Scottish Sport History - devoted to our sporting heritage
  • Home
  • Books for sale
    • The men who made Scotland
    • World's First Foot-Ball Club
    • First Elevens
    • Arthur Kinnaird
    • History of Dunblane Football Club
  • Sports History News and Blog
  • Scottish sports bibilography
    • Scottish sport general
    • Football books
    • Football books (non league)
    • Rugby books
    • Cricket books
    • Athletics books
    • Shinty books
    • Curling books
    • Bowling books
    • Swimming books
    • Hockey books
    • Ice hockey books
    • Tennis books
    • Boxing books
  • Digitised books and articles
  • Scotland v England: the origins
    • England v Scotland 1870
    • Scotland v England 1872
    • England v Scotland 1873
    • Scotland v England 1874
  • Arthur Kinnaird: First Lord of Football
    • Kinnaird's FA Cup
    • Kinnaird blog archive
    • Kinnaird the canoeist
    • Kinnaird family history
    • Rossie Priory
  • Contact / About Me
  • Links

Andrew Watson: a gravestone that deserves more

16/8/2013

6 Comments

 
Picture
There is always something emotive about the gravestones of great sportsmen, and the discovery of Andrew Watson's last resting place was no exception.
   On the morning of this week's England v Scotland match, I travelled out to the leafy London suburbs. Armed with a detailed site plan, courtesy of the helpful staff at Richmond Cemetery, it didn't take long to find his grave. The cemetery is tidy but other than sports historians nobody seems to have paid any attention to this nondescript plot in section 4.
   After the joy of discovery, the next thing to stand out was the detail on the headstone: his name and life dates. Having only pinpointed his death a few months ago, the date of birth was a revelation: 24 May 1856. All published sources until now have stated 18 May 1857, but I have long suspected this was false as his age in censuses and documentation always indicated he was a year older. Here was proof that the later date was a guess that had become accepted 'truth'.
   I placed a Scottish saltire flag and a few flowers on the grave to commemorate his place in Scottish football history. But I have a strong feeling that Andrew Watson deserves more, a prominent and permanent memorial that truly recognises his place in sporting history as the first black international footballer, the first black administrator (he was secretary of Queen's Park) and possibly the first black professional player (at Bootle). 

Picture
6 Comments
Robert Thomson
10/3/2014 04:04:25 pm

Well done for your work, he deserves much more.

Reply
Sandra link
16/2/2018 09:53:32 am

I was just interested in history of Black people inScotland and his name popped up. Thank you

Reply
mike guilfoyle link
9/4/2016 07:07:14 pm

Really pleased to read for the first time of Andrew Watson's playing career and realise that he was in the Scottish team that played England when Harry Swepstone was in goal for England. Harry's grave like Andrew's is now sadly neglected in Ladywell cemetery SE London but having read about him I will incorporate this connection in a future guided walks.

Regards

Mike Guilfoyle
Vice -Chair Foblc

Reply
alat bantu wanita link
27/5/2017 05:21:23 pm

oke.
nice post

Reply
terry Nimmo
7/6/2017 04:14:59 pm

I was researching Glasgow's dark secret, the slave trade of the 18th century and was looking for some positives associated with black people in Glasgow. I discovered that the first black doctor was trained in Glasgow in 1837 and was so pleased to have came across your history of Glasgow's first black footballer, Andrew Watson. I have recently became a tour guide on the sight seeing busses and I will be proud to give Andrew Watson acknowledgement and credit on my tours. Thank you for a great article.

Reply
obat kuat link
15/10/2017 09:27:26 am

teks gan infonya

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

    Categories

    All

    Author

    All blog posts, unless stated, are written by Andy Mitchell, who is researching Scottish sport on a regular basis.