Guyana SPEAKS: Andrew Watson (1856 - 1921), the World's First Black International Football Player.

Andrew Watson was the son of a Scottish plantation owner, Peter Miller Watson, and a free Guyanese woman of colour, Hannah (or Anna) Rose. The speakers at this Guyana SPEAKS event were: Llew Walker, David Alston & Malik Al Nasir. The moderator was Juanita Cox, Co-Founder of Guyana SPEAKS. NB/ the opening welcome/remarks are missing: this recording starts with Llew Walker. Llew Walker focuses on Andrew Watson's football career. David Alston [go to 19:56 mins] focuses on the Scottish paternal side of Andrew's family and talks about how they forged their lives / made their wealth through plantation slavery in Demerara (a county in present-day Guyana). Malik Al Nasir [go to 39:30 mins] talks about his 'roots quest' back to the slave plantations of Demerara via his father's genealogical connection to the Watson family. Ged O'Brien [go to 55:12] talks about the importance of Andrew Watson's roll as a 'Scotch Professor' who perfected the 'passing and running game' that was to become the World's most important social phenomenon and which replaced England's individualist 'dribbling game' (passing under their rules was seen as cowardice). The 'passing and running' game had been played in different forms by the Scots for 100s of years and was rooted in the spirit of Scottish communitarianism; the clan system in which the individual succeeds through the support of the group. Andrew Watson is considered by Ged O'Brien to be one of five most influential footballers of all time. (PS: A 'Scotch Professor' is the term used for a footballer of extreme skill who plays a passing and running game.) The SPEAKERS BIOS: Llew Walker, is the Chairperson of the Corinthian-Casuals Football Club's Youth Section. They have over 25 teams across all ages and coach the 'Corinthian Spirit' in every team. Corinthian-Casuals are the modern-day version of the club Andrew Watson played for. Walker had originally planned to write an article about Andrew Watson's Corinthian years. But the more he looked the more he realised there was a bigger story and more to his life than had previously been written. That was about three or four years ago. He found himself more recently putting the finishing touches on a book he'd never intended to write: "A Straggling Life: Andrew Watson - The World's First Black International Footballer" (2021)! Walker is actively supporting the renovation of Andrew Watson's grave. David Alston’s "Slaves and Highlanders: Hearing Silenced Histories" – an account of northern Scots and slavery in the Caribbean islands and Guyana – will be published by Edinburgh University Press in 2021. Born and brought up in the Highlands of Scotland, David is a freelance historian and author who has been a youth worker in Toxteth (Liverpool), a schoolteacher in Wallsend (Tyneside), and (in the Highlands) an adult education organiser, a museum curator, a local authority councillor, and chair of an NHS Board. He is among the first Scottish historians to address the issue of Scotland’s involvement with slavery. See https://www.davidalston.info and Slaves & Highlanders: David Alston's research on Highland Scots and the slave plantations of Guyana. Malik Al Nasir is an author, a performance poet and a filmmaker from Liverpool, whose remarkable life has been the subject of much media attention internationally.’ A descendant of the Watson family, Malik started tracing his roots back through slavery over 15 years ago and has made some remarkable discoveries, which have featured on the BBC, as well as in the Times, The Daily Mail and The Wall Street Journal. Malik’s pioneering research has been recognised by Sir Hilary Beckles (Chair CARICOM Commission for slavery reparations), historian David Olusoga, as well as The University of Cambridge. Malik commenced a PhD in history at the University of Cambridge with a full scholarship in Oct 2020 in recognition of the significance of his life story. He is writing two books, one about his life in the care system and his remarkable relationship with Gil Scott-Heron and another about his roots quest back to the slave plantations of Demerara. Twitter / Instagram : @malikandtheogs Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/malikandtheogs/ Blog : http://malikandtheogs.blogspot.com/ Ged O’Brien is a legendary Chief Historian, with encyclopaedic knowledge of Hampden, Football and sport (https://hampdencollection.com/chief-historian/). Guyana SPEAKS was fortunate enough to have him as a member of the audience. Guyana SPEAKS is held on the last Sunday of every month at 2pm. For details about their regular events and their one-off specials, please go to their facebook page or twitter @JCWestmaas. You can ask to receive programme information by email - contact guyanaspeaks@gmail.com. The co-Founders of Guyana SPEAKS are husband and wife team, Juanita Cox & Rod Westmaas.