WHEN the Scottish Football Association celebrated its 150th birthday during the week, I must admit I was a trifle baffled that more was not made of this historic anniversary.
Last week, I showed how the SFA came into being on March 13, 1873, when seven clubs formed the Association at a meeting in a Glasgow hotel. Queen’s Park, 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, Clydesdale, Dumbreck, Eastern, Granville, and Vale of Leven were the original founder members with Kilmarnock FC counted among their number as they sent a letter to support the proposal.
It’s important to note the contents of the motion that was passed: “The clubs here represented form themselves into an association for the promotion of football according to the rules of The Football Association and that the clubs connected with this association subscribe for a challenge cup to be played for annually, the committee to propose the laws of the competition.”
For the first time it was agreed that competitive matches would be played in Scotland, and for that competitive element to be introduced, a prize needed to be arranged and so the Scottish Football Challenge Cup was born – soon known then and ever afterwards as the Scottish Cup.
The SFA committee got their challenge cup going immediately and the rules and procedures for the first tournament were quickly agreed upon by the committee in early October 1873. As the SFA was formed to promote association football, it was the rules of the English FA – they grandiosely called them the Laws of the Game – that guided the SFA.
The size of pitches was standardised at no more than 200 yards by 100 yards – nearly twice as long as modern pitches – with two goalposts at each end standing eight yards apart and eight feet high with a tape between the tops of the goalposts.
After each goal was scored, the teams changed ends. There were two umpires as well as a referee and the duration of a match was set at 90 minutes.
For the inaugural competition, the eight founder members of the SFA were joined by Dumbarton and Renton from West Dunbartonshire; Southern from Renfrewshire; Alexandra Athletic, Blythswood, Callander, Rovers and Western from Glasgow.
They knew from the outset that they would be playing for a magnificent trophy and no other reward as all players registered with the SFA at that point had to be amateurs.
The trophy itself is a piece of history. The SFA archives state: “The trophy stands at two feet high and is primarily made from silver. Costing 56 pounds and 13 shillings at the time, the commission was given to Glasgow gold and silversmiths George Edward & Sons.”
It was paid for by subscriptions by 15 of the clubs taking part in that first tournament and the archives add: “Although the Scottish Cup may be the second competition formed in the history of association football, the trophy itself is the oldest in the game and is recognised as such by Guinness World Records. The FA Cup is the oldest tournament but their trophy has been replaced on more than one occasion while the Scottish Cup has retained the same silverware since its launch in the 19th century.”
There is more than one reason why the Scottish Cup has a history that all Scots should be proud of, for it was the competition that produced something of a revolution in football and largely inspired the modern game that is played today – more about that later.
With 16 teams entering, that first tournament was played on a straight knockout basis, though two teams scratched giving a bye into the second round to their opponents. Unlike nowadays, the venue for each match was decided on the toss of a coin, though those clubs with private grounds were given preference and neutral venues were allowed. The honour of playing the first Scottish Cup match, and thus the first competitive football match in Scottish history, went to Renton and Kilmarnock on October 18, 1873, with the West Dunbartonshire club prevailing by 2-0 at the neutral venue of Crosshill in Glasgow.
For some reason, Kilmarnock could only field 10 players, and newspaper reports of the time made much of the fact that the club usually played rugby, but then Renton had been a shinty club.
Queen’s Park had their first match a week after the opening day, and duly thumped Dumbreck 7-0, with Clydesdale beating Granville 6-0 the same day with their future Scotland internationalist John McPherson scoring the first-ever hat-trick in the Scottish Cup.
In the quarter-finals, Dumbarton beat Renton after a replay played in a public park in Renton while Clydesdale needed two replays to put out 3rd Lanark. The semi-finals saw Queen’s Park beating Renton and Clydesdale beating Blythswood to set up the first-ever Scottish Cup final.
It took place on March 21, 1874, at Old Hampden Park in Glasgow with the kick-off at 3.45pm. The growing popularity of football was reflected in the increasing coverage of the game by the press and there are several newspaper reports of the match which was played in front of 2500 spectators.
The Scotsman reported that “The Clydesdale upon winning the toss chose to play with the strong wind in their favour… in spite of the wind the Queen’s Park managed by a splendid piece of dribbling by Weir to run the ball up to their opponents’ goal where they had several shots though nothing definite was obtained.”
In the second half, with the wind at their back, Queen’s Park went ahead and then scored the clincher ten minutes from time against the wind to become the first side to win the Scottish Cup.
You’ll notice I included the reference to dribbling. That had been the standard way of playing association football in England and was imported to Scotland.
But Queen’s Park and especially Dumbarton, Vale of Leven and Renton were already converting to the passing game, and after the so-called Scotch Professors showed the English how to play, it became the standard form of modern football. And it all began with the SFA and the Scottish Cup.
