THE influence of Scots in developing the modern version of football is becoming increasingly well-known, but there is considerably less awareness of our nation’s role in the development of football around the world.
The recent Copa America final, for example, saw Argentina defeat Brazil, but few will be aware of the pivotal role played by Scots in the development of the beautiful game in these two nations.
The so-called “father of Argentine football” was a Gorbals-born schoolteacher, Alexander Watson Hutton, who in 1891 established the Association Argentine Football League, the first football league outside the British Isles.
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In Brazil it is also a Scot, Charles Miller, who is widely recognised as the “father of Brazilian football”. After bringing back a set of playing rules and footballs after his time at school in the UK, this led him in 1895 to organise a famous match between the Sao Paolo Railway Company and the Gas Company. Miller was also a founder of the football league, Liga Paulista.
The year prior to this match Thomas Donohoe, a textile worker from Busby, arrived in Rio de Janeiro. It is understood that he organised the first ever football match in the history of Brazilian football, a five-a-side game which took place before Miller’s match, previously recorded as the first in Brazil.
Donohoe was also involved in founding the Bagu Athletic Club in Rio, important as it was the first to allow black Brazilian footballers to join. Bagu has erected a statue of Donohoe in honour of his contribution to football in Brazil and there are plans to erect a statue of him in Busby.
Scots played a crucial role in the development of football in many countries around the world, and with a resurgent interest in the game in Scotland following Euro 2020 it provides the perfect opportunity to raise awareness of this.
Alex Orr
Edinburgh
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