Scotch Professors

The origin of the name was based upon the distinctive Scottish style of play – described at the time as being “combination football” [1] – which was centred upon a passing game with greater teamwork as opposed to the individualistic, dribbling style common in England at the time. It was this distinctive style of football – which has been described as "changing the nature of soccer" – which had become the hallmark of the Scottish game of the era.[2][3] The ability of the Scottish players, their apparently superior technique,[4] and the nature of their play impressed English spectators during the Scotland – England international fixtures which had been taking place since 1872 and led to a great number of Scots players moving south to play professionally for English clubs once this became legal in 1885.

This trend was, along with professionalism generally, bitterly opposed by much of the Scottish footballing establishment and media. The latter saw the Professors described as “Traitorous wretches” and “base mercenaries” in the press with the Scottish Football Association blacklisting players known to have played professionally.[5] However professionalism was eventually established in Scottish football in 1893 although Scotland’s most powerful club and founders of both the passing and international game, Queen's Park, initially refused to participate in the new professional league (not joining until 1900) and remained committed to the amateur principles even after entering into competition with professional clubs.[3][6] They remained an amateur club until 2019, when its membership voted to end that status in November of that year.

The impact made upon English football by these Scots players was immediate and wide-ranging. For instance, the famous Corinthians football club of London were founded purely to emulate the Scottish game and to allow the English national team to challenge Scottish dominance which had seen the Scots defeat the English by scores of 7–2, 6–1 and 5–1 between the years 1878–1882.[7] The first English team to win the Championship and Cup "double", Preston North End, did so with a majority of their team being made up of Scottish players as did the Sunderland side which won 3 English Championships between 1892 and 1895 while the first Liverpool team to take to the field in 1892 was made up entirely of Scots.[7]

The wealthy miner Samuel Tyzack, who alongside and shipbuilder Robert Turnbull funded the Sunderland A.F.C. "team of all talents," often pretended to be a priest while scouting for players in Scotland, as Sunderland's recruitment policy in Scotland enraged many Scottish fans. In fact, the whole Sunderland lineup in the 1895 World Championship was made from entirely Scottish players.[8]

The “Scotch Professors” were known also for spreading the game – both football generally and “combination” team passing style of play for which they were known – internationally with prominent Scots players of the time playing major roles in the introduction of football across the British Empire, Europe, South America (particularly Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil) and to China .[5][7][9]

• Queen's Park
• Football in Scotland
• Football in England
• History of Football
• C. W. Alcock
• England v Scotland (1870)