The 15th International, 1881
1881 - The 15th International, The Oval, London
(Match 15) 12th March 1881 (Friendly match) ENGLAND - SCOTLAND 1-6 (0-1) Referee: Francis Arthur Marindin (England) Crowd: 8.500, The Oval (Surrey County Cricket Club's ground), Kennington, London Goals: 0-1 Smith (10), 0-2 Hill (53), 1-2 Bambridge (64), 1-3 Smith (69), 1-4 Ker (74), 1-5 Smith (79), 1-6 Ker (89) ENGLAND: John Purvis Hawtrey - Edgar Field, Claude William Wilson - Norman Coles Bailey [c], John Hunter, George Henry Holden - Thurston Rostron, Reginald Heber Macauley, Clement Mitchell, John Hargreaves, Edward Charles Bambridge. SCOTLAND: George Gillespie (2/Rangers) - Andrew Watson [c] (1/Queen's Park) Thomas Vallance (6/Rangers) - Charles Campbell (8/Queen's Park) David Davidson (4/Queen's Park) David Hill (1/Rangers) - William McGuire (1/Beith) George Ker (2/Queen's Park) Joseph Lindsay (2/Dumbarton) Henry McNeil (9/Queen's Park) John Smith (6/Edinburgh University) Notes: This 6-1 victory was Scotland's biggest ever win in England. The Scottish captain Andrew Watson won three caps for Scotland between 1881-1882. He is widely considered in sporting history as the first black international footballer, the first black administrator (as secretary of Queen's Park) and possibly the first black professional player (at Bootle). Watson effectively ended his international career after the match against England in 1882, as the Scottish FA only picked players based in Scotland at this time. Scotland haven't always played in their distinctive dark blue shirts. On at least twelve occasions between 1881-1954 they played in the primrose and pink colours of racehorse owner Archibald Philip Primrose, Lord Rosebery. The 5th Earl Rosebery was later Honorary President of the Scottish Football Association and also Prime Minister. His colours were worn for the first time on 12th March 1881 against England, then on 14th March 1881 against Wales. Scotland took to the field again in Lord Rosebery's colours playing England in 1900, 1901, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908 and 1909. They were next seen in 1949, appeared once more in 1951 - both times against France - and last used in 1954 versus Finland in Helsinki.
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