Scotland and the 1930 World Cup

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Bartholomew "Bart" McGhee | Forward

Bart McGhee was born on 30 April 1899 in Edinburgh and was raised in a footballing family as his father, James McGhee, had captained Hibernian to their Scottish Cup victory in 1887 and had also turned out for Celtic before managing Hearts during the 1908-09 season. James would emigrate to the United States in 1910 and would be joined by his family in 1912 where they settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Bart began to play soccer at amateur level aged 19 with his first club being New York Shipbuilding. His brother Jimmy would also play for clubs in the Philadelphia area, such as Harrison SC and Philadelphia Field Club and the 2 brother would even play together with Wolfenden Shore. His last amateur club would be Philadelphia Hibernian whom he played for during the 1921-22 season. 

Bart would turn professional in 1922 when he signed with the New York Field Club in the American Soccer League where he would score 23 goals in 48 games over 2 seasons. A single season with Philly based Fleisher Yarn followed before he returned to New York to sign with the New York Nationals in 1925.

At the Nationals, Bart was part of a team that would have tremendous success in American Soccer. They would win the National Challenge Cup in 1928 and followed this by winning the ASL Cup, or the Lewis Cup as it was known, the following year. The club would change it's named to New York Giants and went on to win the ASL Championship in 1931. In the 6 years that he featured for the Nationals / Giants, Bart would score 97 goals and make over 250 appearances. 

In 1930 his form saw him selected to represent the United States national team at the first ever FIFA World Cup in Uruguay. He would score the US' first goal in their 3-0 opening win over Belgium. This was also the 2nd ever World Cup goal and it would also unofficially make Bart the 1st Scotsman to score at a World Cup. After the World Cup he would retire from football just a couple of years later and remained in the United States for the rest of his life.

Bart passed away on 26 January 1979 at the age of 79 and would be posthumously inducted into the US Soccer Hall of Fame in 1986 with his 1930 team mates. 

His career stats show that he played in 350 league matches, scoring 127 goals which almost always came from a left wing position. 

 

 

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Jimmy Gallagher | Midfielder

Jimmy Gallagher was born on 7 June 1901 in Kirkintilloch. He would not play football at an early age as he moved to the USA with his mother at the age of 12 where they settled in the New York area. When he was 17, James signed the amateur team Tebo Yacht  Basin out of Brooklyn where they went on to win the New York State League title in 1920-21 as well as the Southern New York State Association Cup and the La Sultana Cup. They just missed out on the 1921 National Challenge Cup final, losing to Brooklyn Robins Dry Dock.

Later in 1921, Jimmy moved to the J & P Coats (later renamed Pawtucket Rangers) in Rhode Island along with his Basin team mate Albert Mitchell. This move meant a step-up to the professional game as the Coats were part of the newly formed American Soccer League. Success would follow Jimmy to Rhode Island as the Coats won the ASL in 1922/23 and reached the semi-finals of the National Challenge Cup, losing to Paterson FC. 

A short spell with Fall River in 1923 was followed by a move to the New York Giants and then Fleisher Yarn. Jimmy then moved to Indiana Flooring in 1925, who despite their name played out of the NY Area. Jimmy would stay with the club for 5 years during which time it's name would change several times, to New York Nationals and then New York Giants (not the same one). Jimmy would featured in over 140 games for the Nationals, scoring 30 goals from a right wing position and picked up more honours as the Nationals won the ASL in 1930 as wel as the Lewis Cup.

His form for the Nationals / Giants saw him recognised at International level when he selected to represent the US national team at the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay. Jimmy featured in all 3 of the USA matches as well as the post tournament fixture with Brazil. His last appearance for the USA came in a victory over Mexico in 1934 which saw the nation qualify for that year's World Cup. He is sometimes confused with another James Gallagher who represented the USA soccer team at the 1928 Olympics.

Another ASL title followed for Jimmy as the NY Giants won the Championship in 1932, just as the ASL was beginning to collapse. The Giants would fold later that year and Jimmy would move on to New York Field Club. This was followed by spells with Malta United based out of Long Island, Cleveland Slavia and Cleveland Graphite Bronze. When he left the NY area and moved to Ohio, Jimmy had amassed over 300 career matches, which remained the 3rd highest of any US player until 2006.

In 1937 Gallagher married Marie. Together they went on to have two daughters, Rita and Carol. He would go on to have 11 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.

Jimmy passed away on 7 October 1971 at the age of 70 and would be posthumously inducted into the 1986 Soccer Hall of Fame with his 1930 team mates (and fellow Scots).

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Robert Millar | Team Coach

Robert Millar was born on 12 May 1890 in Paisley, East Renfrewshire and began his footballing career with his hometown club St Mirren where he would play from 1909-1911. His honours with the Buddies included the Paisley Charity Cup and Renfrewshire Cup wins in 1910. He emigrated to the United States and shortly afterwards would join Disston A.A. Nicknamed the "Sawmakers" as they were based out of the Philadelphia Saw Works. As we've seen with the previous players bios, it seems that many of the early soccer teams in the US were tied directly to different trades. In 1913 Millar moved to the Brooklyn Field Club and would be involved in a riot when his former team payed them a visit. During the match against Disston, Millar was attacked by an opposition fan which sparked a brawl between fans and players from both teams. Later that year, he and the field club defeated Brooklyn Celtic in National Challenge Cup final and Millar was assist for the winning goal.

He moved to Bethlehem Steel in 1914 and would score 59 goals in 33 games across league and cup competitions, setting a new US record in the process. This was followed by spells at Robins Dry Dock, J&P Coats, Erie A.A., Fall River, NY Field Club and the NY Giants.

In 1925, Millar would become player-manager of Indiana Flooring based in New York and remained there for 2 years before jumping to the New York Nationals, again as player-coach. This was followed by a short spell with Newark Skeeters in 1929.

In 1930 Millar was selected to coach the US National Team as it prepared to enter the inaugural FIFA World Cup tournament in Uruguay. The National teams success, both in their 3-0 wins in the group stage and progress to the semi finals surprised many pundits at the time. Millar's team would ofcourse include fellow native Scots, Alex Wood, Andy Auld, Bart McGhee, James Brown and Jimmy Gallagher, which demonstrates how Scotland played a small part in the first ever World Cup. 

Post-World Cup the US toured South America facing professional clubs, a Brazilian league XI and an all star team. Millar left his post with the US upon his return to the country. He finished his time with a 2-2 record. Following his retirement from the game, he would be inducted into the US Soccer Hall of Fame in 1950. His daughter Mary Martin was residing in Gresham, Oregon when she was interviewed by local news station KGW about her father in the run up to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Robert passed away on Staten Island, New York on 26 February 1967 aged 76.