I spent an afternoon in London this week tracking down the grave of another of the first football internationalists, Scotland's JJ Thomson. He is a character who I plan to research in more detail as his life went far beyond his sporting prowess. He not only played for Scotland in 1872, he also captained Queen's Park to victory in the first Scottish Cup in 1874, but later that year gave up the game for a job in the meat trade in Liverpool with Eastman and Co. He then moved to London and became the company's managing director, and was so successful that when he died in 1915 he left over £46,000 in his will - that's about £2.8m in today's money.
The grave is in East Finchley Cemetery, close to his home in Highgate, and I am delighted that the cemetery is well looked after, although the headstone itself is leaning at quite an angle and may require stabilisation. Also recorded on the grave are his wife Sara and four of his children.
As detailed in my book, James John Thomson was born near Annan on Christmas Day 1851. His cap (pictured) and Scottish Cup medal are both in the Scottish Football Museum, rare survivors from the pioneer days of football.
The grave is in East Finchley Cemetery, close to his home in Highgate, and I am delighted that the cemetery is well looked after, although the headstone itself is leaning at quite an angle and may require stabilisation. Also recorded on the grave are his wife Sara and four of his children.
As detailed in my book, James John Thomson was born near Annan on Christmas Day 1851. His cap (pictured) and Scottish Cup medal are both in the Scottish Football Museum, rare survivors from the pioneer days of football.
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