When Scotland meets England, patriotism comes to the fore, so it would take a strong personality for a Scot to wear an English jersey - yet several Scots have indeed played for the 'auld enemy' over the years. Some were due to accidents of birth or emergencies, others are harder to explain.
Joe Baker (and dog!) being interviewed by Arthur Montford in 1959, the year he won his first England cap
Joe Baker spent just six weeks in Liverpool, where he was born in 1940 to Scottish parents, but despite his upbringing in Wishaw, Lanarkshire and a strong Scottish accent, it was enough to qualify him irrevocably for England. In the 1959-60 season, when he scored no less than 42 goals for Hibernian, he became the first player to be selected from a team outside England and made a scoring debut against Northern Ireland. It was the first of nine England caps. He was not the only one of his family to have an unusual international career - his elder brother Gerry was born in New York and played for USA.
You have to go back to the nineteenth century for more examples of Scots being selected for England. Although one was born in England due to his father’s military posting, the others had no English heritage apart from their residence.
You have to go back to the nineteenth century for more examples of Scots being selected for England. Although one was born in England due to his father’s military posting, the others had no English heritage apart from their residence.
 John Goodall wrote this instructional book in 1898 |  Stuart Macrae, who went from captaining his school rugby team in Edinburgh to playing for England |
John Goodall was born in 1863 in London where his father, a corporal in the Royal Scots Fusiliers, was serving, but when his father died he moved to Kilmarnock as a boy (via Belfast where his brother Archie, a future Ireland cap, was born). Brought up in Ayrshire, he played for local clubs until moving south in 1883. After initially playing for Great Lever in Bolton, he went on to a glittering career with Preston North End and Derby County, and scored 12 goals in 14 appearances for England.
Stuart Macrae, despite his fine Scottish name, won five caps for England in 1883-84. He was a son of Duncan Macrae of Kames Castle on the Isle of Bute, but was born in 1855 in Bengal, where his father was serving in the Indian Army. Stuart was sent back to Scotland for his education at The Edinburgh Academy, where he was captain of the school rugby team in 1872-73, and later moved south to Newark where he married into a brewing family. There, having switched to association rules, he played for Notts County and was duly capped by England. He also introduced golf to the town and was a decent cricketer for Gentlemen of Nottinghamshire.
Stuart Macrae, despite his fine Scottish name, won five caps for England in 1883-84. He was a son of Duncan Macrae of Kames Castle on the Isle of Bute, but was born in 1855 in Bengal, where his father was serving in the Indian Army. Stuart was sent back to Scotland for his education at The Edinburgh Academy, where he was captain of the school rugby team in 1872-73, and later moved south to Newark where he married into a brewing family. There, having switched to association rules, he played for Notts County and was duly capped by England. He also introduced golf to the town and was a decent cricketer for Gentlemen of Nottinghamshire.
 William Lindsay |  John Bain (standing at centre of back row) with the 1875 Oxford University team |
Two Scots played against Scotland in the same match for England in 1877. William Lindsay was born in 1847 in Benares, India where his Dundee-born father was serving with the Bengal Native Infantry; his grandfather had been Provost of Dundee. After his parents were killed in the Indian Mutiny, he was educated at Winchester before entering the civil service. He won the FA Cup three times with Wanderers, and played first class cricket for Surrey, but despite representing Scotland in all five of the unofficial internationals of 1870-72, he was chosen once for England.
Alongside him in the 1877 team was the only England player ever to have been actually born in Scotland. John Bain was born in Bothwell, Lanarkshire in 1854 to Scottish parents, but the family moved south when he was about ten. He went to Westminster College and Oxford University, where he won his blue at football in 1875, and earned a cap two years later. In the same month he played in the FA Cup final for Oxford – in opposition to William Lindsay.
Alongside him in the 1877 team was the only England player ever to have been actually born in Scotland. John Bain was born in Bothwell, Lanarkshire in 1854 to Scottish parents, but the family moved south when he was about ten. He went to Westminster College and Oxford University, where he won his blue at football in 1875, and earned a cap two years later. In the same month he played in the FA Cup final for Oxford – in opposition to William Lindsay.
Jimmy McMullan in an England shirt in 1918 (middle row, third player from left)
And finally, two Scots were cajoled at short notice into playing for England during unofficial wartime matches. Jimmy McMullan of Partick Thistle, who would go on to captain the Wembley Wizards, played for England against Scotland in a charity match at Celtic Park on 8 June 1918. Then on 2 December 1939, when two England players heading for Newcastle were involved in a car crash, the home team needed urgent replacements. One of them was Tommy Pearson, Newcastle United’s Scottish outside left. He later won two Scotland caps in 1947.
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