Quick Facts
Biography
Andrew Watson (24 May 1856 – 8 March 1921) is widely considered to be the world's first black person to play association football at international level. He played three matches for Scotland between 1881 and 1882. Arthur Wharton was commonly thought to be Britain's first black player, as he was the first black professional footballer and the first to play in the Football League, but Watson's career predated him by over a decade.
Early life and education
Watson was the son of a wealthy Scottish sugar planter Peter Miller Watson (1805-1869) (the son of James Watson, of Crantit, Orkney, Scotland) and a local British Guianese woman named Hannah Rose. He came to Britain with his father, and his older sister Annetta, and they inherited a substantial amount when their father died in London in 1869.
He was educated at Heath Grammar School in Halifax, West Yorkshire and then from 1871 at King's College School, in Wimbledon, London, where records show he excelled at sports including football. He later studied natural philosophy, mathematics and engineering at the University of Glasgow when he was 19, where his love of football blossomed. He played in the full back position, on either the right or the left flank.
Private life and career
Watson left Glasgow University after one year and in 1877 became a partner in Watson, Miller, and Baird, a wholesale warehouse business in Glasgow. In November 1877 he married Jessie Nimmo Armour (1860-1882); she was the daughter of John Armour, a cabinet-maker. Their son Rupert Andrew was born in 1878, and a daughter Agnes Maude in 1880. Watson moved to London with his family in the summer of 1882 for work reasons. His wife died in the autumn of 1882 and their two children returned to Glasgow to live with their grandparents.
He returned to Glasgow and married for a second time, to Eliza Kate Tyler (1861-1949) in February 1887. She was the daughter of Joseph Tyler, East India merchant. Later that year he moved to Liverpool, where he worked on ships and sat exams to qualify as a marine engineer. Watson and Eliza had two children, a son Henry Tyler in 1888 and a daughter Phyllis Kate in 1891.
Football career
At club level
After first playing for Maxwell in 1876 he signed for local side Parkgrove, where he was additionally their match secretary, making him the first black administrator in football. At Parkgrove he played alongside another black player, Robert Walker.
He also took part in athletics competitions, winning the high jump on several occasions.
On 14 April 1880, he was selected to represent Glasgow against Sheffield; Glasgow won 1–0 at Bramall Lane. He was also selected for a tour to Canada in the summer of 1880 which was cancelled after the death of William Dick, secretary of the Scottish Football Association.
In April 1880, he also signed for Queen's Park – then Britain's largest football team – and became their secretary in November 1881. He led the team to several Scottish Cup wins, thus becoming the first black player to win a major competition.
Watson's entry in the Scottish Football Association Annual of 1880–81 reads as follows:
In 1882, he moved to London and became the first black player to play in the English Cup when he turned out for Swifts. In 1883, he was the first foreign player to be invited to join the leading amateur club in England, the Corinthians. During his time there, this included an 8–1 victory against Blackburn Rovers, who were at that time the English Cup holders. He also played for other amateur English clubs, including Pilgrims, Brentwood, and London Caledonians.
The colour of his skin was of no significance to his peers, and there is no historical record of racism on the part of the Scottish Football Association. One match report is more interested in Watson's unusual brown boots rather than the customary black boots of that time. As written in the minutes, before one match where Watson was injured and unable to play, an SFA vice-president said if Watson had been fit he would have happily drugged a fellow Scottish international to give Watson his place. He played his last match for Queen's Park in 1886.
Watson signed for Merseyside club Bootle in 1887. Bootle offered wages and signing fees to a number of players, but it is unknown whether Watson was paid. If he was, this would predate the professional career of Arthur Wharton, who is generally considered to be the first black footballer to play professionally.
At international level
Watson won three international caps for Scotland. His first cap came for Scotland in a match against England in London on 12 March 1881, in which he captained the side; Scotland won 6 – 1. A few days later, Scotland played Wales and won 5 – 1.
Watson's last cap came against England in Glasgow on 11 March 1882. This was a 5 – 1 victory again to Scotland. Watson moved to London in the summer of 1882, which effectively ended his international career as the SFA only picked players based in Scotland at this time.
The next non white person to receive a full international cap for Scotland was Paul Wilson in 1975. The next black person was selected to play for Scotland after Andrew Watson 120 years later, Nigel Quashie in 2004.
Later life and tributes
It was thought that Watson emigrated to Australia and had died in Sydney, but in fact he retired to London in around 1910 and died of pneumonia at 88 Forest Road, Kew, in 1921. He is buried in Richmond Cemetery.
In 1926 the sportswriter "Tityrus" (the pseudonym of J.A.H. Catton, editor of the Athletic News) named Andrew Watson as left back in his all-time Scotland team.