SquareOne Sport
by Pere Fornes
In the run up to the Olympic games, arguments about whether to have a GB football team are being called into question by Scotland's SNP leadership who want a separate national team competing at the events.
But if Scotland participated as a independent sporting nation in the next Olympic games would it be the first time this has happened? The answer is no. 100 years ago a Scottish hockey squad played as a separate entry in the London Olympic Games and won a bronze medal.
Scottish hockey historian Ernie Wall said: “Scotland gained the honour of playing in the first-ever men’s hockey Olympic match on October 29 1908, and also recording the first Olympic goals and victory in defeating Germany by 4-0.”
The reason for the split was that if Britain had participated as one country, there would have been only two rivals - France and Germany, Wall added: “The British Olympic Committee suggested that, to make a proper tournament, the other three Home Countries should be asked to participate.”
Scotland lost the semi-finals against England 6-1 with Ireland getting to the final after beating Wales by 3-1. The Scottish squad refused to stay another night to play Wales for the third place and both teams shared the bronze medals at the official dinner. The gold was won by England who thrashed the Irish by 8-1 in the final.
Wall concluded: “To finish the story of Scotland’s one and only appearance in the Olympics as a separate nation, the S.H.A. Council, which met in late November 1908, made no mention at all of the event! In the report to the 1909 A.G.M., the event is curtly dismissed in one sentence. Such was the tenor of the times.”
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