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Fullname: Robert Scott
aka: Bob Scott
Born: 2 October 1870
Died: 25 August 1952
Birthplace: Airdrie
Signed: April 1893 (loan)
Position: Inside-left Forward
Debut: Celtic 3-0 Rangers, League, 29 April 1893
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 1 (v Ireland)
International Goals: 0
Biog
Inside-left Robert Scott made a solitary appearance for the Bhoys while on a one game loan from Airdrie, and what a key match he was to play in. He was reputedly noted for his “fierce low shots“.
Robert Scott’s appearance came in place of Mick Mulvey in the home league tie with Rangers on 29th April 1893 with Celtic running out comfortable 3-0 winners in a must win game to decide the title race late in the season with three games remaining. So, he played a part that helped Celtic to the club’s first league title.
In many ways that victory was vitally important, as Celtic went on to win the league title by just one point over Rangers. That 3-0 victory over Rangers is regarded to have effectively sealed the title, with Celtic winning the remaining three league matches. So Robert Scott got to play a role in a very pivotal match, so a great one to look back on.
Such one game loan deals were not uncommon at the time and after the match Robert Scott returned to Airdrie where he went on to become a Scotland international (played in a 2-1 victory over Ireland (IFA) in Belfast in 1894). Scotland won the Home Internationals series that season, so a fine claim for Robert Scott. Airdrie were elected to join the Scottish League Division Two setup in 1894-95. Likely the form of players like Robert Scott from the guest appearances helped to expedite this move.
Sadly Robert Scott only was to play one first team match each for Scotland & Celtic, but he still managed achievements most of the rest of us can only dream of: a winning match with Celtic v Rangers, part of a top tier league winning side and winning the home internationals season (then the premier & only major international football competition).
Robert Scott’s brother, Matthew Scott, also played for Airdrie and played for Scotland in 1898. His brother went on to have a brief career at Newcastle Utd, but returned home to play for Airdrie and then Albion Rovers. Both are in the Airdrie Hall of Fame.
Robert Scott suffered a broken leg just before the turn of the century (1899) which effectively ended his playing career. Robert Scott was a stalwart at Airdrie and remained with the club throughout his playing career (excluding the guest appearance for Celtic and once also with Third Lanark in 1899). He scored 207 goals in around 300 games for the club, making him one of the great Scottish goalscorers of any era, and maybe can be classed as the greatest loanee ever to Celtic of whom the general support little know about.
Sadly his brother also suffered similarly, when Matthew Scott sustained a “serious wound to the right shin bone“, and following this injury Matthew Scott also was forced to retire from football prematurely in 1903.
He lived all his life in the Airdrie area, and worked as a foreman engine fitter.
He passed away after a long life in 1952.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1893 | 1 | 0 | n/a | n/a | 1 |
| Goals: | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 |
Honours with Celtic
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Notes
- Might be able to get player picture via SFA website but not found one online so far, or in Andy Leitch’s book on Scottish internationals (“Men who made Scotland”).
- Must be able to get one off of Airdrie, but pic not here yet: https://www.airdriefc.com/hall-of-fame
Articles
BOB SCOTT
Source: https://www.airdriefc.com/1516news/020416/Greatest-XI—9.-Striker
1888-1898
Bob Scott was turning out occasionally for the Airdrie reserve side, and sometimes when we fielded a “scratch” XI, as early as 1885/86 when he was a 15 year-old left-back. He graduated to the first-team in the final few weeks of 1887/88, by which time Coatbridge Albion had converted him to an inside-left.
He made a real impact in 1888/89, and such was his obvious talent that he was selected to play for the Lanarkshire F.A. in February, 1889, and scored a hat-trick on debut. He added another nine of those in his ten years with Airdrieonians, including four goals in our record 15-1 Division Two win over Dundee Wanderers in 1894. A few months earlier he had captained the side in our first Scottish League fixture at Motherwell, and netted the club’s first league goal at Broomfield.
He took the accolade of leading goalscorer in four of his seasons with the club, and was joint top-scorer in two others. In that first league campaign of ours he set the standard when he found the net in each of seven consecutive Division Two games. He was chosen to play in the S.F.A.’s international trial of March, 1890, while he was still a teenager, but had to wait another four years before he won that coveted full Scotland cap against Ireland. A broken leg sustained in a league match against Motherwell on Christmas Eve, 1898, brought his career to a premature close.
He had played just over 300 games for Airdrieonians, and scored 207 goals – how much higher those totals could have been but for that derby day heartbreak when he had just turned 28.