One of Musselburgh's earliest football trophies, the Simpson Shield, has come home after turning up at auction recently.
   I was lucky enough to be the winning bidder and have sold it on to Musselburgh Athletic president Kevin Liston, who has put it on permanent display in the clubhouse at Olivebank.
   The Simpson Shield was presented in 1891 by local publican William Simpson for Midlothian junior teams and it soon became a prestigious annual prize. Simpson ran the Forester's Arms in Fisherrow which is no longer there but stood on the corner of Bridge Street and North High Street.

The first winner of the Shield was Niddrie Blue Bell but local sides soon got in on the act with Musselburgh Windsor in 1894 and Musselburgh Fern in 1897. Other famous teams had their names inscribed on it including Arniston Rangers, Bonnyrigg Rose and Newtongrange Star before it returned home with Musselburgh Athletic – in a previous incarnation – winning it three times in 1912, 1914 and 1915.

There is a wonderful team photo after the 1912 victory, with the legendary Hearts captain and Scotland internationalist Bobby Walker sitting in the centre as honorary club president, with three trophies in front: the Dalmeny Cup, the East Lothian Cup and the Simpson Shield.
   However, the last of Musselburgh Athletic's wins, a 2-1 win over Loanhead Mayflower at Tynecastle on 22 May 1915, was played in a sombre mood as news was just coming in of the Quintinshill Rail Disaster that morning. It was the worst rail disaster in British history, leaving 226 dead, mainly from the 7th Battalion of the Royal Scots, most of whom came from Leith, Portobello and Musselburgh.

After Simpson died in 1922 the shield competition was wound up and the East of Scotland Junior FA donated the trophy to the local juvenile association, who continued to use it until at least the late 1950s. Records are sketchy but local winners included Musselburgh Imperial in 1932 and Inveresk Athletic in 1945.
   William Simpson left a local legacy that extended beyond football. He served Musselburgh town council for 33 years, many of them as Treasurer, and for a while he was Provost. He spent his life in the pub trade and gave up the Forester's Arms in 1895 when he married Catherine Montgomery, the owner of the Volunteer Arms, a wonderful historic pub now known as Stagg's and which was recently voted as CAMRA Scottish Pub of the Year.

It seems hardly credible now, but in 1888 a Scottish village football team was crowned Champions of the World. Renton FC was one of the most powerful clubs in Scotland at the time, despite their humble roots in the Dunbartonshire where they competed for players with Dumbarton, Vale of Leven and a host of other local clubs.
   They won the Scottish Cup in 1885 and again in 1888, defeating Cambuslang in the final with a record 6-1 scoreline. That victory prompted a challenge to the English FA Cup winners, West Bromwich Albion, and the match on 12 May was heavily marketed as the 'Championship of the World'. In torrential rain, Renton won 4-1 and basked in the glory of their champion status.
   Robert Bradley and Douglas Gorman have written the full story of the World Championship match, how it came about. and who the key personalities were. You can read it in the attached article (click here).

Sadly, this was the peak of Renton's achievements. Village pride had induced them to great things, but as amateurs they could not compete with the march of professionalism which allowed the city clubs to attract the best players. Renton were founding members of the Scottish League in 1890 but soon found themselves suspended on a charge of professionalism. They had a last hurrah in reaching the 1895 Scottish Cup final and in 1897, less than ten years after their world championship, they were forced to drop out of league football altogether. They stumbled on in lower leagues before folding in 1922, and their famous home ground, Tontine Park, was demolished to make way for housing.

BBC Scotland has recently launched a great little promotional video for this season's Scottish Cup tournament, in time for the fourth round ties later this month. They have animated the man on top of the trophy as he comes to life and the Victorian footballer kicks a ball around the Scottish Football Museum, ending up with a cracking goal against the motionless tinplate players, before quickly getting back into place as the museum attendant returns.
   But who was the original footballer on the cup? The Scottish Cup was commissioned in 1874 by the fledgling Scottish FA, who asked Glasgow silversmiths George Edward & Sons to come up with a suitably grand trophy. No cost was spared and the final bill came to £56 12 shillings (which included a set of medals) Trouble was, association football was in its infancy at the time, and the designer needed some help to create a lifelike representation of a player to stand on top.
   The inspiration for the figure was published in The Graphic after the first football international, played on 30 November 1872. One of the nine drawings by William Ralston shows a Scotland player steadfastly dribbling the ball while an English tackler is robustly pushed away by a teammate.

Having an action figure gave the Scottish Cup a unique identity, and helped to differentiate it from the original FA Cup, made two years earlier. In many respects that was a similar design, but it had a less adventurous static player on the lid, hand on hip, with the ball at his feet.
   Taking this theme further, I was surprised to find that this was not the only time that trophy designers took inspiration from printed sources. 

And remarkably the same scene, not so detailed but with some unmistakable similarities in the player positions, appears again on a later trophy. This photo shows the centrepiece of the original Scottish Juvenile Cup, which was made in 1899.
   I would love to know of any other early football trophies that have taken their inspiration from external sources.

One of the pioneering personalities of the first decade of Scottish football was Joseph (Joe) Taylor, who played in the first​ six Scotland internationals and won the first three Scottish Cups with Queen's Park. His life was sadly cut short at the age of just 37,
   I have written before about his exploits, but what really brings a story to life is a family connection. Therefore I was delighted to be contacted by his great grandson Colin Taylor, who recently sent me these fantastic photos. This is the gold medal won when Joe  captained Queen's Park to victory in the 1876 cup final, when Third Lanark were beaten in a replay.
   Although this is not the oldest winner's medal in existence - the Scottish Football Museum has JJ Thomson's silver medal from 1874 - it does bear witness to the rapid growth of the game in Scotland, being made of gold and with the Scottish FA's new crest engraved on the front.

What is more, the family also retains the superb gold watch which was presented to him when he married. It reads: 'Presented to Mr Joseph Taylor on the occasion of his marriage by the members of the Queen's Park Football Club in token of their appreciate of his valuable service and of their best wishes for his future happiness. Glasgow, 24th September 1879'. Around 80 club members dined in the St Enoch Restaurant to mark the occasion. ​Joe married Agnes Miller and they had four sons (one of whom, John Benjamin Taylor, would go on to play for Queen's Park as well).

Born in 1850 in Dunoon, where he gained a reputation as a sprinter in local sports meetings, Joe Taylor came to Glasgow for work and, like many young athletes from out of town, joined Queen's Park in 1870. He soon established himself in the team and played a key role at full back on many high profile occasions. At a time when the emphasis was very much on attack, he added a new dimension to football by specialising in defence: 'Considering his light weight, he was a fine tackler, returned very smartly to his forwards, and possessed remarkable speed.'
   Notably, he travelled to London in March 1872 to play against Wanderers in the FA Cup semi-final, when Queen's Park shocked the football establishment by holding the hosts to a 0-0 draw. He played in the first international later that year, and went on to captain Scotland against England in 1875 and 1876, in addition to his club successes. 
   He gave up playing football in 1877 but remained closely involved with Queen's Park and was elected club President for 1878/79. He worked as a clerk for a drapery wholesaler and all was well until 1885 when he was struck down by the first signs of tuberculosis. He went to New Zealand for six months to try and clear his lungs with sea air, which worked for a time but in the days before antibiotics it was really only a matter of time before he succumbed. He died in October 1888 at his home in Victoria Terrace, close to Hampden Park, and laid to rest in Cathcart Cemetery, where you can still see his memorial. 
   After he died, Joe Taylor's obituary in the Glasgow Herald left no doubts about his standing: 'To the older school of players and followers of the game, that gentleman was known as the embodiment of everything that was best, purest and most manly in a football player.' 
   He was held in such high regard that Queen’s Park played a benefit match against Third Lanark on 5 January 1889, attracting around 7,000 spectators to Hampden and raising over £100. The club then added £50 to the fund for his family, an enormous sum which assured his sons' future (and meant they would never have to sell his medals).

Taylor's legacy is that he established the template for intelligent and gentlemanly behaviour, on and off the field. When DD Bone chronicled the early years of the game, he wrote: 'No man who captained the Queen's Park was so much respected both on the field and in private life. None hated unfair or rough play more; he could not endure it in a club companion.'  

You can read the stories of all the early internationalists in my book First Elevens.

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UPDATE - APRIL 2024

Joseph Taylor's grave at Cathcart Cemetery has been restored. Check out the story: ​https://www.scottishsporthistory.com/sports-history-news-and-blog/scottish-football-pioneer-joseph-taylors-grave-restored