One of the pioneers of Danish football was a man from Dundee who was top scorer in the country's first football league. James Young Smart, a player and administrator with Strathmore FC, went to Copenhagen in 1885 and made a huge impact through his skills on and off the field.
   Smart's influence was recalled when Queen's Park went on tour to Copenhagen in 1898. Scottish Sport magazine carried an interview with former player Alexander Hamilton, in which he stated that the honour of introducing the game in Denmark belonged to a former Dundee Strathmore player called JT Smart (they got his middle initial wrong). See Matt McDowell's fascinating research paper and an article on the Scottish Football Museum website.
   However, although Smart was an important figure he was not the actual founder of the game in Denmark. The first football was a birthday gift in 1878 for Johannes Juhl Raahauge, whose father was a merchant based in Hull; he then introduced the sport to his fellow students at Sorø Academy. And in 1879, KB (Kjøbenhavns  Boldklub) took up association football, three years after being founded as a multisport club, 
   James Young Smart was born in Dundee in 1862, the eldest surviving son of a jute mill manager. In the summer of 1878 he was elected secretary and treasurer of Strathmore FC, aged just 16, and played regularly for them over the next few years, rising to become club president in 1882. Strathmore had been founded early in 1877, named in honour of its patron the Earl of Strathmore, and its ground was at Rollo's Pier, off Magdalen Yard Road at the west end of the city.
    He remained still president until he left Dundee to go abroad, as reported in the Evening Telegraph on 18 February 1885: 'On Monday evening a number of gentlemen met in the Queen's Hotel and entertained Mr J.Y. Smart to supper on the occasion of his leaving Dundee for Copenhagen.'
   Soon after he arrived in Denmark, he joined KB and gained quite a reputation for his skills. An early history of Danish football said Smart was: 'an excellent player in almost every position… a crowd favourite, especially among the boys, jovial and playful, teaching them tricks and ball skills.'
   In the winter of 1886–87, he helped to translate the laws of association football from English into Danish, working with Ludwig Sylow and other KB committee members.
   In 1888, KB instigated the country's first knockout cup competition, and won it convincingly with Smart in the forefront. Then a year later, he was the top scorer in Denmark's first league tournament in 1889-90, scoring 12 times for KB although they finished second behind Akademisk. The following season, KB did win the league and Smart showed his versatility by sometimes playing in goal.
   Even after he left Denmark he was not forgotten and the creative Danish midfielder August Lindgren, who played in the 1908 Olympics, was nicknamed 'Smart' in tribute to the Scot.
​   In 1892, Smart went to New York for a while, then returned to Dundee to join the family business at Rosebank jute mill. He kept up his football interest as a member of Dundee FC's match committee, helping out in December 1898 when the club got going again after liquidation, and in December 1899 his sisters ran a stall at the football club's fundraising bazaar.
   Thereafter, things get a bit hazy. His father had died in 1896 and in March 1900 the Dundee Courier carried a company advert to announce that Mr James Young Smart was no longer employed at Rosebank mill. Although he was still listed as a jute factory manager in the 1901 census, there is nothing to indicate that he was still involved in the family business; yet his brother and two sisters were directors.
   It appears his life had started to go into a downward spiral and Smart died at Duke Street Hospital, Glasgow in 1921, age 59 and unmarried. The death certificate gave his usual residence as the Great Eastern Hotel, politely known as a 'working man's hostel' but in reality a doss-house; cause of death was myocardial degeneration and chronic nervous congestion (ie heart disease and stroke). It was a sorry end for a Scottish sporting pioneer whose impact on Danish football is remembered to this day.

​James Young Smart

Born 18 March 1862 in Dundee
Died 8 May 1921 in Glasgow

Update: in June 2026, a remarkable medal which was won by James Young Smart came up at auction. It was awarded for his success in Denmark in season 1887-88, and after fierce bidding it sold for well over the pre-sale estimate, realising 1600 euros plus commission.

Over a decade ago I wrote a blog about the biographies of Danish footballer Carl Hansen, who had played in Scotland for Rangers in the 1920s. 
   Better known as Carl Skomager ('shoemaker'), Hansen spent several harrowing months in prison during World War 2 when Denmark was occupied by the Germans. After the conflict ended he wrote a book about his experiences, Carl Skomager i tysk faengsel (in a German prison). Of course, the book was written in Danish and I thought it would be a great project for a translator to bring his story to a modern audience.
   I was delighted to be contacted by Rangers supporter Ian Hogg who took up the translation challenge and he has just published an ebook with Hansen's story in English, which he has made available free. Ian has kindly given me permission to post links to the book here, in the hope it will reach as wide an audience as possible.
   You will also be able to buy and download the ebook on Amazon, with any profits going to the Erskine Veterans Charity.

Epub file: click here
PDF file: click here

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.