Every World Cup final. Every night your country broke your heart. All of it traces back to one afternoon on a cricket pitch in Glasgow.
THE DESK — NOTES & REMARKS
Franchise opener for a new evergreen strand. England 1872 shirt photograph credited to Hmickey (CC BY-SA 4.0), National Football Museum.
THE LOWDOWN — THE FULL HISTORY
THE DAY
30 November 1872, Hamilton Crescent, Partick — the West of Scotland Cricket Club's ground. Scotland 0–0 England: the first official international football match ever played.
THE CROWD
Four thousand people paid a shilling each, the same price as that year's FA Cup final. Kick-off was delayed twenty minutes by rain.
THE TEAMS
England fielded eight forwards. All eleven Scots came from a single club, Queen's Park — and passed the ball as a team.
THE RECOGNITION
FIFA recognises this match as international football's match number one.
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THE TERRACES — DISCUSSION
The argument also lives in the YouTube comments ↗.