Four years on from the time that Jimmy Quinn beat England more or less on his own (although the modest Jimmy would have denied that), England were back to play at Hampden on 4 April 1914.
It was a year in which Scottish domestic football was dominated by Celtic who were now, arguably, as good as the 1908 team had been – and that was saying something! In a fortnight’s time, Celtic would win the Scottish League and Cup double.
Unfortunately, Celtic’s star player of 1914 was an Irishman, Patsy Gallacher, and he could not play for Scotland, but three other Celts were in the Scotland team – Eck McNair and Joe Dodds, the full backs, and the wily Napoleon – Jimmy McMenemy, the evergreen entertainer of an inside forward who had been with them since 1902 and whose footballing ability seemed to grow every year.
One or two other Celtic players might have felt that they were worth a Scotland place, but the three Celtic men were complemented by Jimmy Brownlie of Third Lanark in the goal, Jimmy Gordon and Willie Reid of Rangers, Jimmy Croal of Falkirk and four Anglo-Scots, one of whom needed no introduction. This was James “Dun” Hay, captain of the great Celtic side of 1908 and now playing for Newcastle United.
The crowd at Hampden was predictably huge with well over 100,000 there, and they saw a fine game on a good day. “Brigadier” of The Daily Record (whose edition on the Monday devotes 3 pages out of 12 to the game) apologises to James Hay for doubting the wisdom of his selection and singles out Jimmy McMenemy as the outstanding player in an outstanding team. Charlie Thomson, once of Hearts but now of Sunderland opened the scoring with a fierce 30 yard drive early on, but Harold Fleming of Swindon Town equalised before half time.
But Scotland had been the better team in the first half and now in the second half Napoleon took command. First he brought out a save at the base of the post from Sam Hardy of Aston Villa, which might just have crossed the line, but Referee Mr Bamlett gave him the benefit of the doubt.
But then there was no mistake a few minutes later when McMenemy lost his marker at a corner kick and volleyed the ball home to “rattle the rigging in a merry way”, as The Daily Record put it. With Hampden now heaving and McMenemy running the game “like the conductor of an orchestra”, the game was as good as won, and this was confirmed with about 20 minutes to go when McMenemy shot for goal from well outside the penalty box, the ball hit the bar, and Willie Reid of Rangers rushed in and tapped in the rebound.*
There was now no way back for England with even the great Jesse Pennington admitting in later years that he had never seen anything like McMenemy. It is to be hoped that Scottish supporters enjoyed this great triumph in 1914, for dark days were fast approaching. It may be however that when Scottish soldiers met their English counterparts in France or elsewhere, this match managed to wind its way into the conversation! It kept a lot of people going, but sadly out of the huge crowd, many would never see a major football match again.
David Potter
Saturday, 4 April – 1914 – Match: International, British Championship, at Hampden Park, kick-off: 15:00.
Scotland – England 3-1 (1-1).
Attendance: 127,307; gate receipt: £6,000.
Referee: Mr. H.S. Bamlett; linesmen: Messrs. D. Campbell (Scotland) and M. Bilston (England).
Scotland (2-3-5): James Brownlie (Third Lanark); Alex McNair (Celtic), Joe Dodds (Celtic); James Gordon (Rangers, captain), Charles Thomson (Sunderland), Jimmy Hay (Newcastle United); Alex Donaldson (Bolton Wanderers), James McMenemy (Celtic), Willie Reid (Rangers), Jimmy Croal (Falkirk), Joe Donnachie (Oldham Athletic).
England (2-3-5): Sam Hardy (Aston Villa); Bob Crompton (Blackburn Rovers, captain), Jesse Pennington (West Bromwich Albion); Albert Sturgess (Sheffield United), Joe McCall (Preston North End), Bobby McNeal (West Bromwich Albion); Fanny Walden (Tottenham Hotspur), Harold Fleming (Swindon Town), Harry Hampton (Aston Villa), Joe Smith (Bolton Wanderers), Eddie Mosscrop (Burnley).
The goals: 1-0 Thompson (4 min.), 1-1 Fleming (16 min.), 2-1 McMenemy (51 min.), 3-1 Reid (65 min.).
Match photos as the appeared in Daily Record are shown below…
- David Potter’s new book Alec McNair – Celtic’s Icicle is out now and after the initial print run completely sold out, will be back in stock on Friday. Thanks to everyone who has ordered and are awaiting copies. All remaining orders will be posted out immediately by first class post.
