Gilbert Pollock
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gilbert Reid Pollock | ||
| Date of birth | 24 August 1865 | ||
| Place of birth | Neilston, Glasgow | ||
| Date of death | 26 May 1954 (aged 88) | ||
| Place of death | London | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1890 | Sevilla FC | +1 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Gilbert Reid Pollock (24 August 1865 - 26 May 1954) was a Scottish iron engineer, businessman, and footballer who was a founder of Spanish club Sevilla FC and the author of the club's first-ever away goal.[1][2]
Gilbert Reid Pollock was born on 24 August 1865, in Neilston, a village near Glasgow. After completing his studies, he began gaining a reputation as an accomplished young engineer and, after achieving enough professional experience, moved to Seville towards the end of the 1880s, where he was employed at the engineering works of the Portilla White foundry in Seville.[1]
Thanks to a strong commercial relationship with the United Kingdom, Seville became the home to a large British enclave, so once in the Andalusian capital, Pollock established connections not only with these people; mostly workers and directors of the shipping company MacAndrews, the Seville Water Works and the Portilla White foundry; but also with many locals.[1]
Playing career
On 25 January 1890, Pollock, together with some of his co-workers and fellow Seville residents of British origin, attended an old café to mark the traditional Scottish celebration of Burns Night.[1][3] That same evening, after consuming some beers and becoming concerned about their physical health and lifestyle, Pollock and the others began discussing the proposal of forming an Athletics Association, but after a short debate, they instead founded Sevilla FC to organize football matches regularly in order to exercise and feel more at home.[4] To that end, they drew up the rough articles and the constitution of Sevilla FC, doing it so while in a drunken state.[4] They elected Edward F. Johnston, who was the British vice-council in Seville, as the club's first president, while his fellow "Glasgowian" and foundry colleague Hugh MacColl was named captain; it was also decided that this club should play under the rules of the English FA.[1][3]
Wasting no time, Sevilla FC began organizing several "kickabout" matches between the club's members in a close by racecourse, where Pollock and the others would set up goalposts to play 70-minute five-a-side matches on Sundays, which at the time was a non-working day, although Pollock and the others were able to persuade their bosses to give them Saturday afternoons off.[4] One of Pollock's colleagues in the Portilla White foundry, Isaías White Méndez, the then secretary of Sevilla FC, organized a match with a Recreation Club 80 miles away in Huelva, which took place on Saturday 8 March 1890, at the Hipódromo de Tablada (horse racing track).[3] This match is now considered to be the first official football match in Spain, but Pollock missed this match for unknown reasons.[1][3]
Following the success of the first match, the clubs decided to play a return fixture three weeks later, this time in Huelva, on 7 April 1890, this time in Huelva, in front of a crowd of between 400 and 500, and it was Pollock who scored the opening goal after 25 minutes, thus becoming the first-ever player to score an away goal on Spanish soil.[1][5] This time, however, Sevilla went on to lose as Huelva's side, fortified by "some athletes from the British colony of Rio-Tinto", fought back to win 2–1.[1]