SOME MIGHTY SCOTS
— Billy Bassett | 06/10/1906 —

The Scot has played a great part in English football. As to whether this has been an advantage or a disadvantage to English football it is difficult to say. The question has at least two sides. There can be no doubt whatever that the excessive attention paid to the importation of Scots in the early days of professional football, right away down to the end of the nineties, had a most unfortunate effect upon the cultivation of English talent. It was often said, in palpation of some of the severe defeats which Scotland sustained at the hands of England during the early professional period, that nothing better could be expected since England had drained Scotland of her best blood. Now it would be foolish to argue against that, for it is a hard fact. But I have always thought that if Scotland had made full use of all the wonderful talent which was under the control of English clubs for purely club purposes, but which would doubtless have been available for International purposes, England would have a much worse International record than she now possesses. It is axiomatic that for many years Scotland could have put a team into the field which would have swamped England; but her legislators chose to be unduly conservative, and match after match was lost or drawn which might have been won had the talent associated with English organisations been called upon. I have only to mention such names as N. J. and J. Ross, J. Gordon, G. Drummond, J. Graham, D. Russell, J. Robertson, Hugh Wilson, James Hannah, W. Miller, John Campbell, J. E. Doig, James Cowan, and W. Groves (and I have taken two periods only), to shew what wonderful sides Scotland could have put into the field had she earlier adopted the sensible attitude she took in 1896, when for the first time the help of Anglo-Scots was solicited and was very gladly given.

To say that the taking of these men from Scottish football did not have a very serious effect upon Scottish football would be foolish. But there is another side to the question, from the point of view of England. For many years not the slightest attempt was made to produce English players. I am quite sure that the material was there, but it received no encouragement. The worship of the Scot led to the almost complete disregard of the Englishman; in fact, the Scottish footballer was a fetish which all clubs cherished, and idol to which all clubs bowed down. When a vacancy occurred in an English League team, deputations must needs scour Scotland. Some of the men they brought back were very good, some were very bad; indeed, some of the greatest frauds ever known among football players came across the border with high reputations, and, when tried, were either found to possess no football ability whatever, or else were discovered to be verging on the centenarian stage. I have known a Scottish footballer of moderate ability recommended to various English clubs for every position on the football field! As long as his name had a "Mc" in front of it he was good enough to be bought at a heavy price; and, in the meantime the home product was seriously neglected. We should have had much greater players in England available for International purposes but for the foolish worship of the Scot.

Still, we have had some magnificent Scots associated with English football, and no one is more keenly desirous of doing them justice than I am. I remember some of the best of them. It was my pleasure and privilege to be associated with them either as friend or foe. In thinking of Anglo-Scots the name of Nick Ross at once flashes across one's mind. He was the greatest defensive player I ever encountered; indeed, he was one of the few footballers who were dreaded by opponents. His methods were his own, and when you were playing against Nick Ross you knew that your reputation was in danger. He was a fighting footballer, so to speak; there was nothing of the lamb-like order about his work, and I know many forwards who looked ahead with anything but pleasurable anticipation to meeting him. Playing behind such a fine half-back line as was to be found in the Preston North End team, he was the terror of forwards. When he made up his mind to go for the ball he generally managed to get it. His kicking was magnificent, and his tackling perfect.

Next to Nick Ross as a defensive footballer I should place Walter Arnott, the possessor of a record number of caps against England. He took part in ten consecutive engagements against the Rose, and in a sense he was the most polished back ever known. But there was just that indefinable domineering personality about N. J. Ross which made him a more dreaded opponent than Arnott. No man ever mastered the science of back play better than Arnott did. In 1892 he had a clever companion in my old friend Dan Doyle. I sometimes meet Dan Doyle now after International matches, and it is something to see his broad Irish face light up with pleasure as he encounters an opponent of long ago. Dan Doyle was a great footballer, and as I remember him, in partnership with Andrew Hannah of Everton, he was a power in football.

Another talented Scottish back I recall was Tom Brandon, who played for Scotland in 1896, the last year I had the privilege of participating in the match. Tom Brandon was a magnificent kicker; I have rarely seen a finer. he was then associated with Blackburn Rovers, and was one of the Anglo-Scots called in to supplement the home eleven. Donald Gow was another fine Scottish back, and a wonderful veteran was John Forbes, of Blackburn Rovers, who played for Scotland in 1884, and again in 1887. He was a polished footballer; he is now a flourishing tradesman in Blackburn.

Two of the prettiest Scots I recall, and they were indeed mighty Scots, were McColl and R. C. Hamilton, the Queen's Park centres. Each was associated with the leading amateur club of Scotland, but each supplemented his income by accepting offers from professional organisations. McColl was a fast and clever dribbler, and a born goal-getter. Hamilton had a wonderful control over the ball, and, like McColl, was an adept at flashing through the defence and scoring. No two players of purely modern times have done Scotland greater credit, and no two nicer fellows have worn the Scottish jersey.

One of the finest all-round Scottish footballers I recall was my old clubmate, William Groves. Originally a forward, he developed while staying with West Bromwich Albion into one of the ablest half-backs ever known; indeed, I doubt if there has been a more accomplished half-back than the Celtic man. John Campbell, of Sunderland, who came from Renton in company with James Hannah, was one of the strongest and cleverest centres I have seen. He was most deadly, for he not only had the skill to run through the defence, but he had a physique which enabled him to make short work of anything but a high-class opposition. When he and Miller and Hannah were in the Sunderland front line we saw some of the most perfect football ever played. There were four other mighty Scots in the team — Hugh Wilson, one of the grandest half-backs of all time, and unique as a thrower-in until the two-hands' rule robbed him of some of his advantage; J. R. Auld, an accomplished centre-half; Donald Gow, a fast and clever back who came from a famous Scottish athletic family; and J. E. Doig, whose form in goal for the greater part of twenty years was the admiration of those custodians who came and went, finding Doig supreme when they began, and leaving him still supreme when their football days were numbered.

As one who made a speciality of right-wing forward play, I cannot recall a more dangerous man in that position than J. Gordon, of Preston North End. You generally couple Gordon and Ross, junr., and, indeed, they were great in combination. I doubt if any right-wing pair ever had quite such an understanding. Gordon was very fast. Ross was not especially fast, but he was tricky, and knew the game through and through. Drummond, of the same team, was a great forward. and Graham, Russell, and Robertson may have been equalled as a half-back line, although I sometimes doubt it, but assuredly they have never been surpassed.

We have had some striking forwards from Scotland. John Bell is a veteran of veterans, but he was the life and should of Preston North End last year, and, as I recollect him, I doubt if there have been many more deadly forwards. He was a strong fellow physically, and could hold his own with any back, however powerful. John Campbell, of Aston Villa, was another centre-forward of supreme skill. He was good individually and in combination.

George Livingstone has done invaluable service for Manchester City, and his contemporaries in the Scottish team, Alex Smith, a fleet and neat outside left, and Robert Walker, of the Heart of Midlothian, have been the best men in their respective positions during the last decade. R. M. Christie and Dr. John Smith were, years back, a couple of powerful forwards, and for a long term of years Nick Smith was pre-eminent among Scottish backs. Scotland never had a much finer trio of halves than she had when Neil Gibson, Aitken, and J. T. Robertson were in her team, while to-day Raisbeck, of Liverpool, stands in a class by himself as a centre-half just as James Cowan did of old. All the Hamilton family were great players; so were the Lambies, and Latta was at one time without a superior. McCombie, of Sunderland and Newcaslte, claims to rank as one of the best backs of modern times, and I well remember those superb halves J. Kelly, of Renton and Celtic, and James M'Laren, of the Celtic. McMahon, of the Celtic, was one of the quaintest inside forwards football has ever produced, and an artistic and polished player was William Sellar, who did so much for Queen's Park, both on the field and in the Council Chamber. R. Smellie of Queen's Park was a born captain. I shall never forget some of the great struggles in which I was privileged to be engaged, for I do not think either Scotland or England has ever been much stronger than when it was my great good fortune to be reasonably prominent in football. The Scot is a keen opponent, but he is a good friend; and until you really know a Scot you always under-estimate his hospitality, which, I may say, is boundless.