1872–73 in Scottish football

1872–73 in Scottish football
Teams in the FA Cup
Queen's Park

Season 1872–73 was the first in Scottish football in which the national team participated in officially recognised matches. There were as yet no organised domestic competitions.

Queen's Park continued to be pioneers in the development of the sport in Scotland. As in the previous season, they entered for the FA Cup, albeit they failed to play any active part in this season's tournament.

Their most significant action in the 1872–73 season was to help initiate the birth of international football, organising the Scotland side which took on England in what is considered the first "official" international match.

In recognition of the travel difficulties they faced in reaching South East England, where the other entrants were all based, Queen's were allowed a bye directly through to the semi-finals, where they were drawn against Oxford University, however Queen's were still unable to finance the journey and withdrew from the competition.

Queen's Park: (R1) Bye; (R2) Bye; (R3) Bye; (QF) Bye; (SF) Oxford University (A) - Queen's Park withdrew

This season saw the first official international match take place against England. Whilst a series of "England v Scotland" matches organised by C. W. Alcock had taken in London over the previous two years, these matches were never considered truly representative, with the Scottish sides being composed almost entirely of London residents. In 1872, Queen's Park, as Scotland's leading club, took it upon themselves to organise what has entered the history books as the first "official" international, despite the fact there was as yet no Scottish Football Association to sanction it. Appropriately enough, the match was arranged for St Andrew's Day, and the West of Scotland Cricket Club's ground at Hamilton Crescent in Partick was selected as the venue. A crowd of approximately 4,000 people attended on the day, although the time of the match had been delayed by fog.

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