Alexander Watson Hutton (10 June 1853 – 9 March 1936) was a Scottish teacher and sportsman who is considered "The Father of Argentine football". In 1893 he founded the "Argentine Association Football League" (current

Argentine Football Association The Argentine Football Association (, ; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine football league system, Argentine league system (from Argentine Primera División, Pri ...

). He also founded the Buenos Aires English High School and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club

Alumni Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

, which was the most successful Argentine team with 22 titles won until its dissolution in 1911.''Alumni, Cuna de Campeones y Escuela de Hidalguía'' by Ernesto Escobar Bavio, Editorial Difusión - Buenos Aires (Published 1953)''Historia del Fútbol Amateur en la Argentina'' by Jorge Iwanczuk. Publisher: Autores Editores (1992) –

Biography

Watson Hutton was born in the Gorbals, in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, in 1853. He was educated at Daniel Stewart's School (now

Stewart's Melville College Stewart's Melville College (SMC) is all-boys' Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Classes are all boys in the 1st to 5th years and co-educational in Sixth (final) year. It has a roll of about 750 p ...

) in Edinburgh and following this he graduated from

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

and emigrated to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in 1882. He worked at St Andrew's Scots School for two years. He was a keen sportsman and believed that sports were of fundamental importance in education. On 4 February 1884 he founded the Buenos Aires English High School, where he continued to instruct the pupils in the game. In 1891 the ''Association Argentine Football League'' was established by Alex Lamont of St. Andrew's Scots School, being the first football league outside of the British Isles. Five clubs competed but only one season was ever played. In 1891 Alec Lamont, headteacher St Andrew's founded the "Argentine Association Football League" the first Argentine league, which was won by a team of Scots from St Andrew's. The five team league only lasted one season but it is officially recognised by the Argentine Association as the first football league in the country. On 21 February 1893 Watson Hutton, along with representatives from

Quilmes Quilmes () is a city on the coast of the Rio de la Plata, in the , on the southeast end of the Greater Buenos Aires, being some away from the urban centre area of Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1666 and is the seat of the eponymous '' ...

, Old Caledonian's, St. Andrew's, BA English High School, Lomas and

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Administratively, it forms the largest island in the East Nusa Tenggara Province. The area is 14,250 km2. Including Komodo and Rinca islands ...

clubs, established the "Argentine Association Football League","La historia de una casa poderosa"
, ''Clarín'', 21 February 2003 and restarted the organization of tournaments after the 1892 hiatus. In 1898 his school formed a football team which went on to become the most decorated team of Argentine football by then, winning a total of 22 titles (15 domestic and 7 international championships) until its dissolution in 1911. The club, originally named the same as the school, changed to " Alumni Athletic Club" due to new rules by the Association. Alumni also provided many players for the

Argentina national football team The Argentina national football team (), nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' (), represents Argentina in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino ( ...

including his son Arnold Watson Hutton and captain Juan Brown. In 1911 he retired and his club was disbanded. Watson Hutton died on 9 March 1936 in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

and is buried in Cementerio Británico. The AFA library is named in his honour.

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English language profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson Hutton, Alexander 1853 births 1936 deaths History of football in Argentina Sportspeople from Glasgow Scottish educators Scottish emigrants to Argentina Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 19th-century Scottish people Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery Presidents of the Argentine Football Association People from Gorbals

Biography

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References

External links