SCOTTISH
SPORT
HISTORY
A unique resource to discover our amazing sporting history, with an eclectic mix of articles, images and research on football, cricket, rugby, tennis and much more.
Scottish Sport History is researched and edited by sports historian Andy Mitchell. Read my Sports History Blog to find out what I've written, check my bibliography of printed sources and read some rare and classic works I have digitised. If you want more, you can buy one of my books!
I uncover a remarkable collection of football and sports programmes dating back to the 1880s, held at National Records of Scotland.
Heading is a universally accepted skill in the game but that wasn't always so. I outline how and why it came into football in the 1870s.
Arthur Kinnaird:
First Lord of Football
Kinnaird was football's first superstar, and played in nine FA Cup finals, an all-time record. Acclaimed as 'without exception the best player of the day', this is the story of his extraordinary life and his crucial contribution to the formative years of football.
Buy now: £8.99 from Amazon or read it on Kindle for £3.99
1824: The World's First Foot-Ball Club
The amazing story of the world's very first club dedicated to football, founded in Edinburgh in 1824. A generation of young Scottish sportsmen, led by passionate footballer John Hope, played a crucial role in football's early history.
Buy now: £10 post free.
The men who made Scotland: the definitive Who's Who of
Scottish Football Internationalists
1872-1939
Biographies of every one of the 615 men capped by Scotland between 1872 and 1939. After many years of research, Andy Mitchell uncovers the stories of the players in this pioneering age, in a lasting tribute to their achievements.
Buy now £11.99 post free
First Elevens: The birth of international football
When two teams of Englishmen and Scotsmen set the ball rolling in 1870, their success led directly to the first full international in Glasgow in 1872. This book explains why the pioneers came up with the idea, what challenges they faced, and who the key players were.
Buy now: £10 post free.
Come awa' the Heather! The story of Dunblane Football Club
1879-1914
Dunblane Football Club, known as the Heather, was once a force to be reckoned with in Scottish football. Dunblane won the Perthshire Cup a dozen times and produced international players but sadly the team disbanded on the outbreak of the First World War.
Buy now: £10 post free.
The importance of Andrew Watson, the first black football internationalist, has been recognised with his inclusion in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. The full story of the man who captained Scotland to a 6-1 win over England on his international debut in 1881 was first revealed in an article I wrote for the Scotsman. Click here to read that article, click here to see my blog about the discovery of his grave.