Announcement - St Andrew's Day, 30th November 2024
West of Scotland Cricket Club (WoSCC) join Football's Square Mile (FSM)
Today is the 152nd anniversary of the first international football match, which was played on the WoSCC ground.
FSM continues to build its strong heritage network.
This is another step forward in FSM's progress towards UNESCO World Heritage Status.
Today marks the 152nd anniversary of the most important and influential football match of all time, held on St Andrew’s Day in 1872. Two teams strode out onto the grounds of West of Scotland Cricket Club (WoSCC), in the burgh of Partick, now part of Glasgow, to play for their country. These footballing trailblazers from Scotland crossed swords with their English counterparts to create the inaugural international football match, which is now the DNA of World Cups, European Championships and COPA Americas, to name but a few.
The mighty Queen’s Park Football Club organised the entire match on behalf of the nation and created the template for international football for the world. Glaswegian football fans flooded through the gates, paying their shilling and were inspired to go home and create their own football clubs. WoSCC is an example of one of the 2,000 cricket clubs in the West of Scotland that turned to football during the winter to keep fit ahead of the summer cricket season.
In 2022, we organised a series of #Fitba150 events to celebrate the 150th anniversary of this auspicious occasion in conjunction with the Scottish Football Association and West of Scotland Cricket Club. Since this series of events, we have turbocharged our Football’s Square Mile project to highlight the remarkable contribution of these founders of the modern game with the support of the 21 organisations within the Football’s Square Mile Alliance, celebrating 21 football heritage sites across the city.
Today, we announce the next phase of this work as we expand the network of organisations with West of Scotland Cricket Club joining our Football’s Square Mile Alliance.
Colin Mair, WoSCC Club Chair, explains, 'West of Scotland Cricket Club is delighted to join the Football’s Square Mile Alliance and its promotion of Glasgow’s rich sporting heritage. Founded in Partick, Glasgow, in 1862, our Hamilton Crescent ground has hosted international fixtures in four different sports, including football, cricket, hockey and rugby.
Most significantly, on St Andrew’s Day, 1872, the world’s first FIFA-recognised international football match took place here between Scotland and England, and we are extremely proud of our significant role in the early days of football. We greatly value our association with the Football’s Square Mile Alliance and support its aims to showcase Scotland's pioneering role in the development of football.’
Rory Bryce, FSM Heritage Officer, explains, ‘Protecting Scotland’s footballing heritage is vital to the unnderstanding of the development of the game. West of Scotland Cricket Club’s support continues to build our strong heritage network in a collaborative way and showcase Football’s Square Mile's strong links to other heritage sites in Glasgow and beyond.'
Barry Kirk, FSM Chief of Comms, explains, ‘Our association with WoSCC is pivotal in explaining how Scotland’s large and passionate fanbase has existed since the beginning. This was no more exemplified by this year’s Euro Championships, where the mighty Tartan Army descended on Germany in their thousands and were voted the Fans of the Tournament. We have football in the veins, and we are extremely proud it all started in Glasgow over 150 years ago.'
This is another important step forward in the development of Football’s Square Mile and our 30-year project towards UNESCO status. We have developed innovative ways of telling this story and our partnership with Lindsay Hamilton’s Glasgow Football Tour created the Subcrawl Tour. This cart-upending tour tells you the story of international football, and includes a pie and pint at WoSCC on your way around Glasgow’s underground.
Graeme Brown, explains, ’The subcrawl tour epitomises the spirit of those early pioneers, where they risked everything to create the first international football match. We put you in their shoes and ask you a very simple question - are you a risk taker? Check out Lindsay's Glasgow Football Tour’s website and book on the subcrawl today. This story will blow your mind.’
If you don't believe us, have a wee listen to this.
The full Podcast covering our journey is here for all to hear - https://www.patreon.com/posts/116206120.
Happy St Andrew's Day - From Small Acorns Do Mighty Oaks Grow
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