly/WRb2ftQ

Also grandfather of *the* Roy Hay. Roy has written a book about him

Just waiting to check my proof - when it comes back from the printers. Simple. I am not a designer. Anyway - it is the info contained in the 100 reasons that are of importance. 25 years late. Sorry about that. Real life intervened.

I can always take time to pay my respects to Joseph Taylor. The only 1872 Scotland player buried in Glasgow. #scotchprofessor

1 of 3 #scotsfoundedfootball James Hay Newcastle and Celtic share the honours for ‘The General’. 255 and 217 games respectively. All clubs’ fans lionise past players, but he seems to have been a real hero. Six consecutive titles with Celtic is the proof. #scotchprofessor

1 of 3 #scotsfoundedfootball Alexander (Sandy) Higgins played for Newcastle between 1905 and 1919. He made relatively few appearances in 14 seasons (150). I should append ‘Junior’ to his name. The 1st #scotchprofessor was his dad Alex who played between 1882 and 1894.

1 of 3 #scotsfoundedfootball Andy McCombie can be shared between Sunderland (157 games) and Newcastle (113). Another Inverness born player. Fun but useless fact: he was a neighbour of Peter McWilliam in Inverness. Or is it? Who wasn’t a #scotchprofessor in those days? Easier to say who wasn’t.

1 of 5 #scotsfoundedfootball Peter McWilliam 1905-11 8 caps Another played whose influence is yet to be appreciated. #scotchprofessor whose influence on Spurs ran through the decades. He was at Newcastle 1902 to 1911 (241 games) as a left-half, when they were taking on Scottish Combination.

1 of 3 Andrew Aitken (1901-06) 8 caps. 316 games 1895-1906 - 33 goals as a wing-half. Born in Ayr, Aitken joined Newcastle when they were only three years old. Isolated in the north-east, Newcastle were promoted to Div. 1 in 1898. Scotland would have been the more relatable place than London.

1 of 3 #scotsfoundedfootball OK - I am serious now. Jimmy Hogan’s playing career was not stellar. His 50 games at Fulham allowed him access to the well of knowledge of Footballers like the #scotchprofessor Jock Hamilton. He began coaching, aged 28 in 1910 with Dordrecht of the Netherlands.

1 of 3 #scotsfoundedfootball Here’s my jokey Liverpool link: Jimmy Hogan - the Nelson-born Anglo-Irish coach (1882-1974). Hogan is the best example of a #scotchprofessor - The phrase describes a state of mind not a geographical place. Understand that and you’re sound.

1 of 5 #scotsfoundedfootball What is the link between the only Scot to play international Rugby AND Association and New South Wales? Simples. Henry Rennie-Tailyour was the Honorary Vice-President of the SBFA when he was engineering arches and fortifications for the Colony.

1 of 5 #scotsfoundedfootball You know how I deal in events which everyone knows about. I give a different analysis or put two events together to make a new idea. I was researching Henry Rennie-Tailyour and his time in New South Wales as a Royal Engineer 1891-94. That’s HRT of the Royal Engineers.

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball John Tait Robertson Here is one of the chiefs of the #scotchprofessor clan. 16 times a Scotland player with 3 goals and a supreme European influence. Started out, with Morton and moved to Chelsea, via Everton, Southampton and Rangers.

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball The #scotchprofessor spawned an industry. Workers were abused by their owners. The workers combined for protection and Scots were there. In February 1898 the Association Footballers’ Union was founded, to combat the EFL’s decision to cap wages at £4 per week.

1 of 5 This is now becoming an annual post. Lest we forget. OTD 1885 John Malcolm Eadie Fraser died in Sydney, Australia. I went to see his grave when I was in Australia, Dec 2024. He is buried in a Presbyterian lair in the far west of Rookwood Cemetery.

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball “The Football Association, English football’s governing body, was formed in 1863. ‘Organised football’ or ‘football as we know it’ dates from that time.” God - these FA from Nowhere boys have a brilliant sense of humour. tinyurl.com/y9bhd4ug No. Just. No.

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball John Auld is a cracking example of how people like Tom Watson operated. He was persuaded to move from Third Lanark to Sunderland in 1889 by Watson. He had gone to Scotland with the Club Treasurer and a financial benefactor Samuel Tyzack. Money now was shaping the Game.

March 8th, 1879. Andrews, an international, plays for Chesterfield. A Notts paper has him as P Andrews, which would make him Peter Andrews, a Scottish international, a Heeley player and arguably the first Scot to come south to be paid to play football.

1 of 5 #scotsfoundedfootball Back to ‘Free Kicks at Football’ 1882 An ephemeral publication that rode on the back of the national team’s success. There is an image of a player I take to be Charles Campbell entitled ‘A Handy Man With His Head at Football’. HAND HEAD FOOT - what a clever writer.

Remembering former CFC player Jimmy Miller who passed away OTD 1907. Jimmy is buried in Fulham Palace Road Cemetery. buff.ly/fyj9jON

1 of 3 #scotsfoundedfootball Matt McQueen from Harthill became manager of Liverpool in 1923 for 5 years. He was the first player to also become manager. This man of all the talents was also a qualified referee and ran the line. In 1918 he became a Director of Liverpool FC.

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball Merseyside and John McKenna from Monaghan. He predates Tom Watson at Liverpool. McKenna met Anfield’s owner John Houlding, when the ground hosted Everton. When the Toffees left, McKenna stayed as secretary. He was crucial in the invention of the new club.

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball Let us look at Merseyside. Most people know about the Liverpool’s Team of the Macs, but the two big clubs pre Liverpool knew the worth of the #scotchprofessor Bootle signed Andrew Watson in 1887. I use the term advisedly. Events suggest that Watson was a professional.

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball James McNaught b. 1870 came to Newton Heath via Dumbarton and Linfield. He earned £4 per week in Manchester and £2 in the summer. After the union shenanigans, he moved to Spurs in 1898. His wages crept up to £4 10s per w. The £50 signing-on fee also helped ;-)

New Article: The Hemy Painting Thomas Marie Madawaska Hemy was an artist known for the striking level of detail he included in his work. He also produced one of the most famous football artworks of all time. Words: Andrew Newton Available to read here⬇️ www.footballheritage.co.uk/the-hemy-pai...

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball when John Cameron moved outside the EFL, The Englishman Charles Saer Blackburn became Secretary of the Association Footballers’ Union. He was semi-pro and a worked as a schoolteacher. He resigned in Dec 1898. (A Primary School in Fleetwood is named after him.)

1 of 5 #scotsfoundedfootball OTD 1877 John Dick born Eaglesham, just south of Glasgow. One of the Arsenal greats. Won the League in 1932. In Czechoslovakia. That is some distance from Dial Square, bro. I am being smart. In the beginning, Dick went from Airdrieonians to Woolwich Arsenal - in 1898.

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball London has an ignored history of using Scots to found their Football, due to the unhealthy obsession with poshies. Millwall is on the south side of the Thames. They were founded 1885 as Millwall Rovers by workers from the JT Morton Canning Factory on the Isle of Dogs.

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball Full-back Charlie Craig b. 1874 came from Dundee, in which City he had played for Our Boys, Dundee FC and Wanderers. He played for Silvertown, Ironworks and WHU between 1894 and 1900. A ‘genial, good natured giant,’ at 6’ 1”. How did he end up in London? Industry.

Bob Blyth’s impact on #Pompey from 1899-1934 is quite a tale. A reason we got fast-tracked into the Southern League first division was on the understanding we didn’t poach from other SL clubs, so we had quite a few Scots involved early on and never really lost the habit on and off until the 1980s.

Remembering former CFC player Marty Moran who passed away OTD 1967. Marty is buried in Mount Royal Cemetery. buff.ly/zJBknT2

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball Another industrial #scotchprofessor was Jamie Lindsay b. c1870. He was a boilermaker at Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Lindsay had played for Millwall and Old Castle Swifts - all in that industrial area - east of the City of London.

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball I am rocking a London theme to show Poshy irrelevance in the real narrative. The #scotchprofessor Robert Stevenson played for Old Castle Swifts, Thames Ironworks and West Ham Utd. Barrhead born, he started in London with Woolwich Arsenal. Industry is the link here.

1 of 5 #scotsfoundedfootball As I was writing about Southampton and the Southern League, I thought I would check Wikipedia. On Football, it is mostly Anglocentric nonsense about Dodoball. Initially, I thought here was another page of myths. tinyurl.com/bdfzsxex Weasel words abound.

Remembering former CFC player manager Jacky Robertson who passed away OTD in 1935. Jacky is buried in Rutherglen Cemetery. buff.ly/d0Pa3xl

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball I cannot leave that 1898 Southhampton v Brighton Utd. game without drilling noting the crucial role of the #scotchprofessor Roddy McLeod from Kilsyth. He scored the consolation. Wattie Keay (1871-1943) from Whiteinch - ex-Partick Thistle scored the first Saints goal.

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball Back on the South Coast of England, with a city which ran through a few clubs, before getting to Brighton and Hove Albion. Brighton Utd burned brightly and briefly c.1898-1900 They helped open the Dell 3rd Sept 1898. Roddy McLeod scored their goal in a 4-1 loss.

1 of 5 #scotsfoundedfootball One of the sites I regularly go to for facts is Frank McCrossan’s qphistory.com tinyurl.com/y2uktstq A work of true brilliance. I was reminding myself of QPFC’s game against Aston Villa 1884 and read this gem about the EFA Cup game v Old Westminster’s.

1 of 4 #scotsfoundedfootball There is always some mention of Scotland and Football. New Zealand, for example. My knowledge of New Zealand is literally and metaphorically distant. Rugby is the dominant sport (according to the media in NZ). Can we separate Scottish influence from England’s?