Evening Times: Glasgow man revealed as founding member of top club

A GLASGOW man was one of the founding members of the first football club in Spain.

Evening Times - October 11 2012

New evidence unearthed by historians has revealed that Hugh MacColl was the first captain of Sevilla Football Club – the first club dedicated to the beautiful game in Spain.

Hugh, who was born in Apsley Place on the South Side in June 1861 and moved to Seville with his job as a marine engineer to work as the technical manager of the Portilla White foundry, was in the starting 11 for the first official football match ever played in Spain.

Sevilla FC was founded in 1890 and an article by a Spanish correspondent in the Dundee Courier’s edition of March 17, 1890, mentions the formation of the club.

Javier Terenti, from the history department at Sevilla FC, said: “Although before that, there were some pieces of evidence that suggested the possibility that the club had been formed in 1890, it has not been until now that we can be sure that we are, in fact, the oldest Spanish club specifically devoted to football, and all thanks to the British people.”

Hugh’s colleague Isaias White junior organised a match to celebrate the foundation of the club. Their first official match – and the first for Spain – took place on March 8, 1890 and Sevilla won 2-0.

Hugh is believed to have started work as an apprentice with Napiers, then worked for Cunard before joining Howden in Glasgow as chief draughtsman.

He spent six years in Spain, before returning to the UK.

In Spain, Hugh changed his name to Hugo – a name he kept for the rest of his life.

Hugh was married to Maude MacCarthy and had two sons. Hugh Geoffrey and James Eugene.

Hugh senior died on August 31, 1915, while on holiday in Glasgow, but it is not known where he was buried.

Javier Terenti said: “In 2007 Sevilla Football Club visited Glasgow, in a sort of tribute to our club’s first captain, winning our second Uefa Cup.

“Next January the club will be 123 years old and we feel really proud of our origins.”

Carlos Romero, director of the Sevilla Football Club’s History Department, added: “We would be honoured to let your city know about the fact that the first captain and one of the founders of the oldest club in Spain specifically devoted to football practice was from Glasgow."

Published by Matty Sutton
Evening Times