Unlike today’s England team, they earned nothing, didn’t own a single car between them, and their idea of bling was a fob watch. Although England and Scotland had met a five times previously, the 1872 match is considered the first official football game between two national teams. The match was played at the West of Scotland Cricket Ground in Patrick, Scotland.

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The previous matches were considered unofficial as virtually all the players representing Scotland came from the London area, but were of Scottish descent. This led to a degree of resentment north of the border that the Scotch team did not contain enough home grown players. Charles Alcock, who was the F.A. secretary at the time, subsequently issued another challenge for England to play a Scottish team drawn from Scotch clubs. Queens Park, Scotland’s leading club at the time, responded to the challenge, and the match was arranged for St. Andrews Day. The England team was selected by Alcock, and comprised of players from nine different English clubs. Alcock himself had hoped to play, but was sidelined with injury. With 4,000 spectators in attendance, who each paid the one shilling entrance fee, the match kicked off. Reports indicate that Scotland pushed England hard. They had two advantages: that they were playing on home soil, and that they all came from the same club and thus knew each others styles of play. Both sides displayed a heavy reliance of dribbling the ball rather than passing play. England are said to have played poorly as a team in the first half, but in the second they left nothing to be desired in that respect. Scotland had a goal disallowed early on (the first ever case for goaline technology?), and were unlucky not to score when a shot just cleared the tape as time wound up. In the end, despite a combined presence of 14 attacking players (common at the time), the game ended in a 0-0 draw.

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Achievements: 3 wins, 3 draws vs Scotland in the first internationals

Star player: Cuthbert Ottaway DoB 19 July 1850, Dover, England

The son of a surgeon and educated at Eton, Ottaway was a star centre forward in the eight man attacks that were generally all the rage in Victorian times. He was described as an elegant dribbler, “fast and very skilful in piloting the ball”. Ottaway was known for relying more on his skill on the ball than most players of the period, who favoured rough play, body checking and hacking. Another observer wrote, "His beautiful science exhibited the manner in which a ball ought to be taken through a host of foes." Despite being well regarded by his teammates, there is evidence that he was somewhat snobbish, which wasn’t uncommon among men of that class and time. He was captain of England in the first international match against Scotland, and it was noted that none of the southern players would speak to him. Like many athletes of the time, he was an all-rounder who excelled at cricket, racquets, athletics and tennis as well as football. His greatest successes came in football, and between 1873 and 1875, he played in three successive FA Cup finals. As was often the case back then, Ottaway turned out for several teams including Old Etonians, Oxford University, Crystal Palace and Marlow. In the 1875 FA Cup final, Ottaway was hacked and received a severe injury to his ankle. Forced to vacate the field, his team drew 1-1. He was still injured for the replay in which his side lost several other players due to other commitments. The team showed up at the ground an hour late and lost 2-0. There is no evidence that Ottaway played senior football again after this incident. Ottaway was also an excellent cricketer and toured Canada with the England cricket team where he met his future wife. He scored two first class centuries in his cricket career and played in the Gentlemen vs Players match three times, the highest honor for a cricketer prior to The Ashes. He trained as a barrister and practiced law until he died, apparently from complications of a chill after a nights dancing.