Today’s Google Doodle celebrates Andrew Watson, considered to be the first black international footballer and the first black footballer to captain his country.
The illustration, created by London-based artist Selom Sunu, shows Watson playing for Scottish club Queen’s Park, along with five black children, showing his long-standing influence on the game.
On this day in 1884, Watson took the field for Queen’s Park in the first game played at the new Hampden Park stadium.
Here is everything you need to know about him.
Early life
Watson was born on 24 May 1856 in Demerara, Guyana. He was the son of a wealthy Scottish sugar planter named Peter Miller Watson and a British-Guyanese woman named Hannah Rose.
He moved to the UK with his father and sister when he was five years old – his mother being left behind – and discovered a love of football while attending public schools in Halifax, West Yorkshire and Wimbledon in London.
The National Records of Scotland state: “Whilst Andrew’s father clearly had the means and desire to offer his children an expensive education, Andrew’s status as the offspring of an unmarried black mother and a white father was problematic and Andrew was presented to the schools he attended as an orphan.”
Watson’s father died when he was just 13, leaving a substantial sum of money behind for the two children. This gave Watson financial independence, allowing him first to study engineering, natural philosophy and mathematics at the University of Glasgow, before leaving to start a wholesale warehouse business and play football alongside, as it was still an amateur sport at the time.
Football career
Watson played as a full-back, signing for Glasgow-based Maxwell FC in 1874, before moving to Parkgrove FC, where he was also match secretary.
Watson acquired a reputation as one of the most stylish, pacey and composed full backs in the Scottish game, and was invited to join Queen’s Park, one of Scotland’s leading clubs at the time. He also served as their match secretary.
He helped Queen’s Park win two Scottish Cups, in 1881 and 1882, becoming the first black player to win a major trophy.
His success at club level led Watson to be called up for the Scotland national side. His first cap came against England in London on 12 March 1881, in which he captained the side to a 6-1 victory. This means Watson was not only the first black international footballer, but the first black person to captain his country. This also remains England’s largest ever home defeat.
A few days later Watson captained Scotland to a 5-1 home win over Wales. His final Scottish cap came on 11 March 1882 in a 5-1 win over England in Glasgow.
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Watson’s international career would likely have been far longer, but he moved to England, making him ineligible for the national side.
He had stints at Swifts FC and Corinthian FC before returning to part-time to Scotland and Queen’s Park after the death of his wife Jessie Nimmo Armour. He won further Scottish cups with Queen’s Park in 1886 and 1887.
The National Records of Scotland note: “It is noteworthy that Watson’s ethnicity never featured in match reports and there is no evidence of him being subject to racial discrimination from crowds. It would appear that Watson’s public school education, wealth and status as the son of a gentleman seemed to have protected him from the racist attitudes of later nineteenth century society.”
In 1887, Watson signed with Bootle FC in northern England. At this time, amateur clubs didn’t pay their players, but Bootle FC was known to pay high-profile names. If Watson had received money to play for the Liverpool club, he would technically be the first black professional footballer.
“The list of footballing ‘firsts’ makes Andrew Watson one of the most significant figures, not only in the Scottish game, but in world football,” the National Records of Scotland say. “A status that was acknowledged by the Scottish Football Association when they inducted him into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2012.”
Outside football
Watson married twice. He had two children with his first wife, and they went to live with their grandparents after their mother’s death in 1882.
His second wife was Eliza Kate Tyler, the daughter of Joseph Tyler, an East India Company merchant. They had two more children together.
Through his father Watson was related to William Gladstone, who served four terms as British Prime Minister during the late 19th century.
Watson died from pneumonia on 8 March 1921, aged 64.
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