Robert Smyth McColl (13 April 1876 – 25 November 1959) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

Playing career

McColl started his career with junior club Benmore in 1892 and moved to Queen's Park in 1894. He represented the Scottish League in 1901. He later played professionally in England for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, remaining on

Tyneside Tyneside is a List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne in Northern England. The population of Tyneside as published in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 774,891 ...

for three years until he came back to Glasgow in 1904 to play for Rangers. He returned to Queen's Park in 1907, although the restoration of his amateur status had to be decided by the board of the club beforehand. McColl finished his football career in 1912, scoring 6 goals in his penultimate game against Port Glasgow Athletic, a Scottish scoring record which stands to the present day. McColl played 13 games and scored 13 goals for the

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. They compete in three major professional tournaments: the FIFA World Cup, UEFA ...

and he was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in November 2011. He is the only player to have scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against each of the other home nations.

Personal life

McColl is now better known for lending his name to the newsagent chain RS McColl, which he set up in 1901 with his brother Tom; due to this, he became known as ''Toffee Bob''. He served as a

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

in the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and do ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Death

McColl died in 1959, aged 83. He is buried in Cathcart Cemetery in southern Glasgow.Friends of Cathcart presents Footballers of Cathcart: one of Glasgow's Footballing Graveyards
''Football Makes Glasgow'' via YouTube, 11 January 2022

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each McColl goal.''

Honours

Queen's Park *

Sheriff of London Charity Shield The Sheriff of London Charity Shield, also known as the Dewar Shield, was a football competition played annually between the best amateur and best professional club in England, though Scottish amateur side Queen's Park also took part in 1899. Th ...

1899 Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...

(shared) *

Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rule ...

: 1898–99 Scotland * Home Championship: 1896,

1897 Events January * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a punitive expedit ...

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...

, 1902, 1908 (shared)

References

External links

Glasgow Evening Times article with mention of Robert Smyth McColl

The Guardian article with mention of RS McColl
{{DEFAULTSORT:McColl, Robert Smyth 1876 births Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Rangers F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Queen's Park F.C. players 1959 deaths Men's association football forwards Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players English Football League players British Army personnel of World War I Royal Army Service Corps soldiers Footballers from Glasgow People from Springburn People educated at Queen's Park Secondary School Burials at Cathcart Cemetery