| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Cumming Hamilton | ||
| Date of birth | (1877-05-13)13 May 1877 | ||
| Place of birth | Elgin, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 2 May 1948(1948-05-02) (aged 70) | ||
| Place of death | Elgin, Scotland | ||
| Position | Centre forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Elgin City | |||
| 1896–1897 | Queen's Park | 0 | (0) |
| 1897–1906 | Rangers | 164 | (154) |
| 1906–1907 | Fulham | 29 | (11) |
| 1907–1908 | Rangers | 11 | (3) |
| 1908 | Heart of Midlothian | 5 | (1) |
| 1908–1910 | Morton | 52 | (25) |
| 1910–1913 | Dundee | 93 | (37) |
| Elgin City | |||
| Total | 354 | (231) | |
| International career | |||
| 1899–1911 | Scotland | 11 | (15) |
| 1898–1904 | Scottish Football League XI | 7 | (9) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Robert Cumming Hamilton (13 May 1877 – 2 May 1948) was a Scottish internationalfootballer who played as aCentre forward and was known for his prolific scoring record and his ten-season association withRangers.
Hamilton started his football career with the local sideElgin City in theHighland League. He relocated toGlasgow in 1896 to attend the city'sUniversity and joinedQueen's Park.[1] A year later, he joined theRangers until 1907, earning a reputation as a potent goal-scorer who was remarkably accurate from long range.[1]
Hamilton played every match, was top scorer and captained the team during the1898–99 season, in which theywon every league match.[2] He earned furtherLeague winners' medals in1899–1900,1900–01 and1901–02 and was part of Rangers'Scottish Cup-winning sides in1898 and1903.[2][3] He became Rangers' all-time top scorer against rivalsCeltic during his time atIbrox, was the club's top goalscorer for nine consecutive seasons and the highest overall inScottish League Division One on six occasions (including two shared awards), his highest total being 28 from 24 appearances in1903–04.[4]
Hamilton moved south of the border to joinFulham in May 1906, helping them to win the1906–07Southern League title,[1] before returning to Rangers a year later. He left theGovan club for a second time in 1908, briefly moving toHeart of Midlothian before joiningMorton.[3] He signed forDundee at the end of the1909–10 season, too late to be involved in the side which defeatedClyde to win the Scottish Cup, Dundee's first, that year.[1] After three full seasons and part of a fourth atDens Park,[5] he returned to first club Elgin City in 1913 where he finally retired.
Hamilton won a total of elevencaps forScotland between 1899 and 1911, scoring fifteen goals, four of which came in Scotland's 11–0 win overIreland in 1901, their biggest ever margin of victory.[6] He was also selected seven times for theScottish League representative side, scoring nine goals.[1][7]
After retiring from football, Hamilton went into education, and after graduating from theUniversity of Glasgow, he became a school teacher, then eventually a master. He maintained an involvement in education throughout his life and eventually served on the Moray and Nairn Education Board in the mid-1930s.[1] He was also involved in local politics, serving on the ElginTown council between 1914 and 1937. For the last six years of this period, he was theProvost of Elgin.[1] Hamilton died in May 1948, aged 71. In the late 1950s/early 1960s a new road in a private housing estate overlooking theRiver Lossie at the north side of Elgin was named after him as Hamilton Drive, which remains today.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Rangers[2] | 1897–98 | SFL | 15 | 17 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 15 | 35 | 40 |
| 1898–99 | 18 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 31 | 32 | ||
| 1899–1900 | 16 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 9 | 35 | 32 | ||
| 1900–01 | 19 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 12 | 35 | 32 | ||
| 1901–02 | 16 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 25 | 12 | ||
| 1902–03 | 19 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 33 | 22 | ||
| 1903–04 | 24 | 29 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 32 | ||
| 1904–05 | 17 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 22 | 21 | ||
| 1905–06 | 20 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 10 | ||
| Total | 175 | 157 | 34 | 27 | 77 | 52 | 286 | 236 | ||
| Fulham | 1906–07 | Southern FL | 29 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 11 |
| Rangers[2] | 1907–08 | SFL | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 3 |
| Hearts[3] | 1907–08 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | |
| Morton[3] | 1908–09 | 26 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 13 | |
| 1909–10 | 26 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 14 | ||
| Total | 52 | 25 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 27 | ||
| Dundee[5] | 1910–11 | SFL | 31 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 20 |
| 1911–12 | 30 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 15 | ||
| 1912–13 | 28 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 7 | ||
| 1913–14 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | ||
| Total | 93 | 37 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 105 | 44 | ||
| Career total | 354 | 231 | 52 | 36 | 77 | 52 | 483 | 319 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 1899 | 3 | 3 |
| 1900 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1901 | 2 | 5 | |
| 1902 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1903 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1904 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1911 | 1 | 2 | |
| Total | 11 | 15 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 March 1899 | Celtic Park,Glasgow, Scotland |  Ireland | 3-0 | 9-1 | Friendly | [9] |
| 2 | 7-1 | ||||||
| 3 | 7 April 1899 | Villa Park,Birmingham, England |  England | 1-2 | 1-2 | Friendly | [10] |
| 4 | 2 February 1900 | Pittodrie Stadium,Aberdeen, Scotland |  Wales | 4-0 | 5-2 | Friendly | [11] |
| 5 | 22 February 1901 | Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland | Ireland | 7-0 | 11-0 | Friendly | [12] |
| 6 | 8-0 | ||||||
| 7 | 10-0 | ||||||
| 8 | 11-0 | ||||||
| 9 | 29 March 1901 | Crystal Palace Stadium,London, England | England | 2-1 | 2-2 | Friendly | [13] |
| 10 | 1 March 1902 | Grosvenor Park,Belfast, Ireland | Ireland | 1-0 | 5-1 | Friendly | [14] |
| 11 | 3-0 | ||||||
| 12 | 4-0 | ||||||
| 13 | 26 March 1904 | Dalymount Park,Dublin, Ireland | Ireland | 1-0 | 1-1 | Friendly | [15] |
| 14 | 6 March 1911 | Ninian Park,Cardiff, Wales | Wales | 1-1 | 2-2 | Friendly | [16] |
| 15 | 2-2 |
