Storytime
Andrew Watson
He was Scotland’s first international Black football player.

Born on 18 May 1857, in Georgetown Demerara, Guyana. His father was Peter Miller Watson.

Peter was a wealthy sugar plantation owner and his mother was a local Guyanese woman called Hannah Rose.

Andrew moved to Britain with his father and older sister Annetta around the age of 5 or 6 leaving his mother behind in Guyana.

Andrew’s father died in 1869, Andrew and his sister Annetta inherited an estate worth £35,000 - in today’s money a cool £3mil.

Andrew enrolled at the University of Glasgow to study engineering, natural philosophy, and mathematics.

He never finished his studies and he set up a wholesale warehouse business in 1877 - Watson, Miller, and Baird in Glasgow.

He juggled his life between being a wholesale business owner and a football player easily; in 1874 he signed for the Glasgow-based Maxwell.

Shortly after he moved to Govan-based Parkgrove FC where he was also the match secretary.

Andrew’s wealth gave him privilege and access that enabled him to cross barriers that his race would have never afforded.

In reports of him playing football - his race is never mentioned, a rare occurrence given the racist attitudes at the time.

Andrew soon caught the attention of leading figures in English football, and he moved to England to play for Swifts FC who were based in Slough.

Tragedy struck when his wife Jessie died unfortunately in 1882, so Andrew returned to Glasgow with his two young children, they were cared for by Jessie’s family.

Andrew divided his time between Glasgow and London, playing for Queen’s Park and Slough Swifts. As he no longer lived in Scotland full time he was ineligible to play internationally again.

In retirement, Watson returned to London, dying in Kew in 1921 at the age of 64, with his death going largely unnoticed by the football world until 2002.

Scottish football writer Stuart Cosgrove watched a documentary about Black footballers. He noticed the resemblance between Andrew Watson and British poet and writer Malik Al Nasir.

Malik was born Mark Watson but changed his name to Malik Al Nasir when he became Muslim in 1992.

Looking at photos and illustrations of Andrew Watson made Malik think he was looking into a mirror.

“I managed to track down my long-lost family, and my cousins were actually living on land passed directly down from Andrew Watson’s uncle, William Robertson Watson”. Malik said.

Nevertheless, Andrew Watson broke so many barriers and excelled during a time where it was completely unheard of.

We at Adeptales, salute you, Andrew Watson.

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