Third Lanark AC

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Argentine Tour 16th May - 4th August 1923

The squad, including a sprinkling of guest players from other clubs, left Glasgow for Southampton on Saturday 16th May 1923 to become the first football missionaries to visit South America.  From Southampton the ship called at Cherbourg, Coruna, Vigo and Lisbon, the latter two ports reminding some in the party of Thirds visit to Portugal in 1912.

Their tour record was:

Goal scorers:

     McInally 3; T. Ferguson 3; Archibald 2; Hillhouse 1; Rae 1; Reid 1; Glancy 1

Squad:

     From Thirds

           F.Orr, H. McKenna, R. Wilson, J. Walker, A. Reid, T. McInally, W. Hillhouse, J. Mitchell.

     Guest Players

          T. Ferguson & T. Glancy (both Falkirk), R. Orrock (Alloa), W.Frame & H. Rae (both Clyde), J. Steel (Hamilton), H. Ferguson (Motherwell) ........and R. Archibald (Raith Rovers).

A remarkable statistic of this tour was it's duration of seventy eight days and only eight games played.  Of course this would be explained by the tiring mode of travel.  Interestingly only eight of the squad were Thirds players, with the rest coming from other teams.  Were they all single or did they have accommodating wives?  How did they manage as part timers being away from their day to day jobs?  Statistics might show that they took nearly three seasons to recover from this trip.

The opening match against an Argentine Select provided the visitors with many clues as to the style and temperament of the South American players.  The volatile atmosphere in the Palermo Stadium with over twenty thousand fans screaming for victory certainly set the scene.  Local football fever was high and the blazing hot sun did nothing to lower the temperatures on and off the field. 

At one point in the match Thirds had been awarded a corner kick, much to the disgust of the locals.  Their reaction was instant and the pitch was quickly covered in debris of all sorts.  The missiles thrown included a variety of knives and live ammunition and ultimately lead to the Thirds players walking off the park in protest.  Not surprisingly they were encouraged to return and complete the match being assured that the crowd reaction was quite normal for South American fans.

The Argentine Select played some attractive football but they did not take too kindly to the tough tackling tourists.  A draw was as much a political need as a fair result.

Despite finishing in seventeenth place in the old First Division the club had made a profit of £350 in season 22/23 and the board acknowledged this achievement and rewarded the players, if you can call it that, by planning this trip of a lifetime.  Clearly it was felt that the players efforts were worthy of this recognition.

The original reason for the tour and it's ultimate acceptance by Thirds is an interesting one.  Apparently it was a fact at that time that wherever a few Scottish exiles gathered abroad and this had happened in Buenos Aires.  The San Andreans were anxious to provide amenities for a private school for the use of young Scots.  Their officials quickly realised that a visit from a Scottish football team could help considerately in the raising of the necessary funds for such a project.  They quickly contacted the Argentine F.A. and the tour was arranged.  Click here to see a copy of the original letter of negotiation.