The Scottish Football Museum joins leading institutions from around the world on the Google Arts & Culture platform -Scottish Football Museum collection available here

As part of the 150th anniversary celebrations, the Scottish FA has collaborated with Google Arts & Culture to bring to life one of the world’s most impressive collections of football treasures and memorabilia through the online platform. The Scottish Football Museum appears alongside world renowned institutions including MoMA (Museum of Modern Art, NYC) and the Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam) on the Google Arts and Culture platform. Visitors will be able to read stories, see photos and listen to audio recordings from the Scottish Football Museum’s archives.

Celebrating both the Scottish FA’s milestone and Black History Month, Google marked the occasion by honouring legendary Scottish player Andrew Watson with a Google Doodle (link), on 18 October and a curated feature highlighting his amazing life and career. A trailblazer in international football history, Watson is recognised as not only the world’s first Black international footballer but also the world’s first black international captain and club secretary.

The Scottish Football Museum joins many of the world’s leading museums, art galleries and cultural institutions around the world as part of the Google Arts & Culture platform.

Richard McBrearty, the curator at the Scottish Football Museum, explained: “This is a huge opportunity for the Scottish Football Museum to reach a global audience and to highlight some of the iconic items which tell the story, not only of Scotland, but of international football and Scotland’s role in the development of the game.

“We look forward to sharing Scotland’s amazing football history with the world by showcasing our full collection on the Google Arts and Culture platform, including some of our best hidden treasures.”

The new digital collection contains items which date back to football’s earliest days and the first international football match between Scotland and England in Glasgow in 1872. The story continues to the present day, with items from Scotland’s march to EURO 2020, including the goalie top and gloves worn by David Marshall when he booked Scotland's place at the finals with his penalty heroics in Serbia.

The museum, which is based at Hampden Park Stadium and contains relics dating back to football’s earliest days, is home to 14 galleries and a national collection of over 45,500 items – all telling the story of Scottish football and how it has become a key part of the nation’s identity and cultural heritage.

Visitors to the museum can see the Scottish Cup, the oldest existing association football trophy in the world. Every winning team has been presented with the trophy since 1874.

Ian Maxwell, Scottish FA Chief Executive, said: “The Scottish Football Museum’s extensive Google Arts and Culture exhibit gives football fans around the world the chance to learn more about the Scottish FA’s impressive 150-year history, how football has impacted everyday life in Scotland, our contributions to the game and much more. We hope this exhibit is equal parts educational and inspirational to future players.”

You can now visit the Scottish Football Museum on Google Arts & Culture here.