Dundee travel to Ayrshire this weekend to take on Kilmarnock at Rugby Park and so we take a look at the first player to play for both clubs, Scotland internationalist Bill Sawers.
Three times in the history have Dundee Football Club have three Dundee players been in the starting line up for Scotland and on the second occasion Dundee inside-forward Bill Sawers was one of the trio against Wales in Wrexham in 1895.
William âBillâ Sawers was born in Bridgton, Glasgow on June 13th 1871 and started his football career with local side Clyde before moving to Blackburn Rovers in the close season of 1892.
A strong inside-forward, Bill had a nomadic career as one of the original pioneers of the football, playing the game while it was still in its infancy and spent most of his career crossing and re-crossing the border, including two spells at Dundee.
He spent the 1892/93 season at Blackburn where he scored 14 goals in 28 games before leaving for Stoke City in the summer. At Stoke Bill scored five goals in 18 matches for The Potters before moving again in the summer, this time back north of the border to Dundee.
Sawers joined Dundee for a âconsiderable amountâ in just the Dark Bluesâ second season and added pace and power to the Dundee forward line. He made his competitive debut in the first match of the 1894/95 season in a 1-1 draw at home to League Champions Celtic at Carolina Port and a week later scored his first goal for the club in a 4-1 home win over his old club Clyde.
In his debut season Bill made 19 appearances, scoring seven times, the most celebrated of which was the winner against Celtic in a 1-0 victory at home in the 3rd round of the Scottish Cup in front of 12,000 spectators â a new record attendance for âThe Port.â
These were hectic, happy days at Carolina Port and within seven days of that Celtic win, Dundee completed an Old Firm double with a 2-1 home over Rangers thanks to goals from Sawers and Sandy Gilligan.
Dundee would reach the Scottish Cup semi-final where they would lose 3-0 to Renton on March 9th in a second replay at Celtic Park but later that month was called up by Scotland for a British International Championship match against Wales.
Alongside team mates Francis Barrett and Sandy Keillor, Sawers lined up at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham but the 2-2 draw to be his only cap. It was a historic occasion for Dundee FC however as it would be another 66 years until three Dees, (namely Ian Ure, Alex Hamilton and Hugh Robertson) wore the dark blue of Scotland together in a World Cup play-off match against Czechoslovakia in the Heysel Stadium, Brussels in 1961.
For the third close season in a row, Bill was off on his travels again when he returned to Stoke in the summer of 1895 but his stay in the Potteries didnât last long as after just one appearance he was back with Dundee in October and scored on his return in a 4-1 home win over Edinburgh side St. Bernardâs.
Two weeks after his comeback however Sawerâs was part of the Dundee side which crashed to a record defeat which still stands today. On October 25th 1895 a visit to Celtic Park ended in an 11-0 rout although Dundee had been severely handicapped by being down to nine men in these pre-substitute days. Captain âPlumâ Longair had to go off late in the first half and then left-back Frank Ferrier was also unable to resume after the break in what was his only appearance for the Club.
Almost as quickly as he had returned to Dundee he was off again when after only nine games he was released in March and turned out that same month for both Kilmarnock and Abercorn before resuming his career with Clyde for season 1896/97.
Sawers release was due to financial pressures that the Dundee board were experiencing and his departure was part of a bid to balance the books. Along with Sawerâs release, Sandy Gilligan and Bill Thomson were transferred to Bolton Wanderers while fellow internationalists Bill Longair joined Sunderland and Francis Barrett moved the Newton Heath (later Manchester United).
Despite his short career with The Dark Blues Sawers became just the fourth Dundee player to be capped by Scotland and in a unique group of just 36 Dees to have played for Scotland, he earns an honourable mention in the annals of the Dundee Football Club.
Honours at Dundee:
Scotland full caps: 1
Appearances, Goals:
League: 23, 9 goals
Scottish Cup: 5, 1 goal
Totals: 28, 10 goals
