Sorry - but I do not understand the point you are making.

5 of 5 So what? We now know from an enemy: the Rev. Wood - that parishes regularly played against one another. I have a mad idea. Let’s call these parish groups... TEAMS. Well - I’ll go to the foot of our stairs. People associating to play regular Football. Thanks Charlie, you dissembling doofus.

4 of 5 ‘FREQUENTLY [...] between two parishes.’ Up to the early 1800s and logically - centuries before, local parishes played one another ALL THE TIME, AT FIXED INTERVALS. Not sorry for shouting. So - this has to mean agreed sets of rules, teams, length of play, method of play. Now do you see?

3 of 5 ...and their place is well supplied by the not less interesting, and far less exceptionable amusement of curling.” Phew! That was close. Who hasn’t enjoyed a game of curling in Summer? /s OK - so he hates Football. That is good. He isn’t biased in our favour when he lets slip some pure gold.

2 of 5 Next up is the Rev. Charles Wood re Wiston, in Lanarkshire. ‘Not very many years ago, cock- fighting and foot-ball were favourite amusements in this district, and were frequently made the subject of a trial of strength between two rival parishes. They are now sunk into merited oblivion,...

4 of 4 So what? We can go back to 1574 as our earliest documented date of groups of people (let’s call them ‘teams’) playing football. Teams from different areas, coming together at specified times. Wonder no more, whence McGregor got his ‘League’ idea. Not consciously - but the culture is there.

3 of 4 ...muster tearmd my Lord Lovats train-band.’ A great many self-identified groups of men come together to do the same thing and play football. As to picking teams - well - that will have been easy. Scots playing one another in teams under the League Secretary erm I mean the Lord Lovat.

2 of 4 ‘So that not onely the young men of the name of Fraser got good occassion of disciplin and education by this meanes, but many mo of the adjacent clans out of emulation flockt in, the Monroes, the Rosses, Mackenzies, M’kintoshes, Cerr keeping set dayes of exercise weekely, and the whole...

4 of 4 So what? Football flourished with new clubs like Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth, Reading, Swindon Town, Millwall Athletic, Queens Park Rangers, Bristol City and Bristol Rovers. Three London clubs who showed that the English capital was actually #scotchprofessor mad. Nae luck, Alcock.

3 of 4 That will be the Southampton packed with the #scotchprofessor A club playing teams like Brighton Utd packed with the... ach you get the message. Even with Arsenal gone and there not being much hope of following them, the Southern League flourished with the #scotchprofessor and money.

2 of 4 What a curious decision, given that the Southern League was professional to its bootlaces. It was there to get the game going in the South. Another #scotchprofessor link was the 2nd Scots Guards. They joined the SL and then withdrew before playing a game - allowing 8 year old Southampton in.

4 of 4 So what? Arsenal went professional. They became a limited company in 1893. The London FA (the real one - founders Charles Alcock and Lord Kinnaird) took notice. Arsenal moved to the EFL Div 2 in 1894. A southern island in Midlands and Northern football. Others were to take the hint.

3 of 4 They played Derby County in the English Cup 17 Jan 1891. About 8,000 watched. Arsenal lost 2-0. Derby County tried to sign three players from Arsenal after the game. One of them was the #scotchprofessor Peter Connolly from Kirkcaldy. Why wouldn’t you? Amateurs have no contracts.

2 of 4 Danskin worked at the Royal Ordnance Factory, Woolwich in the south-east of London. The history of southern English football is a story within a story. It is the tale of clubs being founded and then hobbled by the amateur dafties at headquarters. Arsenal were amateurs by compulsion.

4 of 4 So what? He was a decent man, in a time of craven duplicity. Punished for playing against a professional team, when the dogs in the street knew professionals existed in Scotland. His final comment was sadly true: ‘I back the bawbees [money] to win’. Thank God he isn’t watching FIFA.

3 of 4 Under the pseudonym J. Miller, he fell foul of a ruling he called ‘judicial imbecility’. He recognised the honesty of England accepting the reality of paid players. There must be more to it. Had he annoyed the SFA by revealing their hypocrisy? Smart man. Medical doctor when he retired.

2 of 4 What terrible crime did he commit? He had played for Corinthians against professional teams. Oh the irony! And bizarre illogicality. This is a man who had scored ten times in ten internationals, had the first ever hat-trick in a Scottish Cup Final and had played in an English Cup Final.