Football in Scotland

Association football (or soccer) is the most popular sport in Scotland and is the country's national sport. The modern sport was regulated and codified in England, but the "Combination Game" that was the predecessor of modern pasing football is believed by some to have been innovated in Scotland.

Early History

The first football international, Scotland versus England. Once kept by the Rugby Football Union as an early example of rugby football.

The earliest historical reference to the game in Scotland was in 1424 when King James I outlawed the playing of "fute-ball".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.

Violence in early Scottish football games was certainly an important reason for these royal decrees and further evidence comes from sixteenth century Scottish literature, for example the poem by Sir Richard Maitland expressing his pleasure at being too old for the rough game:

"Quhen zoung men cummis fra the gren, Playand at the futball had bein, with broken spauld, I thank my god I want ein, I am so auld". The term "spauld" in Scots means "shoulder"

The violence of early football in Scotland is also described vividly by another contemporary description, this time anonymous:

"Brissit, brawnis and broken banis, Stryf, discorde and waistie wanis, Cruikit in eild syn halt withall, Thir are the bewties of the fute ball". "Brissit" means "bruised", "cruikit" "crooked or bent", and "halt" "crippled".

Football in the sixteenth century is also documented as being a pretext for raids across the against the English. Scottish 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 themselved 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 boistrous 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. There is evidence for schoolboys playing a kicking ball game in Aberdeen in 1633 (some references cite 1636) which is the first reference to what has been translated from Latin to modern English as passing the ball. Forward passing, however, is not specified. The account also refers to handling ("get hold of the ball before he does"), holding of players ("keep him out") and charging of players.

Excessive violence continued to be a regular complaint about Scottish football games for many centuries. For example, in Jedburgh the ball game was outlawed by the town council in 1704 stating that "sometimes both old and young near lost their lives thereby". Similarly at Duns in 1724 a complaint reads "football... did always end and determine in the effusion of blood among the inhabitants". Likewise the game in Hawick was described in 1825 as "a species of war or fighting". Sir Walter Scott described football as "his favourite border sport". He too talks about the rough nature of early in the early nineteenth century football in his text the Lay: "In riot, revelry, and rout, Pursued the football, play". As a result of the level of violence often seen in early Scottish football games, a lot of traditional ball games were modified or died out in the nineteenth century. Examples still exist today, however, of traditonal Scottish football, in particular the Ba game.

Modern History (post-1863)

Scotland was one of the earliest modern footballing nations. Its game closely followed the regulation of football in 1863 by the Football Association. Queen's Park was one of the world's first football clubs and probably the oldest outside England. Early in its history it was entitled to play in not only the Scottish competitions, but English competitions such as the FA Cup, reaching the final in 1884 and 1885.

There was a clash of styles in 1872 when Scotland played England in the world's first official football international. (A series of football games with representatives from England and Scotland had previously been played at The Oval, London). This clash was the result of the sides adopting different ways of exploiting the Off-side rule that had been introduced in the 1866 revision of the rules by the Football Association. This rule stated that: "If the ball has passed a player and has come from the direction of his own goal, he may not touch it till the other side have kicked it, unless there are more than three of the other side before him. No player is allowed to loiter between the ball and the adversaries' goal." [1]. This rule had been part of the 1856 Cambridge Rules, but had been not included in the 1863 Football Association rules. At the match England played a a 1-2-7 formation [2] and favoured dribbling the ball at the opponents and passing the ball up field ("passing on") before being tackled. One of the seven forwards, following behind, would chase the ball. Scotland played a slightly more defensive 2-2-6 formation, with three banks of forwards divided into pairs. Each pair of players - in defence, midfield and attack - knew who their partner was and their role was to pass to them when possible. This novel tactic of 'passing and running' was known as the "combination game". Despite this clash of tactics the game resulted in a 0-0 draw. The "combination game" spread throughout Britain and then overseas. The defensive, passing game continued to undergo development, as is shown by typical modern football formations of 4-4-2.

A significant number of Scottish players participated in early English football clubs and some earned the epithet "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.

Scottish Football Association

The Scottish Football Association (SFA) is the principal organising body for Scottish football.

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 worlds's most famous football rivalries; between Rangers Football Club and Celtic Football Club. 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 51 league championships and Celtic have 40. 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. 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 enable them to thaw out their pitch on days of cold temperature.

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. Recent examples include Inverurie Loco Works F.C..
• 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 and Golspie Sutherland F.C., an amateur team playing in the North Caledonian Football League or in the Scottish Qualifying Cup (South), for East of Scotland and South of Scotland clubs, as well as Burntisland Shipyard Amateur F.C., Glasgow University F.C. and Girvan F.C..

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. There is one exception to this rule, and that is Girvan F.C. who do participate in the Scottish Qualifying Cup (South), but this is by virtue of the fact that they opted to switch from the senior level to the junior level, but still retaining this right to attempt to qualify.

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, such as Drumchapel Amateur F.C.. 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 one of the world's oldest national cup competitions, 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've enjoyed a long-standing rivalry. Scotland won the British Home Championship 41 times (24 outright), and qualified for 8 World Cups and 2 European Championships, but have never progressed beyond the first round. The national team's supporters, dubbed the Tartan Army are well-known for their vocal but also good-natured behaviour.

See List of Scotland national football team results

Clubs

See List of football clubs in Scotland.

Seasons in Scottish football

The following articles detail the major results and events in each season since 1890-91, when the Scottish Football league was formed.

Wartime seasons, when only unofficial competitions took place, are shown in a darker grey.

1890s:		1890-91	1891-92	1892-93	1893-94	1894-95	1895-96	1896-97	1897-98	1898-99
1900s:	1899-1900	1900-01	1901-02	1902-03	1903-04	1904-05	1905-06	1906-07	1907-08	1908-09
1910s:	1909-10	1910-11	1911-12	1912-13	1913-14	1914-15	1915-16	1916-17	1917-18	1918-19
1920s:	1919-20	1920-21	1921-22	1922-23	1923-24	1924-25	1925-26	1926-27	1927-28	1928-29
1930s:	1929-30	1930-31	1931-32	1932-33	1933-34	1934-35	1935-36	1936-37	1937-38	1938-39
1940s:	1939-40	1940-41	1941-42	1942-43	1943-44	1944-45	1945-46	1946-47	1947-48	1948-49
1950s:	1949-50	1950-51	1951-52	1952-53	1953-54	1954-55	1955-56	1956-57	1957-58	1958-59
1960s:	1959-60	1960-61	1961-62	1962-63	1963-64	1964-65	1965-66	1966-67	1967-68	1968-69
1970s:	1969-70	1970-71	1971-72	1972-73	1973-74	1974-75	1975-76	1976-77	1977-78	1978-79
1980s:	1979-80	1980-81	1981-82	1982-83	1983-84	1984-85	1985-86	1986-87	1987-88	1988-89
1990s:	1989-90	1990-91	1991-92	1992-93	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99
2000s:	1999-00	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09

See also

• List of Scotland national football team results
• Scottish football champions
• Scottish Football (Defunct Leagues)
• Sport in Scotland