Sometimes the job of this web-site is not to explore the whole of the life of the Scot in football in question. The reason is usually simple but praiseworthy. Someone or some people, plural, has or have done the job already and in brilliant detail. And in the case of Harry Boyd it is Robert Bradley, Douglas Gorman and Colin MacKenzie with acknowledgement to Barry Marsh. Their piece can be found on Andy Mitchell's inestimable Scottish Sport History:

Harry Boyd

But there is one small part of his life that Bradley, Gorman, MacKenzie and Marsh have not ignored but passed over at speed because, first, it was brief and, second, it took place outwith Britain,  in fact it in the USA and is of note because it was so early on in Soccer's history and was even then overtly professional. 

The example of Scottish-born Henry “Harry” Boyd illustrates the use of professional players by leading clubs.[119] Boyd visited Fall River as part of the Chicago Thistles team in September 1891. By December, the Fall River Evening News reported Boyd’s imminent arrival to join the Olympics, noting the Fall River team had “forwarded his fare.”[120] Subsequent reports indicated Boyd had signed with the Olympics to compete in the Bristol County Cup tournament. The Olympics were winners of the 1889–90 American Cup, but the team now was “not strong financially” and probably couldn’t afford to pay Boyd to play for them in all competitions.[121] Soon, it was reported Boyd had turned down an overture from the Rovers, accepting instead “a big offer” from East End to feature for them in the American Cup tournament. Boyd received a tidy sum to sign with the East Ends, “the consideration being variously estimated at from $30 to $50,” or $887 to $1,479 in today’s value.[122] This signing bonus would have been in addition to whatever fee (and travel expenses) he received from the Olympics. For the sake of comparison, Boyd received “a £5 signing on fee” when he joined West Bromwich Albion in October 1892, the equivalent to about £677 in today’s value, or about $914.[123] Thus, the signing bonus East End paid Boyd equaled or exceeded what he later received in England. But a player could also ask for too much. The Free Wanderers wanted to use Boyd for an exhibition match in February 1892 then decided against playing the Scotsman because “his terms were so high.”[124]

Competition between leading clubs in Fall River and Pawtucket for quality talent was strong and a variety of means were employed to compensate players. One New Bedford player explained,

Whenever a player arrives here and shows any sign of ability the Fall River clubs will offer him such inducements as will make him go to the border city…In Fall River when it is learned that a player is to come to this country from England, the club managers get him a good job in some mill and thus secure him permanently. Then again the players there get regular pay for training, and a portion of the gate receipts. The clubs there are well backed with money and can do whatever they please to prosper the game.[125]

Enjoying comparatively strong financial backing, New England League clubs actively searched for new players, both domestically and internationally. Describing the imminent arrival in Boston of two “expert football players” recently arrived from England, one report noted, “their services have been secured by the Free Wanderers.”[126] In addition to paying travel expenses and offering signing bonuses as in the case of Boyd, desirable players might be offered a secure job (one that necessarily offered the flexibility to allow a player time off when needed for soccer-related activities), paid training, and a portion of match receipts. A cut of the gate could be a valuable source of income. For example, attendance at a Christmas Eve 1891 match between the Olympics and East Ends was reportedly between two- and three-thousand spectators.[127] Multiplying the low number with admission costing 15 cents results in a gate of $300, or approximately $9,191 in today’s value. Even after accounting for expenses what remained to be divided among the players was not insignificant. In a city where the average yearly earnings in 1890 was $329.74, or about $6.34 a week, it is reasonable to conclude a player could receive the equivalent of several weeks’ wages for playing ninety minutes of soccer.[128]

Henry “Harry Boyd. Image courtesy of The Arsenal History.

At the end of the 1891–92 season, Boyd received “$25 to sign with the Rovers,” the equivalent of about $766 today, before skipping town to return to play in England.[129] Boyd’s signing with the Rovers came amongst a signing frenzy by Fall River’s leading clubs that some viewed with alarm and newspaper reports lamented the creeping effects of professionalism on the game. With signing bonuses “as high as $100 down and $15 per week”—about $3,064 and $460 respectively in today’s dollars, well above the average worker’s wage in Fall River—it was feared quality players would be concentrated in one or two teams who not only could afford to pay players but might also go so far as to sign players and not play them every week to prevent them from playing with competitors.[130] Whatever the ability of leading clubs like East End and Rovers to fulfill the terms of the contracts they offered, competitive balance was viewed as threatened and it was asserted fans would lose interest in following teams that did not have the resources to secure top players and effectively contend for championships. One report observed, “the limits of the game in this country are altogether too narrow to admit of hiring players,” adding, “There are too few good men who are worth a stipend to equip more than two elevens in this city.” Only if “a method of distributing players is adopted as prevails in the baseball leagues” could the dangers of professionalism be avoided.[131]

The intensity of signing activity and the amounts offered for signing bonuses fluctuated from season to season. A report before the start of the 1893-94 season described, “The activity in signing players has not been as marked as in past years, but at the present time there are but few who are holding off for a bonus.”[132] Another report said,

Players who, last season, commanded $50 or $75 for signing with a club have been compelled to come down from their perches a bit, and the few who received a small bonus were very fortunate. As in baseball, the days of high salaries have gone by. The pay of football men the coming season will be regulated according to the patronage.[133]