SFA and former club of Scotland hero urged to help with grave restoration project

Family of Joseph Taylor, a player in the nation’s ‘First Eleven’, appeal for donations

Colin Taylor, far right, with his cousin Alex and Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon (middle) during an event in November 2022 to mark the 150th anniversary of the first-ever international match contested by Scotland and England. The Taylors' great grandfather Joseph played for Scotland in the goalless draw at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

Joseph Taylor was one of Scotland’s first football stars but his grave, rediscovered by his family in 2012, is in need of urgent attention.

He represented Scotland against England in the first-ever international match in 1872, the belated anniversary of which was celebrated last year when the teams met at Hampden, before going on to play six times in total for his country, including the first five clashes with the Auld Enemy.

He also wore the captain’s armband at Queen’s Park and lifted the first three Scottish Cups from 1874, with the 150th anniversary of the maiden success falling in March.

A historical poster during an event to mark the 150th anniversary of the first Scotland v England international fixture in 1872 at the West of Scotland Cricket Ground, on November 30, 2022, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

Now the family of a key player in Scotland’s “First Eleven” have appealed for donations after launching a JustGiving crowdfunding appeal to restore their ancestor's final resting place near Hampden Park.

Joseph Taylor, who died from pleurisy in 1888 aged just 37, is one of only two members of that historically significant side buried in Glasgow.

Taylor’s great-grandson Colin is coordinating the restoration work on the plot at Cathcart cemetery and still needs nearly £1500 to cover the cost of the work. The current total raised stands at just over £1000.

Colin and his cousin Alex plan to attend Queen’s Park’s game against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on 13 April at Hampden to coincide with the official unveiling. Taylor was also a former president of Queen’s Park, who hosted a benefit match against Third Lanark after his death that attracted a crowd of 7,000 and raised over £100 for his widow and four sons.

Colin is hopeful the Scottish Football Association and Queen’s Park, again, will contribute to the family project. In the case of the former, the initiative seems well-timed given the significance of the year. Taylor's modern-day successors will be kicking off Euro 2024 against hosts Germany in June, when the eyes of Europe will be on them.

“There is not even a photograph of the day it all began all those years ago,” says Colin, with reference to the goalless draw against England at Hamilton Crescent, site of the West of Scotland cricket ground.

Only an artist’s etchings exist of the afternoon international football was born. Efforts to preserve one of only ten known graves of the first-ever Scotland team are reaching a critical stage at the start of an important - and rewarding - year for the SFA. "It is my priority," says Colin. "But it might not be a priority for them, I understand that."

Like many who fought in the war, Colin's father - Taylor's grandson - could be a taciturn man. His son now regrets not mining him for more information.

“You can’t go back in time,” he says. “You can only try and do what’s right for the future, which is what I am trying to do with the gravestone really - ensure there’s a constant reminder for future generations. For Scotland fans it’s a massive thing, Scotland were there right at the start!"

Colin and Alex kicked-off a reenactment of the first international match in November 2022 and they were guests at last year’s '150th anniversary heritage friendly', when England beat Scotland 3-1. Despite growing up in England, they were firmly behind the hosts. “I was sitting right next to Joe Jordan the whole game, with Alex McLeish next to him," says Colin, a keen Aston Villa fan. "I had to apologise to Alex for the way some Villa fans treated him!" he adds.

Having only re-discovered the whereabouts of the grave in 2012, the family are keen not to see it deteriorate further. Work is due to begin early this year. At present, the plot has been cordoned off due to the risk of collapse.

“We are having the gravestone stabilised,” Colin explains. “It is leaning forward somewhat by quite a few degrees. There are (football heritage) walks that go on up there with other famous football figures buried nearby. It would be nice to include it in the walks that people do.

“We have to stabilise it first of all, before we can do anything else. That means the old heavy Victorian headstone has to be taken out of the ground with a crane. It needs a new foundation put in place and then the stone reset vertically on the foundation.”

Perhaps the greatest headache is a pleasant one - how to fit all his great grandfather's achievements onto the small granite plinth being erected at the front of the plot to detail his career. “I have a rough idea of the wording," says Colin. "It will obviously include the fact he played in the first international. He was Queen’s Park captain, Scotland captain on two occasions – he was their third-ever skipper! I want to try to include as much as I can in the hundred odd characters we can put on there. I also have to find space for a lion rampant, that's key to the whole journey.”

Not only did Taylor, a full back, excel in these early days of association football, but he was also a distinguished sprinter. As a recently unearthed obituary that ran in the Scottish Referee, a sports-only weekly newspaper, in January 1889 put it, “Good men leave an impression on their own time, and for that matter of it, on all time". The writer added: "Few men in the history of the sport of which it is our province to write have left a deeper, or one more abiding impression than the subject of this sketch.”

After consumption took hold, he "lingered rather than lived”. But, the tribute continues, “those who knew him best loved him most, and those who knew him least wished to know him more".

Those wishing to donate to the project can do so here

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/colin-taylor-3?utm_term=XZPkJWyev