Shannateurisnn

By the 1870s it was dear that what would later be dubbed “shamateurism” was rife. Teams were vying for the best players, and it was inevitable that inducements would be offered. There was a game of cat-and-mouse between the dubs and the Football Association. The clubs found all manner of means to reward their players. These included giving nominal jobs which required litde, if any, work to be done; putting money into players’ boots on match days; and having phoney sets of accounts which would suggest to any enquiring eyes that everything was above board.

For a time the FA stood firm. In 1882 the Association reaffirmed its commitment to an amateur game, with payments strictly limited to out-of-pocket expenses. While the dubs made it difficult for the authorities to prove any imderhand dealings, they did sometimes slip up. One of the victims was Accrington, who were thrown out of the FA after being found guilty of paying one of their players. Another was Preston, who were disqualified from die FA Cup after brazenly admitting to a misdemeanour that virtually every club was guilty of The same issue was affecting rugby, and along the same geographical lines. In the case of the handling code, the rival camps became so entrenched that many northern clubs eventually broke away and established a new professional game; Rugby League was born.

FA relents

Football came close to suffering the same kind of split which divided rugby down the middle. Manual workers at that time might have earned one or two pounds a week, and although more liberal employment laws had been introduced, for many Saturday was still just another working day. Matters came to a head in October 1884, when a number of northern clubs banded together with a view to setting up a professional football league. In July the following year the FA relented. The administrators initially tried to impose caveats and restrictions, imposing a two-year residence rule to prevent clubs from importing star players for Cup matches. But the door was now ajar and it was soon fully opened. The age of the professional footballer had officially begun.

England’s first international

The 1870s also saw international football take off Five England-Scotland matches were staged between 1870 and 1872, but these took the form of London-based players from north and south of the border taking part in representative fixtures. Once again it was Charles Alcock who was the driving force behind these encounters. The first international proper between the two countries

Took place on 30 November 1872. Alcock initially set a midweek date for the match, rearranging it for a Saturday when he realised that Scottish players and spectators might not have the same independent means that he and his team enjoyed.

The match took place at the West of Scotland cricket ground, Partick. At that time cricket enjoyed a higher profile than football in Scodand and the formation of the SFA was still a year away. One of the country’s leading clubs. Queen’s Park, thus took responsibility for organizing the team to take on England. A crowd of just over 2000 paid a shilling apiece to watch the match, which ended in a goalless draw. The embryonic state of Scottish football was illustrated by the fact that the photographer who was due to record the event wanted a guarantee that he would be able to sell his prints. No guarantee was forthcoming and the photographer thus withdrew, seeing little market for such pictures. Nevertheless, the game created a lot of interest in Scotland. It wasn’t long before football, which could be played on almost any patch of ground, supplanted cricket as bodi a participation and spectator sport.