Scotland national football team

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Scotland

Nickname

Tartan Army

Association

Scottish Football Association

Confederation

UEFA (Europe)

Head coach

Alex McLeish

Asst coach

Roy Aitken

Andy Watson

Captain

Barry Ferguson

Most caps

Kenny Dalglish (102)

Top scorer

Kenny Dalglish, Denis Law (30)

Home stadium

Hampden Park

FIFA code

SCO

FIFA ranking

Highest FIFA ranking

16 (March 2007)

Lowest FIFA ranking

88 (March 2005)

Elo ranking

Highest Elo ranking

1 (1876-1892, 1904)

Lowest Elo ranking

64 (May 2005)





First kit





Second kit

First international

Scotland 0 - 0 England

(Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872)

Biggest win

Scotland 11 - 0 Ireland

(Glasgow, Scotland; 23 February 1901)

Biggest defeat

Uruguay 7 - 0 Scotland

(Basel, Switzerland; 19 June 1954)

World Cup

Appearances

8 (First in 1954)

Best result

Round 1, all

European Championship

Appearances

2 (First in 1992)

Best result

Round 1, all

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. The team has played international football longer than any other nation in the world along with England, who they played in the world's first international football match at the West of Scotland Cricket Club, Partick, in 1872. The match ended in a goalless draw.^[1]. All eleven players who represented Scotland that day played for Glasgow amateur club Queen's Park.

Scotland has always had its own representative side that plays in all the major professional tournaments. In the Olympic Games, the IOC only recognises the United Kingdom.

Some of Scotland's most famous results include, in 1967, defeating the World Cup holders England 3-2 at Wembley Stadium and, in the 1978 World Cup, beating one of the favourites, the Netherlands, 3-2 with Archie Gemmill scoring a famous goal. Some fans jovially claim the 1967 victory against England made Scotland the unofficial world champions. This joke ultimately led to the conception of the Unofficial Football World Championships.

Recent Scottish successes include, on May 13, 2006, winning the Kirin Cup after beating Bulgaria 5-1 and drawing 0-0 with hosts Japan.^[2] Scotland also drew 1-1 at home in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying stages with the eventual winners Italy and beat World Cup runners up France 1-0 on October 7, 2006 in their Euro 2008 qualification match at Hampden Park.^[3]

Traditionally England have been one of Scotland's fiercest rivals, though in recent times there has been a lack of regular fixtures at senior level between the two teams, with Scotland winning the last encounter in 1999.

[edit] Stadium

Scotland normally play their home matches at Hampden Park (capacity 52,000) in Glasgow. Some matches, particularly friendlies, are occasionally played elsewhere, often at Hibernian's Easter Road ground and Aberdeen's Pittodrie Stadium. Scotland are one of the few UEFA members who play most of their matches in a city (Glasgow) other than the capital (Edinburgh).

There have been a few instances where competitive qualifying matches have been played outwith Hampden. Celtic Park, Ibrox Stadium, Pittodrie and Rugby Park all hosted matches in the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, while Hampden was unavailable due to the construction of the new South Stand. Similarly, Scotland played Euro 2000 qualifying matches at Celtic Park, Ibrox, Tynecastle Stadium and Pittodrie until Hampden's refurbishment was completed. Scotland recently played the Faroe Islands in their first Euro 2008 qualifier at Celtic Park, due to Hampden being hired out for a Robbie Williams concert on that date.

[edit] Supporters

In recent years, the Scottish team have become famous for their travelling support, known as the Tartan Army, who have won awards from UEFA for their combination of vocal support and friendly nature.^[4] and were also named the World's Friendliest Fans during the 1998 World Cup. The Tartan Army are often considered amongst the world's best national team fans, famous supporters of the Scottish national side include Rod Stewart and Sir Sean Connery.

[edit] World Cup record

Scotland have played at eight World Cup Finals — including 5 consecutive tournaments from 1974 to 1990 — but have never progressed past the first round of the finals competition. They have missed out on progressing to the second round three times on goal difference: in 1974, when Brazil edged them out; in 1978, when the Netherlands progressed; and in 1982, when the USSR went through. Despite playing at eight finals tournaments they have qualified on nine occasions but the SFA declined to participate in 1950.

Year	Result	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals Scored	Goals Against
1930	Did not enter
1934	Did not enter
1938	Did not enter
1950	Withdrew^[5]
1954	Round 1	2	0	0	2	0	8
1958	Round 1	3	0	1	2	4	6
1962	Did not qualify
1966	Did not qualify
1970	Did not qualify
1974	Round 1	3	1	2	0	3	1
1978	Round 1	3	1	1	1	5	6
1982	Round 1	3	1	1	1	8	8
1986	Round 1	3	0	1	2	1	3
1990	Round 1	3	1	0	2	2	3
1994	Did not qualify
1998	Round 1	3	0	1	2	2	6
2002	Did not qualify
2006	Did not qualify
Total		23	4	7	12	25	41

[edit] European Championship record

Scotland have qualified for two European Championships but have failed to advance beyond the first round on both occasions, most recently at Euro 1996, where the Netherlands progressed on goal difference. Qualification for Euro 2008 started in 2006. Although Scotland’s form has improved of late, expectation is low after being drawn in the so called group of death.^[6]

See also: 2008 European Football Championship (qualifying)

Year	Result	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals Scored	Goals Against
1960	Did not enter
1964	Did not enter
1968	Did not qualify
1972	Did not qualify
1976	Did not qualify
1980	Did not qualify
1984	Did not qualify
1988	Did not qualify
1992	Round 1	3	1	0	2	3	3
1996	Round 1	3	1	1	1	1	2
2000	Did not qualify
2004	Did not qualify
Total		6	2	1	3	4	5

[edit] History

Main article: History of the Scotland national football team

Scotland are the oldest national football team in the world, alongside England. The two countries competed against each other in the first ever international football match, at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland on 30 November 1872.^[7] Over the next forty years, Scotland played matches exclusively against the other three Home nations - England, Wales and at that time a unified Ireland. The British Home Championship began in 1883, making these games competitive. The championship continued until 1984.

In 1929, Scotland played their first match outside Britain and Ireland, beating Norway 7-3 in Bergen. Scotland continued to contest regular friendly matches against European opposition and enjoyed wins against Germany, the Netherlands and France before losing to Austria and Italy in 1931.

The national team did not compete at the FIFA World Cup until 1954, when Scotland suffered defeats against Austria and Uruguay, and failed to progress beyond the first round. It was also in 1954 that Scotland appointed their first ever team manager, Andy Beattie, but he resigned after the failure of that years World Cup.

Under the management of Ian McColl, Scotland enjoyed consecutive British Home Championship successes in 1962 and 1963. Jock Stein, John Prentice and Malcolm MacDonald all had brief spells as manager before Bobby Brown was appointed in 1967. Brown's first match as manager was a daunting encounter against newly crowned world champions England at Wembley Stadium. Despite being underdogs, Scotland emerged triumphant after a 3-2 victory, with goals from Denis Law, Bobby Lennox and Jim McCalliog. Scotland winger Jim Baxter, famously, played "Keepie uppie" during the game as he tormented the English players and fans alike by juggling the ball at walking pace. After the result, rapturous Scottish fans jokingly heralded Scotland as the "Unofficial Football World Champions".

The 1970's are generally considered to be the heydays of the Scotland national team. After Tommy Docherty's brief spell as manager between 1971 and 1972, Willie Ormond was hired in 1973. Despite losing his first match in charge, Ormond recovered to steer Scotland to their first World Cup finals in 16 years. At the finals in West Germany, Scotland remained unbeaten but failed to progress beyond the group stages on goal difference after beating Zaire and drawing with Brazil and Yugoslavia.

Scotland appointed Ally MacLeod as manager in 1977 with qualification for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina far from assured. MacLeod made a strong start and won the 1977 British Home Championship after beating England at Wembley Stadium, after which Scotland fans infamously invaded the pitch, ripping up the turf and breaking a crossbar. Scotland continued to play impressively under MacLeod and the team secured qualification for the World Cup with victories over Czechoslovakia and Wales.

During the build-up to the World Cup, MacLeod had fuelled the hopes of the nation by stating that Scotland would come home with a medal. As the squad left for the finals in Argentina, they were given a rapturous send off as they were paraded around a packed Hampden Park. Thousands more fans lined the route to Prestwick Airport as the team set off for South America.

Scotland opened up their World Cup campaign against Peru. MacLeod's bold prediction appeared to be justified as a Joe Jordan goal put Scotland 1-0 up after just 14 minutes. Scotland looked even better when they were awarded a penalty kick. However Don Masson spurned the chance to put them two up and Peru were level by half-time. After the break Peru took control of the match. A late second half double from Teófilo Cubillas condemned Scotland to a 3-1 defeat.

Scotland again took the lead in their second match against Iran but a 60th minute equaliser from Iraj Danaeifard saw Scotland's World Cup hopes hanging by a thread. The disconsolate and shell-shocked mood of the nation was reflected by footage of Ally MacLeod in the dugout with his head in his hands.

After taking just 1 point from their opening two games, Scotland had to defeat one of the tournament favourites, the Netherlands, by three clear goals. Despite the Dutch taking the lead, Scotland fought back to lead 3-1 with goals from Kenny Dalglish and a double from Archie Gemmill, the second of which is generally regarded as the best goal in Scotland's history as he beat three Dutch defenders before lifting the ball over goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed. The joy was short lived however, within three minutes the Dutch striker Johnny Rep had pulled a goal back and the match finished 3-2. Scotland bowed out of the tournament on goal difference for the second successive World Cup. MacLeod resigned as manager shorty after the tournament, with Jock Stein appointed as his replacement.

After failing to qualify for the 1980 European Championship, Stein set his sights on taking Scotland to their third successive World Cup finals. Scotland qualified from a tough group including Sweden, Portugal, Israel and Northern Ireland, losing just one match in the process. At the finals in Spain, Scotland, for the third successive World Cup, went out on goal difference.

Scotland qualified for their fourth successive World Cup in 1986. Scotland went into their last qualification match against Wales, needing a point to reach the tournament in Mexico. With only nine minutes remaining and Wales leading, Scotland were awarded a penalty kick which was calmly scored by Davie Cooper. However, as the players and fans celebrated, news began to circulate that Scotland manager Jock Stein had suffered a fatal heart attack.

After the death of Jock Stein, Alex Ferguson was handed the role of manager for the World Cup. The Scottish players performed badly and crashed out of the World Cup with just one point from their three matches, losing to Denmark and Germany and drawing with Uruguay.

Scotland made their UEFA European Championship debut in 1992. Despite playing well in matches against the Netherlands and Germany the team was knocked out at the group stage.

New manager Craig Brown successfully guided Scotland to the 1996 European Championship tournament where the team's first match was against the Dutch at Villa Park. The game ended 0-0, raising morale ahead of a much anticipated game against England to be played at Wembley Stadium. Scotland lost 2-0 with Paul Gascoigne scoring a wonder goal and Alan Shearer also netting. Gary McAllister missed a penalty kick to add to Scotland's woes. Scotland recovered to beat Switzerland 1-0 with Ally McCoist scoring but Scotland were once again knocked out on goal difference.

Scotland were drawn against Brazil in the opening game of the 1998 World Cup, taking to the field wearing kilts. John Collins equalised from the penalty spot to level the score 1-1 after Cesar Sampaio scored but a Tom Boyd own goal led to a defeat. Scotland went on to draw with Norway in Bordeaux with Craig Burley scoring. However the final match against Morocco ended in defeat and Scotland crashed out of the tournament.

The Scottish Football Association appointed former Germany player and manager Berti Vogts as the first foreigner to coach Scotland in 2002. Vogts' reign was disastrous and the team plummeted in the FIFA World Rankings. In 2004 Vogts announced his resignation, blaming the hostile media for his departure.

Former Rangers and Everton manager, Walter Smith was brought in as manager in the wake of Vogts' departure. Ally McCoist also joined the coaching staff. Smith secured victories against Bulgaria, Norway, the Faroe Islands and most notably against France. The Scottish players also lifted their first trophy in years after winning the Kirin Cup in Japan.

Scotland were once again left managerless in early 2007 as Walter Smith left the national side to return to club football. Alex McLeish was named as Scotland's twentieth manager. His assistants were announced as Roy Aitken and Andy Watson with Barry Ferguson remaining captain. McLeish's first match in charge was a 2008 European Championship qualifying match against Georgia which was won 2-1 by Scotland, making McLeish the first Scotland manager since Jock Stein to gain a win in his first match in charge.

[edit] Current Scotland squad

[edit] Goalkeepers

Name	DoB	Club	Caps	Debut
Craig Gordon	December 31, 1982 (age 24)	Heart of Midlothian	21	v Trinidad and Tobago, 30 May 2004
Neil Alexander	March 10, 1978 (age 29)	Cardiff City	3	v Switzerland, 1 March 2006
Allan McGregor	January 31, 1982 (age 25)	Rangers	0	N/A
Iain Turner	January 26, 1984 (age 23)	Everton	0	N/A

[edit] Defenders

Name	DoB	Club	Caps	Goals	Debut
Christian Dailly	October 23, 1973 (age 33)	West Ham United	63	5	v Wales, 27 May 1997
David Weir	May 10, 1970 (age 36)	Rangers	53	1	v Wales, 27 May 1997
Jackie McNamara	October 24, 1973 (age 33)	Wolves	33	0	v Latvia, 5 October 1996
Gary Naysmith	November 16, 1978 (age 28)	Everton	34	1	v Republic of Ireland, 30 May 2000
Steven Pressley	October 11, 1973 (age 33)	Celtic	32	0	v France, 29 March 2000
Graham Alexander	October 10, 1971 (age 35)	Preston North End	27	0	v Nigeria, 17 April 2002
Gary Caldwell	April 12, 1982 (age 24)	Celtic	23	2	v France, 27 March 2002
Russell Anderson	October 25, 1978 (age 28)	Aberdeen	9	0	v Iceland, 12 October 2002
Graeme Murty	November 13, 1974 (age 32)	Reading	3	0	v Wales, 18 February 2004
Stephen McManus	September 10, 1982 (age 24)	Celtic	3	0	v Ukraine, 11 October 2006

[edit] Midfielders

Name	DoB	Club	Caps	Goals	Debut
Barry Ferguson	February 2, 1978 (age 29)	Rangers	37	2	v Lithuania, 5 September 1998
Nigel Quashie	July 20, 1978 (age 28)	West Ham United	14	1	v Estonia, 27 May 2004
Scott Severin	February 15, 1979 (age 28)	Aberdeen	14	0	v Latvia, 6 October 2001
Paul Hartley	October 19, 1976 (age 30)	Celtic	13	1	v Italy, 26 March 2005
Lee McCulloch	May 14, 1978 (age 28)	Wigan Athletic	10	0	v Moldova, 13 October 2004
Gary Teale	July 21, 1978 (age 28)	Derby County	7	0	v Switzerland, 1 March 2006
Chris Burke	December 2, 1983 (age 23)	Rangers	2	2	v Bulgaria, 11 May 2006
Scott Brown	June 25, 1985 (age 21)	Hibernian	3	0	v USA, 12 November 2005

[edit] Forwards

Name	DoB	Club	Caps	Goals	Debut
Kenny Miller	December 23, 1979 (age 27)	Celtic	31	9	v Poland, 25 April 2001
Kris Boyd	August 18, 1983 (age 23)	Rangers	7	5	v Bulgaria, 11 May 2006
Craig Beattie	January 16, 1984 (age 23)	Celtic	4	1	v Italy, 3 September 2005
Shaun Maloney	January 24, 1983 (age 24)	Aston Villa	3	0	v Belarus, 8 October 2005

[edit] Scotland Captains

[edit] Non-playing staff

Manager: Alex McLeish
Assistant Managers: Roy Aitken, Andy Watson
Under-21 Manager: Archie Knox
Under-19 Manager: Archie Gemmill
B Team Coach: Alex Smith
B Team Coach: Bobby Williamson
Goalkeeping Coach: Jim Stewart
Under-21 Coach: Maurice Malpas
Under-19 Coach: Tommy Wilson
Physio: Michael McBride
Physio: Philip Yeates
Team Doctor: Dr John MacLean
Medical Officer: Proffessor Stewart Hillis
Player Liaison: Stewart McMillan
Masseur: Billy McCulloch
Kit Man: Willie Neill

[edit] Managers

From 1872 - 1954 the Scotland national team was appointed by an SFA selection committee.

Manager	Scotland career	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %
Andy Beattie	1954	6	2	1	3	33.3%
Dawson Walker*	1958	6	1	2	3	16.6%
Matt Busby	1958	2	1	1	0	50%
Andy Beattie	1959-1960	11	4	3	4	36.4%
Ian McColl	1960-1965	28	17	3	8	60.7%
Jock Stein	1965-1966	7	3	1	3	42.9%
John Prentice	1966	4	0	1	3	0%
Malcolm MacDonald	1966-1967	2	1	1	0	50%
Bobby Brown	1967-1971	28	9	8	11	32.1%
Tommy Docherty	1971-1972	12	7	2	3	58.3%
Willie Ormond	1973-1977	38	18	8	12	47.4%
Ally MacLeod	1977-1978	17	7	5	5	41.2%
Jock Stein	1978-1985	61	26	12	23	42.6%
Alex Ferguson	1985-1986	10	3	4	3	30%
Andy Roxburgh	1986-1993	62	23	19	20	37.1%
Craig Brown	1993-2002	70	32	18	20	45.8%
Berti Vogts	2002-2004	30	7	7	16	23.3%
Tommy Burns**	2004	1	0	0	1	0%
Walter Smith	2004-2007	16	7	5	4	43.8%
Alex McLeish	2007-Present	2	1	0	1	50%

* - Matt Busby was officially the Scotland Manager, but Trainer Dawson Walker was left in charge of the players due to the tragedy of the Munich air disaster in February 1958, in which Busby was seriously injured.

** - Tommy Burns was manager on a caretaker basis following the departure of Berti Vogts.

[edit] Player history

[edit] Notable former players

See also Category:Scotland international footballers

¹ The player has at least 50 Scottish caps and is inducted into the SFA International Roll of Honour

[edit] Most capped Scotland players

Main article: List of Scotland international footballers

#	Player	Clubs	Scotland career	Caps	Goals
1	Kenny Dalglish	Celtic, Liverpool	1971-1986	102	30
2	Jim Leighton	Aberdeen, Manchester United, Hibernian	1982-1998	91	0
3	Alex McLeish	Aberdeen	1980-1993	77	0
4	Paul McStay	Celtic	1983-1997	76	9
5	Tom Boyd	Motherwell, Chelsea, Celtic	1990-2001	72	1
6	Willie Miller	Aberdeen	1975-1989	65	1
7	Christian Dailly¹	Blackburn Rovers, Derby County, West Ham United	1997-present	63	6
8	Danny McGrain	Celtic	1973-1982	62	0
9	Richard Gough	Dundee United, Tottenham Hotspur, Rangers	1983-1993	61	6
=	Ally McCoist	Rangers, Kilmarnock	1985-1998	61	19

'Clubs' are those when players received caps.

[edit] Top Scotland goalscorers

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Kenny Dalglish	1971-1986	102	30
=	Denis Law	1958-1974	55	30
3	Hughie Gallacher	1924-1935	20	24
4	Lawrie Reilly	1948-1957	38	22
5	Ally McCoist	1986-1998	61	19
6	Robert Hamilton	1899-1911	11	15
7	Mo Johnston	1984-1991	38	14
8	Robert Smith McColl	1896-1908	13	13
9	Andrew Wilson	1920-1923	12	12
=	Alan Gilzean	1963-1971	22	12
=	Billy Steel	1947-1953	30	12
=	John Collins	1988-1999	58	12

[edit] FIFA ranking

See also: FIFA World Rankings

Current FIFA Ranking

14 Romania
15 Sweden
16 Scotland
17 Switzerland
18 Cameroon

UEFA Members Only

12 Romania
13 Sweden
14 Scotland
15 Switzerland
16 Denmark

[edit] Recent results / forthcoming fixtures

Main article: List of Scotland national football team results

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score	Competition	Scotland scorers	Match Report	Broadcast By
March 24, 2007	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	Georgia	2-1	ECQB	Boyd, Beattie	BBC	Sky Sports
March 28, 2007	Stadio San Nicola, Bari (A)	Italy	0-2	ECQB		BBC	BBC One Scotland / BBC Two (Not in Scotland)
May 30, 2007	Gerhard Hanappi Stadium, Vienna	Austria		F
June 6, 2007	Svangaskard Stadium, Toftir	Faroe Islands		ECQB

Note: Scotland scores listed first

European Championship Qualifying : Group B Table
Position	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Goal Difference	Points
1	Ukraine	5	4	0	1	8	4	+4	12
2	Scotland	6	4	0	2	11	6	+5	12
3	France	5	4	0	1	12	2	+10	12
4	Italy	5	3	1	1	9	5	+4	10
5	Georgia	6	2	0	4	13	12	+1	6
6	Lithuania	5	1	1	3	3	5	-2	4
7	Faroe Islands	6	0	0	6	1	23	-22	0

Note: Head-to-head record used as the primary determinant when teams are tied on points

[edit] United Kingdom team

Main article: United Kingdom national football team

As a result of London's successful bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, it has been suggested that a one-off UK team be created for the tournament. However, the Scottish Football Association has stated that it will not participate in such a team as doing so could threaten the independent status of the Scottish side.^[8]

Despite the opposition of the Scottish Football Association and that of the Football Association of Wales, which also opposes a UK wide team,^[9] the formation of a UK squad comprising players from England and Northern Ireland seems likely.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

^ [1], Match report
^ [2], BBC Sport, 2006-13-05
^ [3], BBC Sport, 2006-07-10
^ [4] , SFA website, Tartan Army Exhibition
^ Scotland qualified for the tournament but later withdrew as they were not British Champions
^ [5], BBC Sport, 2006-25-01
^ England football on-line
^ [6], BBC Sport, 2005-11-11
^ [7], BBC Sport, 2005-06-12

[edit] External links

Football in Scotland

v • d • e

The SFA	National team	List of venues	List of clubs
Under-19 team	Under-21 team	B team	Women's team
League system	Seasons	Champions	History

Competitions in Scottish Football

Premier League	First Division	Second Division	Third Division
East League	Highland League	South League	Junior Leagues
Scottish Cup	League Cup	Challenge Cup	Junior Cup