Charles Miller was not alone as a football pioneer, nor was it just to Latin America that Britons took the game. Tom Griffiths was an English biology student and Blackburn Rovers fan living in Zurich who in 1866 helped found the city’ first football team, Grasshoppers Club – the side still play in Blackburn’s blue and white quarters. Harry Charnock was another itinerant Rovers fan who found himself in charge of Orozov textile mills in Orekhovo, a growing Moscow industrial suburb. In an effort to divert the local workforce from spending the entirety of their day off drinking vodka, he founded the city’s first football club, Morozvosti Orekhovo Suevo Moskva, who in time would become Dynamo Moscow. Two other Britons had a similarly thoroughgoing influence on early Italian football, with Dr James Richardson Spensley and Alfred Edwards playing significant roles in the founding Genoa FC and AC Milan respectively.
Latin America boasts a lot of other football firsts, too. The bicycle kick is claimed by both Chile and Peru. The Peruvians date its appearance to 1892, the year when it is claimed that the move was first performed by an Afro-Peruvian from the port of Callao playing a team of British sailors. Chileans counter that the move originated with Ramon Unzaga, who showed it off at the Copa America in 1916 after which the Argentinean press christened it la chilean. In 1924 the Uruguayans – playing as Olympic champions at home against Argentina – invented and named the Olympic goal, one scored directly from a corner kick.
The stepover is claimed by a number of players. The Chilean Augusto Arenas said in 1952: “The stepover is all mine, all who saw me know that”. In Brazil the claimants were Jair da Rosa Pinto – or Master Jaja, as he was known – and the Italian Amedeo Biavvati, both thrilling crowds with the move in the1930s.
The now canonical 4-4-2 formation was a case of simultaneous invention as national coaches reacted to Brazil’s 4-3-3 formation, which at the time was considered to have been instrumental to their 1962 World Cup win. The idea of inserting another player into the midfield and dispensing with wingers occurred to Dynamo Kiev’s Vitor Maslov in 1964 and was adopted by England’s Alf Ramsey, Uruguay’s Ondina Viera and Mexico’s Ignaciao Telles at the 1966 World Cup.
Brazil certainly invented the World Cup song, and has probably produced more than any other football nation. Carmen Miranda’s Bullfight in Madrid was adopted by the crowds as the informal tune of the 1950 World Cup but the 1958 and 1962 tournaments saw over three dozen records released – including the breezily patriotic and infectious 1958 standard bearer The World Cup is Ours.
Famous for a reason
What do all these people have in common? They are famous for a reason, be that for pioneering football across the globe or for revolutionising the beautiful game with their fancy footwork. The Famous Grouse’s reputation is also built upon this ethos. Created in 1896, the founder Matthew Gloag didn’t want to be famous, he simply wanted to make the best whisky he could possible make so he created The Grouse Brand. It soon became so popular that it was renamed The Famous Grouse. Renowned for its quality, craftsmanship and exceptional taste, The Famous Grouse is available in four expressions, including the smooth The Famous Grouse Mellow Gold and the distinctive The Famous Grouse Smoky Black.
Please enjoy The Famous Grouse whisky responsibly.
