Scotland’s band of brothers: the four Hamilton internationalists

The Chile team, in red and white shirts, pictured before their match against Argentina on 5 June 1910

There is only one family which can claim to have had three brothers playing for Scotland: Alick, James and Gladstone Hamilton all pulled on the national team shirt.
   However, the recent discovery of a fourth brother who also played international football has added to the family's claim to fame, and the reason he has escaped notice until now is that John Hamilton represented Chile.
   The Scottish veteran's three appearances for 'La Roja' in 1910, their first ever internationals, came at the end of a long career in the game that had seen him play on both sides of the border, most notably for Derby County in the English first division in 1894-95, in a forward line that featured greats such as Steve Bloomer and John Goodall.

John Hamilton in a Valparaiso shirt, a year after his internationals for Chile (thanks to Sebastián Nuñez)

However, Hamilton rarely hit those heights again and he soon moved on to the relative obscurity of Ilkeston Town. From that point, his clubs were mainly in the lower reaches of Scottish football at Abercorn and Queen's Park Strollers (their reserve team), and his last senior games in Britain were in 1902 for Ayr.
   A few years later, an engineering job on South America's Pacific coast gave him the opportunity to don his boots again and his solid appearances for Valparaiso earned him a selection to the Chile squad which travelled over the Andes to Buenos Aires in May 1910.
   At the age of 36 he was the oldest player as Chile's national team played together for the first time. They warmed up with a friendly against the Argentinian hosts before facing Uruguay and Argentina in the Copa Centenario Revolucion de Maya. John 'Juan' Hamilton featured in all three games, and although they all ended in defeat, Chile had arrived on the international scene.
   Although he did not play for the national team again, Hamilton was the referee in September that year when Argentina came to Chile for a return friendly.

This comment in the Buenos Aires Standard of 29 May 1910 set me on the trail of John Hamilton (with thanks to Cris Freddi)

During the tournament, a local newspaper in Buenos Aires mentioned that he was proud to join his three Scottish brothers as a football internationalist, and that little snippet set me on the trail of his story. Finding confirmation was not easy as Hamilton is a common surname, but the final proof came thanks to a Chilean football historian, Sebastián Nuñez.
   Sebastián's book Duelos del Centenario is an extraordinary feat of research into Chile's ground-breaking team of 1910, with detailed biographies of all the players, and he was able to provide me with documentation and photos that proved beyond doubt the Hamilton story.
   John Hamilton came from a remarkable football family. William Hamilton, a master builder in Glasgow, and his wife Isobel had nine sons, most of whom were footballers.

The Scotland team which faced England in 1885, with Alick Hamilton in the front row.

The eldest was Alexander (Alick) Hamilton who played for Rangers and Queen's Park, where he won the Scottish Cup, and was capped four times by Scotland. Three of those were against England in 1885, 1886 and 1888, while the other was against Wales, all before he was forced to retire through injury aged just 24.

The Queen's Park team which won the Scottish Cup and Glasgow Cup in 1890, with James Hamilton front right.

Next came James, five years younger, who spent most of his career at centre forward with Queen's Park, winning the Scottish Cup twice, and was briefly with Rangers before retiring. He played three times for Scotland in 1892 and 1893. 

Port Glasgow Athletic in 1908, with Scotland internationalist Gladstone Hamilton front left

Another ten years younger was Gladstone (known to his friends as Gladys), who failed to make an impression at Queen's Park but did well enough at Port Glasgow Athletic to be selected for a single Scotland cap against Ireland in 1906.
   Two other Hamilton brothers also played football without making such an impact: David played a couple of times for Port Glasgow, while Ebenezer must have been at Queen's Park as he is mentioned on their war memorial, having been killed in action in 1915.
   When John went to Chile and played for the national team, he was the fourth internationalist in the family, and remarkably they all won their caps in different decades from the 1880s to the 1910s. To my surprise, four brothers is not a record in international football.
   With help from historian Cris Freddi, it appears that two sets of five brothers have been capped, both in South America. For Argentina the Brown brothers Jorge, Alfredo, Carlos, Eliseo and Ernesto played in the early years of the 20th century, while in Paraguay the five Jara Saguier brothers Angel, Alberto, Dario, Enrique and Carlos played from 1950 onwards. However, it must be said that these statistics are not easy to verify and I would welcome any clarification.
   Countries which have had four brothers capped include Wales (Davies), Barbados (Foster), Greece (Adrianopoulos - it would be five brothers if Greece recognised their 1920 Olympic Games match), Honduras (Palacios), Latvia (Plade) and Malawi (Waya). Scotland can now be added to that list.

Valparaiso team in 1911, with John Hamilton in front, second from right (thanks to Sebastián Nuñez)

John Hamilton
 
Born 12 September 1873 Glasgow
Died 27 June 1932 Glasgow
 
Football career:
Queen's Park Strollers
Derby County Nov 1894-95 (12 games 5 goals)
Ilkeston Town 1895-96
Abercorn Aug-Dec 1896
Queen's Park Strollers Jan 1897-1901
​Airdrieonians (guest, November 1897)
Ayr Parkhouse (guest, May 1901)
Ayr FC Oct 1901-02 (5 league games)
Valparaiso FC c1908-1912
 
Three appearances for Chile:
Argentina 3 Chile 1, 27 May 1910
Uruguay 3 Chile 0, 29 May 1910
Argentina 5 Chile 1, 5 June 1910 

John Hamilton's debut for Derby County in 1894, part of a star-studded forward line. (Athletic News, 26 November 1894, via British Newspaper Archive)

Further information and links:
​
Scots Football Worldwide: Scottish football influence in Chile
The Long Ball blog: the origins of the Copa America 
The Men Who Made Scotland: the definitive Who's Who of Scottish internationalists