the early innovators who became last of the amateurs

The year is 1872. Ulysses S. Grant is elected president of the US, Yellowstone becomes the world’s first national park, and the first case of Horse Flu is reported in Toronto, Canada, which will substantially disrupt life in North America by mid-December.

Meanwhile, on 30 November, the first international association football match to be retrospectively recognized by FIFA as “official” takes place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, between Scotland and England. And remarkably, the whole Scottish team is comprised of players from just one single club.

If someone says the word Glasgow to you, what images does it conjure up as a football fan? I am guessing the Old Firm – Celtic vs Rangers, Green vs Blue, Catholic vs Protestant – the two historically strongest teams in Scotland involved in one of the world’s most passionate derbies. Two teams which, while sworn enemies, need each other to feed off, as seen during the recent years when Rangers’ absence from the top flight resulted in the loss of this great match-up.

What you might not be aware of, however, is that halfway between the famous theatres of Ibrox and Celtic Park, to the south, sits the 52,000-capacity Hampden Park, home of the national team, which was built in 1903 and was the biggest stadium in the world at the time.

Hampden Park was in fact the third stadium built in the area under that name. The very first was initially used in October 1873 by the oldest club in Scottish football. That club wasn’t Celtic or Rangers but a team nicknamed The Spiders, who were formed way back in 1867, making them the oldest club in the world outside of England and Wales. That club is Queen’s Park.

Queen’s Park have an important role to play in the history and development of the modern game that we know and love. In those days, they dominated Scottish football. Indeed, the early playing rules in Scotland were developed at Queen’s Park. The were also the instigators of the…

Source link : https://thesefootballtimes.co/2023/02/06/the-tale-of-queens-park-the-early-innovators-who-became-last-of-the-amateurs/

Author : Dominic Hougham

Publish date : 2023-02-06 20:00:28

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