International Caps

INTERNATIONAL CAPS What is an international cap, the term so often used to denote an international appearance or a number of international appearances? The history of the actual practice of awarding a cap for an internationals is, like many other things in soccer's past, clouded in the mists of antiquity, but soccer historians all agree that it has its beginning in the very early days of the sport when players wore headgear during games. In those far off days there was no standard dress just as there were no standard rules, and there is very little detailed information available about what the players wore. But a FIFA book published in 1986, that includes some history, contains the following interesting observation regarding players dress. "Another story was the dress, which in those days did not leave much room for freedom of movement." The book states. It continues "Heavy boots that were often equipped with leather strips on the bottom served as football boots. Later on these strips were replaced by studs that had to be knocked into the soles. The ankles were quite well protected by the leather. The pants were long and used to be stuffed into the socks. Sweaters were worn then instead of jerseys. And, nowadays hardly conceivable: the players wore caps that had to fit tightly. This of course, was not quite ideal for being good in the air." The practice of wearing caps in soccer goes back a long long way and may well have had its origin in English Public Schools where it was, and no doubt still is, a part of the dress code. Thus when one school played some form of football against another the players wore their school caps. An account of a football game as early as 1851 at Rugby School mentions the players wearing house caps of different colors. Engravings of that period also show Rugby schoolboys wearing a variety of caps, some resembling American football helmets, some bowler hats or jockey caps. It is claimed that the first true International Caps were awarded in 1886, although some form of headgear was worn in the first international when Scotland played England in Glasgow in 1872. At a meeting of the Football Association of England held on January 30, 1886 N.L. Jackson proposed that "All players taking part in future England internationals be presented with a white silk cap with a red rose embroidered on the front. These to be termed "International Caps." A sub committee then met to select a suitable cap and on May 10, 1886 the design was decided upon; Royal blue velvet, with a rose in front and date on the peak. Later editions would contain the name of the country played against on the peak, along with the year. The caps had a silver tassel. However, the images that were made of the first ever soccer international played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England show both sides wearing caps of a variety of descriptions. The Scots all wore the same color caps, the English wore an individual cap; perhaps of their school. The National Football Museum in Preston, England has a shirt from this game, and with it came a cap, which it is thought was also worn in this game. This cap is of an odd design - no peak, pillbox style, and multi colored. In talking to former Scottish international Graham Leggat some years ago he told me that when he played for Scotland, after the game was over, when the players returned to their dressing room, the players found a cap hanging on their peg. At one time caps were also awarded to players who played for Canada, although the practice was not continued as far as we know. The Hall of Fame has a Canadian cap awarded for the players who made the 1927 tour to New Zealand, and caps were certainly awarded for the 1926 international against the United States in Brooklyn, but the Hall has yet to find one. But it seems that the practice of awarding of an actual cap was originally confined to the four British associations and did not extend to the continent of Europe or South America, although no research on this subject seems to have taken place. In England players no longer receive a cap for every game as they used to in the past, but in other countries if players no longer receive caps, then it begs the question. What do they receive, if anything, to mark playing for their country? Colin Jose (With files from Scottish historian Richard Williams and English historian Peter Holme)