Andy Auld (1900 – 1977), Stevenston-born footballer who went on to play at the first ever World Cup for the USA.
Andrew ‘Andy’ Auld was born on the 30th of April, 1900 in Stevenston, North Ayrshire.
At the age of 11 years old, he started his football career with Stevenston F.C. in 1911, where he stayed until 1913. At the outbreak of the First World War, he joined the military as a teenager. At the age of just 16, he fought at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and his military service continued until his discharge in 1919.
He immediately returned to football, joining Ardeer Thistle in 1919 and staying there until he joined Glasgow side Parkhead in 1921.
Andy decided to immigrate to the United States with his wife Margaret, heading to Gillespie, Illinois in 1923. He did not like it and intended to return to Scotland, via a visit to his sister’s house, near Niagara Falls, New York. It was a visit that would change his life.
While staying with his sister, he played in a friendly match with the Niagara Falls MacKenzies where he was spotted by a scout for the Providence Clam Diggers of the American Soccer League. The scout convinced Andy not to return to Scotland, and instead move to Providence and sign for the Clam Diggers. He would spend the rest of his playing career in the USA.
It was 1924 and Andy Auld spent the next 6 seasons playing for Providence (who renamed themselves the Providence Gold Bugs in 1928), playing 277 games for the club.
Despite having a very successful club career in the USA, Andy Auld is perhaps best known for his spell playing for the USA National Team. Despite being Scottish, Andy played for the USA (as FIFA were less strict about international rules at that point) and earned his first cap on the 6th of November, 1926 when the USA played Canada in a 6-2 win. He scored 2 goals for the team but would not feature again for the USA until the first ever World Cup, held in Uruguay in 1930.
He was not the only Scot in the squad. The 1930 World Cup team had 5 native-born Scots in it (Alexander Wood, Bart McGhee, James Brown and Jimmy Gallagher). The team did very well, defeating both Belgium and Paraguay before advancing to the semi-finals where they were defeated by Argentina. The game was noted as being particularly physical, with several U.S players being injured and the team finishing the game with just 8 men. Andy Auld was kicked in the mouth in the first half and, as substitutes were not allowed at that time, he played the rest of the game missing 4 teeth and with a rag in his mouth to attempt to stop the bleeding!
The U.S.A lost 6-1 and it would be the last time Andy Auld would play for the national team.
Andy Auld retired from professional football in 1935 and made a living from the sheet metal business.
He died in Rhode Island on the 6th of December, 1977.
In 1986, he was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.