Scotland v England (1872) was the
first ever official international football
match to be played. It was contested by the national teams of Scotland
and England.
The match took place on 30 November 1872 at West of
Scotland Cricket Club's ground at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland. The match
finished in a 0–0 draw and was watched by 4,000 spectators.
All eleven Scottish players were
selected from Queen's Park,
the leading Scottish club at this time. Scotland had hoped to obtain the
services of Arthur
Kinnaird of The Wanderers
and Henry
Renny-Tailyour of Royal
Engineers but both were unavailable.The teams for this match were
got together "with some difficulty, each side losing some of their best
men almost at the last moment" The Scottish side was selected by goalkeeper and captain Robert W. Gardner. The
English side was selected from nine different clubs and was selected by Charles Alcock, who
himself was unable to play due to injury.The match, initially scheduled for
2pm, was delayed for 20 minutes due to fog. The 4,000 spectators
paid an entry fee of a shilling,
the same amount charged at the 1872 FA Cup Final.
On a pitch that was heavy due to
the continuous rain over the previous three days, the smaller and lighter
Scottish side pushed their English counterparts hard. The Scots had a goal
disallowed in the first half after the umpires decided that the ball had
cleared the tape. The latter part of the match saw the Scots defence under
pressure by the heavier English forwards. The Scots played two full backs, two
half backs and six forwards. The English played only one full back, one half back and eight forwards. Since three
defenders were required for a ball played to be onside, the English system was
virtually a ready-made offside trap.
Scotland would come closest to winning the match when, in the closing stages, a
Robert Leckie
shot landed on top of the tape which was used to represent the crossbar.
Research courtesy of Wikipedia
Images courtesy of Wikimedia under the Commons Agreement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:England_v_Scotland_(1872).jpg
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