History

Scotland founded modern world football, Glasgow is the capital of football, Hampden Park is the most important football ground in the world and Queen’s Park Football Club are the most important football club in the world.

The game of Football is the most popular sport in Scotland and is our national sport. There is a long tradition of football games in Orkney and southern Scotland, especially the Scottish borders. Scotland also has the second oldest Football Association in the world.

Early History

The earliest historical reference to the game in Scotland was in 1424 when King James I outlawed the playing of “fute-ball”. This was because of the disruption football was having on military training as well as its often violent nature. Subsequent kings issued very similar decrees, suggesting that the bans were unsuccessful. Certainly King James the VI of Scotland was well aware of the violent nature of football, stating in his personal publication of 1603 a debar from commendable exercise “all rough and violent exercises, as the foot-ball”. There were, however, times when royal prohibitions seem to have been relaxed, if not officially. In 1497, for example, the accounts of the Lord High Treasurer include the purchase of footballs for the King. It is not known if he himself ever actually played the game himself. There is also a tradition that King James V crossed over from Melrose to Jedburgh to participate in the Jedburgh ball game. There is, however, no documented evidence to corroborate this belief and the earliest contemporary account of the game at Jedburgh comes much later at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Violence in early Scottish football games was certainly an important reason for these royal decrees and further evidence comes from sixteenth century Scottish literature.

It was not just the Scottish monarchy and local municipalities that wished to crack down on the playing of football. In 1546 the Company of Hammermen of Perth issued a decree that “neither servants nor apprentices” play football “under penalty of a pound of wax”. Presumably this was an order to prevent work absences and injuries to employees. There are other accounts of employers actively participating in attempts to outlaw football in Scotland during the following centuries.
Football in the sixteenth century is also documented as being a pretext for raids across the border against the English.

Early Scottish football sometimes erupted into very extreme violent outbursts, including the use of firearms. In 1606 at Lochtoun during a “fute-ball” match some players “fell in contentioun and controversie, ilk anie with otheris, and schot and dilaschit pistolettis and hacquebuttis” It was clearly a passionate and dangerous pastime. In an attempt to control such violent outbursts football came under Puritan attack in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and is documented many times as being an offence on a Sunday, presumably because of its violent nature. For example the youth of Aberdeen are accused in 1607 of conducting themselves profanely on the Sabbath: “drinking, playing football… and roving from parish to parish”. Further references to the offence in Scotland of playing football on Sunday come at the end of the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth. In 1656 the Scottish Parliament passed an act outlawing all boisterous games on the Lord’s day. Nevertheless, the puritan attack on football was not as severe in Scotland as in England and in both countries the game undoubtedly continued to be played enthusiastically.

Sir Walter Scott described football as “his favourite border sport”. He too, however, talks about the rough nature of nineteenth century Scottish football in his text the Lay: “In riot, revelry, and rout, Pursued the football, play”. Scott also states that in the “foot-ball”: “The victory is contested with the utmost fury, and very serious accidents have sometimes taken place in the struggle”.

The earliest evidence of the use of codified rules of any type of football in Scotland came in 1851 when rugby football was adopted by the Edinburgh Academy, in order to be able to play with other schools. The Edinburgh Academical Football Club, is the oldest football club of any code in Scotland.

Early Modern History (1867- 1900)

Scotland was one of the earliest modern footballing nations. The game started to become popular in Scotland following the development in London in 1863 of the first ever rules of football, established by the English Football Association. Scottish football clubs started to be formed towards the end of the 1860s and 1870s. Queen’s Park was Scotland’s first football club and was founded in 1867. It is the oldest existing Football club outside England. In its very early years it played in the English FA Cup, reaching the final twice. In the late 1860s football rules in Scotland still allowed the ball to be handled by all the outfield players, as well as the goalkeeper, whereas in England only the keeper was permitted to handle the ball and then only in his own area.

Starting in 1870 a series of four matches between representatives of England and Scotland took place at The Oval in London. Scotland was the host of the world’s first official football international. The world’s first official international match would take place between Scotland and England on November 30 1872. This match was played under the Football Association rules. Over the following decades football was to become the most popular sport in Scotland. In the next international in 1873 Scotland lost away to England in London, but in 1874 Scotland had their first international victory, beating England 4-2 in Glasgow. In 1875 the two nations drew again, but after this there followed a period of Scottish dominance for the following ten years, with only one defeat against the English.

Association Football quickly became the most popular sport in Scotland, particularly in Glasgow and the west. The Scottish Football Association was formed in 1873 and is the second oldest in the world.

In the late 1880s significant number of Scottish players participated in English Football Clubs. Payments to players had been made legal in England in 1885 and professional footballers were paid decent salaries. Ironically this attracted many Scottish players southwards to ply their trade in England. Some earned the nickname “Scotch Professors”. English football teams with Scottish players included Preston North End which fielded eight Scots in one team and Liverpool Football Club, founded in 1892 with eleven Scots. In Scotland the game remained, in theory anyway, an amateur game until 1893.

Present Day

As of the beginning of 2007, Scottish Football is enjoying a resurgent period, with both halves of the Old Firm being involved in European competition after Christmas for the first time in decades – Celtic progressed to the last 16 of the Champions League and Rangers to the last 32 of the UEFA Cup. Also the National Team were top of their Euro 2008 qualifying group – above Italy, France and Ukraine.

League

League Football in Scotland is split between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football Leagues. Beneath these leagues is a system of regional semi-professional and amateur leagues.

Scottish Premier League

The Scottish Premier League (SPL) is the top league in Scotland, and consists of a single division of 12 teams. It has existed since 1998 (before then the top league was the Premier Division of the Scottish Football League). This league has one of the world’s most famous football rivalries, between Celtic F.C and Rangers F.C. Together the two clubs are known as the ‘Old Firm’ by virtue of the profitability of their rivalry. Both teams have won more awards than other teams such as Real Madrid and AC Milan who struggle to keep up with the Old Firm with League Wins. Rangers have won more league championships than any other club in the world and are second only to Linfield from Northern Ireland in terms of trophies won.

Scottish Football League

The Scottish Football League resides below the SPL, and consists of three divisions, each of 10 teams. Teams are relegated and promoted between the divisions, but relegation from the Third Division does not occur (as of 2005-06, dismissal from the Third Division will occur if a club finishes bottom three seasons in a row). In case of dismissal or withdrawal of a team (such as for economic reasons) a senior non-League level side has to be elected in its place. The top team in the First Division is eligible for promotion to the SPL, but in the past some teams have been unable to do so due to not meeting the stadium requirements. Previously, requirements were that clubs had to have 10,000 seats in their ground, but this was changed to 6,000. Clubs must also have undersoil heating systems to prevent cancellation of matches caused by frozen pitches.

Queen’s Park, uniquely, is the only true amateur (players are not paid) member of the League still standing, having been a League member since 1900. In theory it could qualify for SPL promotion due to its use of Hampden Park, but its current quality reflects in its current standing, at the Third Division.

Senior non-league level

Outwith the SFL are a series of regionalised leagues. This level is referred to as ‘non-league’ and these three leagues are known as ’senior’ non-league.

Highland Football League, covering the north, north east and north west of Scotland, not just the Highlands. This has been hard hit by a number of ‘defections’ to the Scottish Football League, though the Highland League has compensated by admitting new teams to its league in a similar way.
East of Scotland Football League
South of Scotland Football League

Clubs at this level are entitled to participate in qualifying tournaments for the Scottish Cup, provided their ground meets certain requirements. Clubs qualify by participation in either the Scottish Qualifying Cup (North), which is for Highland League clubs or in the Scottish Qualifying Cup (South), for East of Scotland and South of Scotland clubs.

Junior Football

Outwith the three ’senior’ leagues in the non-league grade, are the ‘junior’ leagues. Although called junior, this refers to the level of football played, not the age of the participants. The junior leagues are organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association and are regionalised into three areas, North, East and West. There is a Scottish Junior Cup which all members of the association participate in, having done so since the Nineteenth Century. Junior clubs, unlike those in the senior non-league level, are not eligible to participate in the Scottish Cup, although there are suggestions that this should change.

Amateur Football

There are a vast number of amateur footballers in Scotland. They play in leagues across the country of varying standard, usually confined to a specific localised geographic area. Many amateur clubs run teams in more than one of the amateur leagues. Some of the teams are well known with a history of success and producing players who go on to a higher level. The activities of clubs at the amateur level are co-ordinated by the Scottish Amateur Football Association.

Cup Competitions

Scottish Cup

The Scottish Cup is the world’s oldest national cup competition, first contested in 1873. It is open to any club affiliated with the SFA, and is a pure knockout tournament with single matches, replays are held if the first match is a tie. The final is played at Hampden Park.

Scottish League Cup

The Scottish League Cup is open to members of the SPL and SFL, and has been contested since 1947.

Scottish League Challenge Cup

The Scottish League Challenge Cup is open to members of the SFL, and has been contested since 1990.

National Team

The Scotland national team hosted the first international match in football history against England, a 0-0 draw in 1872, with whom they have since enjoyed a long-standing rivalry. For many years Scotland met England annually in the British Home Championship, which Scotland won 41 times (24 outright), but since the demise of the tournament in 1984 (it was briefly replaced by the Rous Cup until 1989), the two have only met in 1996 (Euro 96 match), and twice in 1999 (Euro 2000 qualifying play-off).

Scotland have qualified for 8 World Cups and 2 European Championships, but have never progressed beyond the first round. The team are currently 16th in the FIFA world rankings, their highest ever positioning.

The national team’s supporters, dubbed the Tartan Army are well-known for their vocal but also good-natured behaviour.