Although nineteenth century goalkeeping seems to have been almost entirely "on the goal line", the basic stalwart technique of "narrowing the angle" seems to have been used by Gardner.
[1] Gardner was instrumental in arranging the first official international football match, Scotland versus England in 1872, called by many "the most important game in football history", because the English played a style based on individual dribbling, while the Scots played a passing style; and the rules for the match were standardised (the Scottish rules).
Gardner's switch of club to Clydesdale in 1874 lost him the Scottish captaincy when the Queen's Park players refused to be captained by a player from another club, although he remained captain of the Glasgow select side[5] and teams in trial matches for selecting the Scottish XI.
Gardner kept goal and captained Clydesdale in the first Scottish cup final in 1874, playing against Queen's Park.
Although his side lost 2–0, contemporary accounts of the match home in on Gardner's magnificent display of goalkeeping against his old club.