Escocès FC Whilst out in the Catalan capital, Hamilton developed a deep interest in football, which he played in his free time with his friends and co-workers. He and defender
Jim Dykes were the only members of this group who had previously played an official match in the city, having covered the losses of
Team Anglès in a match against
FC Barcelona on 6 January 1900, keeping a clean-sheet in a 3–0 win. As such, and also due to his higher experience and leadership skills, Hamilton was named the
team's captain in a time when the captain had the duty of dictating the tactics to be followed (since the coach as we know him today did not exist back then) and was in charge of orienting the team and making up the line-ups. In addition to Hamilton and Dykes, this team also had the likes of
Willie Gold,
Peter Mauchan, the Black brothers (
Alexander and
Joseph) and
Geordie Girvan, with all of them, except for Gold, going on to play for FC Barcelona. In a match against FC Barcelona on 11 February, Escocès started with only 10 men, and the superiority of the Blaugrana team was such that they played throughout the first half of the game within the field of their opponents, which inevitably allowed Hamilton the opportunity to shine, as he put up a spectacular performance and electrified the stands with his brilliant stops that the public applauded with enthusiasm. Despite his heroics, however, 10-men Escocès FC still lost 0–4. Most of the remaining players, including Hamilton and Black, joined
FC Barcelona, thus becoming one of the first Scottish players to wear the Barça shirt along with his fellow Escocès FC teammates.
International career In 1903, Hamilton played several
friendly matches between teams made up of the best players in Barcelona, contesting the position of goalkeeper with the likes of
Joaquim Carril,
Emilio Rudolf Gass, and
Arthur Witty. On 24 September 1903, he played in a test match between two "Barcelona teams" that was meant to decide who would integrate the first selection of the Catalonia national team the following year. ==Refereeing career==