Robert Cumming Hamilton (13 May 1877 – 1948) was a Scottish international footballer, most notable for his ten-season association with Rangers.

Playing career

Club

Hamilton started his footballing career with local side

Elgin City Elgin City Football Club (also known as City or The Black and Whites) is a professional senior football club based in Elgin, Moray. Elgin was founded in 1893 and originally played their football in the Highland Football League. The club was g ...

in the Highland League. He relocated to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1896 to attend the city's

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, and joined Queen's Park. A year later he joined Rangers where he remained until 1907, earning a reputation as a potent goal-scorer who was particularly accurate from long range. Hamilton played every match, was top scorer and captained the team during the 1898–99 season, in which they won every league match.(Rangers player) Hamilton, Robert C.
FitbaStats He earned further League winners medals in 1899–1900, 1900–01 and 1901–02 and was part of Rangers'

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

and

1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having bee ...

. He became Rangers all-time top scorer against rivals Celtic during his time at Ibrox, was the club's top goalscorer for nine consecutive seasons and the highest overall in Scottish League Division One on six occasions (including two shared awards), his highest total being 28 from 24 appearances in 1903-04. Hamilton moved south of the border to join Fulham in May 1906, helping them to win the 1906–07 Southern League title, before returning to Rangers a year later. He left the

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

club for a second time in 1908, briefly moving to Heart of Midlothian before joining

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. He signed for Dundee at the end of the 1909–10 season to late to be involved in the side which defeated

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to win the Scottish Cup, Dundee's first, that year. After three full seasons and part of a fourth at

Dens Park Dens Park, officially known as Kilmac Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland, which is the home of club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of . Tannadice Park, the home of rivals Dundee United, is just 200 yard ...

, he returned to first club Elgin City in 1913 where he finally retired.

International

Hamilton won a total of eleven

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for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

between 1899 and 1911, scoring fifteen goals, four of which came in Scotland's 11–0 win over

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 1901, their biggest ever margin of victory. He was also selected seven times for the

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

representative side, scoring nine goals.(SFL player) Robert Cumming Hamilton
London Hearts Supporters Club

Post football

After retiring from football Hamilton went into education, and after graduating from the University of Glasgow he became a school teacher then eventually master. He maintained an involvement in education throughout his life and eventually served upon the Moray and Nairn Education Board in the mid-1930s. He was also involved in local politics, serving in the Elgin

Town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second t ...

between 1914 and 1937. For the last six years of this period he held the position of Town Provost. Hamilton died in May 1948, aged 71. In the late 1950s/early 1960s a new road in a private housing estate overlooking the

River Lossie The River Lossie ( gd, Uisge Losaidh) is a river in north east Scotland. The river originates in the hills above Dallas, Moray, Dallas, in Moray, and has its source above sea-level. It enters the sea at Lossiemouth on the Moray Firth. By the ...

at the north side of Elgin was named after him as Hamilton Drive, which still remains today.

References

External links