Andrew Watson ~ the first Black international
Andrew Watson was the first Black international footballer. In 1881 he captained Scotland against England in London. Scotland won the match 6-1, a result which is still England’s record home defeat. But Andrew Watson’s story is even more remarkable than this suggests.
Andrew was born in Demerara, British Guiana (now Guyana), the son of Anna Rose, a Guyanese free woman of colour and a rich Scottish enslaver and plantation owner, Peter Miller Watson. As one of football’s “Scotch professors” he helped bring the passing and running game to England. He was also the first Black football administrator, a businessman, an engineer, a crew member on several Atlantic crossings, a Govan resident, and a gentleman. You can read more about Andrew Watson here.
Image credit: The Scottish Athletic Celebrities Album, 1886, courtesy National Library of Scotland. View the digitised portrait and accompanying description of Watson here.