Who was Andrew Watson? Google's Doodle explained

Andrew Watson is being celebrated by Google on the October 18 Doodle on the site.

A Scottish footballer who lived between 1856 and 1921, Watson is now widely considered to be the world's first black person to play association football at international level. 

Arthur Wharton has also been credited as being the first black professional footballer – though Watson's career predated him by over a decade.

Who was Andrew Watson?

Born in Demerara, British Guiana (part of the mainland British West Indies), Watson played for Maxwell before joining local side Parkgrove, where he was also the club's match secretary, making him the first black administrator in football. While there, he played alongside another black player, Robert Walker.

In 1880, he was selected to represent Glasgow against Sheffield and later that year, he signed for Queen's Park – then Britain's largest football team – becoming their secretary the following November. He led the team to two consecutive Scottish Cup wins in 1881 and 1882, becoming the first black player to win a major competition.

In 1882, he moved to London to became the first black player to play in the English Cup, joining the Swifts, before turning out for more amateur clubs, Pilgrims, Brentwood, and London Caledonians.

In 1887, Merseyside club Bootle signed Watson. Tony Onslow wrote in The Forgotten Rivals. A History of Bootle Football Club that the club pulled off "the biggest coup in Merseyside" by signing the Scotland international player.

Watson's first Scotland cap came against England in London in 1881, where he captained the side to a 6-1 win. That's still a record home defeat for England.

Watson retired to London around 1910 and died of pneumonia in 1921. He is buried in Richmond Cemetery.