England Match No. 2 - Scotland - 8 March 1873

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Page Last Updated 4 April 2023

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1 vs. Scotland

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next match (364 days)
3 vs. Scotland

Saturday, 8 March 1873
Association Friendly Match

England 4 Scotland 2 [2-2]
The teams changed ends after each goal

The Surrey County Cricket Ground, The Oval, Kennington, London, Surrey, SE
Kick-off (London Time): "Play began soon after three o'clock"
Attendance: "(upwards of 3,000) was the largest we ever saw"

Season Record

England's first visit to The Oval, to London, and to Surrey

England kicked off

Robert Gardner won the toss

[1-0] William Kenyon-Slaney 1/2
'Scotland had the throw in, but threw the ball too far into the field, where Chenery got the ball and kicked straight for goal, and the goal keeper while stooping to lift the ball and kick it, slipped, and was at once charged by Slaney, who sent the ball under the tape''

[2-0] Alexander Bonsor corner 10
'The corner kick was taken by Bonsor, who, taking advantage of the strong wind, sent the ball out to be blown into goal. Gardner tried to catch the ball but it slipped through his fingers.'

[2-1] Henry Renny-Tailyour after10
'Mackinnon lifted the ball over his opponent's head to Renny Tailyour, who safely passed all opponents and kicked a pretty goal '

[2-2] William Gibb 21
'out of a scrimmage the ball came to Gibb and he put it under the tape'

these are the first ever first half goals in an England match - record four goals scored

[3-2] William Kenyon-Slaney 60
'after a few minutes' scrimmage, Slaney again got the ball past the Scotch goalkeeper, knocking him down in the process.'

[4-2] Charley Chenery 75
'naturally and patriotically accepting it.'

these are the first ever second half goals in an England match

Played according to FA rules

"To the intense delight of the partisans of England, scarcely had a minute elapsed ere Kenyon-Slaney carried the ball into the Scottish ground and obtained a goal for the South."

Match Summary

Officials [umpires and referees are of equal relevance]		England Party	Team Records	Scotland Party
Umpires		The Scottish 'International Fund' allowed only eight return tickets to London for the match, so three of the Scottish line-up were London residents. Arthur Kinnaird qualified by being a Perthshire landowner. English and Scottish, each wore stockings of different colours. This was, in the first place, to indicate to a player in possession of the ball the positions of his fellow-players on the field, by watching their pedal extremities; and, secondly, to enable the spectators to identify a player by his party-coloured stockings. Cards were issued by the Queen's Park, giving the teams, and the colours of their stockings.
Charles William Alcock 30 (2 December 1842) Sunderland, Durham (Hon. Secretary of FA)	Archibald Rae 27 (10 October 1845) Glasgow, Lanarkshire (Hon. Secretary of the Scottish XI)
will play for England in 1875
Referee Theodore Lloyd 38 (7 September 1834) Bewdley, Worcestershire (Crystal Palace FC)

England Team

Rank		No official ranking system established; ELO rating 1st	Colours		"The Englishmen will, as before, wear white jerseys with the English arms in black on the left breast."
Captain		Alec Morten	Selection		The Football Association Committee with secretary Charles W. Alcock having the primary influence
		only match, W 1 - D 0 - L 0 - F 4 - A 2			P 2 of 31, W 1 - D 1 - L 0 - F 4 - A 2
		probably the oldest England captain			team chosen on Thursday, 27 February 1873 from fifteen names.
England Lineup (a record nine changes to the previous match)
three		Morten, Alexander black cap & brown socks	41/42	1831/32	G	Crystal Palace FC	1	2ᵍᵃ
12	will be an umpire in the 1874 fixture			oldest player so far			only app 1873
		Greenhalgh, E. Harwood red, white and blue cap	24 2 days	6 March 1849	Fly-kick	Notts County FC	2	0
							mst apps
							final app 1872-73
13		Howell, Leonard S. cerise cap	24 214 days	6 August 1848	Full back	Wanderers FC & Old Wykehamists AFC	1	0
							only app 1873
14		Goodwyn, Alfred George yellow, blue and black cap & socks	22 360 days	13 March 1850 in Roohir, India	Half Backs	Royal Engineers FC	1	0
							only app 1873
15		Vidal, R. Walpole S. white shorts & dark socks	19 186 days	3 September 1853		Old Westminsters AFC & Oxford University AFC	1	0
			youngest player so far				only app 1873
16		von Donop, Pelham G. red and blue cap & socks	21 314 days	28 April 1851	Forward	Royal Engineers FC	1	0
		Chenery, Charles J. blue and black appearance, blue shorts & blue socks	23 66 days	1 January 1850		Crystal Palace FC	2	1
							mst apps
17	7	Clegg, William E. blue cap	20 321 days	21 April 1852		Wednesday FC	1	0
18		Bonsor, Alexander G. light blue and red cap	21 152 days	7 October 1851		Wanderers FC	1	1
	youngest player to score so far youngest debutant to score so far
19		Heron, G. Hubert H. blue cap with yellow crest & blue socks	21 37 days	30 January 1852		Uxbridge FC, Wanderers FC & Swifts FC	1	0
	will be an umpire in the 1877 fixture
20		Kenyon-Slaney, William S. white shorts & dark socks	25 196 days	24 August 1847 in Rajkot, India		Wanderers FC & Old Etonians AFC	1	2
	oldest player to score so far oldest debutant to score so far		oldest outfield/debutant player so far first player to score a brace (two goals)					most gls
							only app 1873
reserves:			not named
team changes:			One source suggests that Thomas Hooman was in the starting line-up, but he withdrew injured. He was not, however, included in the fifteen players named previously. Newspaper reports state that Cambridge University AFC's Henry Rose and Wanderers FC's A.C. Thompson were selected and later replaced.
team notes:			William Clegg is the younger brother of Charlie, a fellow party member, who also appeared in the previous match - the first set of brothers (but did not play together). As Wanderers FC often used the Surrey Cricket Ground to play their home matches, then Howell, Bonsor, Heron and Kenyon-Slaney were playing on one of their home grounds.
appearance notes:			Charles Chenery and Harwood Greenhalgh are the first ever England players to play in consecutive matches, and therefore, become the first to hold the England record appearance tally.
records:			A new record is established in just the second game when Wanderers' provided four of the starting XI. If Hooman and Thompson has started, it could have been as much as six. Chenery also becomes the most experienced England player to score a goal.

2-2-6			Morten - Greenhalgh (Clegg), Howell - Goodwyn, Vidal - von Donop, Chenery, Clegg (Greenhalgh), Bonsor - Heron, Kenyon-Slaney. notes: "Till now Greenhalgh had been fly-kick, but he was now sent forward and Clegg to fly-kick."
Averages:			Age	24 years 41-108 days	Appearances/Goals		1.2	0.4
				oldest England team until 1880	most experienced team until next match

Scotland Team

Rank	No official ranking system established; ELO rating 2nd	Colours		"played in blue jerseys with a lion on the left breast in white with white knickerbockers and dark stockings."
Captain	Robert Gardner	Selection		Robert Gardner, 25 (31 May 1847), Queen's Park FC secretary and captain.
	P last of 2, W 0 - D 1 - L 1 - F 2 - A 4
				P 2 - W 0 - D 1 - L 1 - F 2 - A 4.
Scotland Lineup
1	Gardner, Robert light blue cap	25 281 days	31 May 1847	G	Queen's Park FC	2	4ᵍᵃ
will be an umpire in the 1876 fixture			oldest opposition gk so far
2	Kerr, William T. no cap	21 352 days	21 March 1852	Backs	Queen's Park FC	2	0
						final app 1872-73
3	Taylor, Joseph white cap with blue stars	22 82 days	16 December 1850		Queen's Park FC	2	0
12	Gibb, William black cap with magenta stripes	21 59 days	8 January 1852	Half Backs	Queen's Park FC & Clydesdale FC	1	1
		youngest opposition scorer so far				only app 1873
5	Smith, Robert black cap	24 311 days	1 May 1848		Queen's Park FC & South Norwood FC, England	2	0
						final app 1872-73
6	Wotherspoon, David scarlet cowl	23 333 days	9 April 1849	Forward	Queen's Park FC	2	0
						final app 1872-73
13	Renny-Tailyour, Henry W. blue and black cap	23 150 days	9 October 1849 in Mussoorie, India		Royal Engineers FC, England	1	1
		oldest opposition scorer so far				only app 1873
14	Kinnaird, Arthur F. blue and white cap	26 20 days	16 February 1847 in Kensington, England		Wanderers FC, England	1	0
						only app 1873
15	Blackburn, John E. scarlet and blue fez	22 312 days	30 April 1851		Royal Engineers FC, England	1	0
						only app 1873
10	Thomson, James J. blue cap with white stars	21 73 days	25 December 1851		Queen's Park FC	2	0
11	MacKinnon, William M. blue and scarlet cowl	21 49 days	18 January 1852		Queen's Park FC	2	0
reserves:		not named
team notes:		William Kerr is often found as Ker in history books - but definitely baptised a Kerr in Edinburgh.
records:		All seven players that are making a second Scotland appearance are now record appearance holders.
"The majority of the Scotch players left Glasgow on Thursday evening last and put up at the Inns of Court Hotel."

2-2-6		Gardner - Kerr, Taylor - Gibb, Smith - Wotherspoon, Renny-Tailyour, Kinnaird, Blackburn, Thomson, MacKinnon.
Averages:		Age	22 years 350 days	Appearances/Goals		1.6	0.2
		youngest opposing team until next match		most experienced opposing team until next match
"After the match the Scotch team were entertained to dinner by their opponents in Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen Street." - Daily Mail, Monday, 10 March 1873

Match Report Morning Post, Monday, 10 March 1873

On Saturday the International Football Match between England and Scotland took place on Kennington Oval. The ball had scarcely been kicked off when England, with a determined and lively rush, bore it down to the Scottish quarters, and in less than two minutes Mr. Kenyon-Slaney, of the Household Brigade, had secured the first goal for England in the face of the wind. The sides were quickly changed, and five minutes more had not elapsed before Mr. A. G. Bonsor had secured another. It was thought that Scotland was altogether overmatched by the lively Southerners, and that the game would prove very uninteresting. But Scotland, slower to get away, on the whole less active, pulled themselves together with a will. Suddenly organising a raid, the whole pack rushed on together, and Mr. Renny-Tailyour, by fine play, forced the ball between the posts amidst cheering from Scotland. The fourth goal was also scored by Scotland, but though playing all day with determined pluck and spirit, here the Northern luck ended, and two more goals were secured by Mr. Kenyon-Slaney and Mr. C. J. Chenery. Then, when time was called, out of six goals England had won four, and was, moreover, full of running and activity to the last.

Match Report Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, Sunday, 9 March 1873

If any proof were necessary to evince the growing popularity of the winter game of wielders of the willow, there was sufficient evidence on this occasion to convince the most sceptical that football, if only aided by fine weather, is a game that could take its place among the leading pastimes of the day.
The Scotchmen were opposed to a most formidable eleven, and towards the finish they were certainly overmatched.

In Other News....

It was on 8 March 1873 that William Gladstone, the Prime Minister, met with his Cabinet to discuss the composition of the controversial Irish University Bill, which was eventually defeated in the House of Commons.

Source Notes

The Football Association Yearbook
original newspaper reports
Bryon Butler's The Official History of the Football Association
Douglas Lamming's A Century of English International Football 1872-1988
Douglas Lamming's A Scottish Internationalists' Who's Who 1872-1986
Cris Freddi's England Football Factbook
Nick Gibbs England: The Football Facts
Brian James' England v Scotland
John Maxwell's Scottish International Football Archive (website)
David Rice (ElectricScotland.com)

Andy Mitchell's First Elevens: The birth of international football
Absolute credit must be handed to Andy Mitchell for finding the essential information that is the Match Card, and the long-awaited identity of the Referee.
Jack Rollin's Rothmans Book of Football Records
The Scottish Football Association, Scottish Match Archive
Mark Shaoul & Tony Williamson's Forever England: A History of the National Side
Michael Southwick's Cuthbert Ottaway: England's First Football Captain
The Official History of the England Football Team (DVD)
John Treleven

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