150 Years of the Scottish FA

Rules and recreation
While the SFA were in charge of defining and upholding the standards across their jurisdiction, the increase in international matches between the home nations (then Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales) called for a uniform set of rules that could be followed by all participants. On 6 December 1882, the four associations met to discuss the common regulations of the game and established The International Football Association Board (IFAB) to approve any future rule changes.

Shortly after this, the British Home Championship, association football’s oldest international tournament, was established as an annual event, and Scotland defeated all three opponents to be the competition’s first champions in 1884. Although the championship was abolished in 1984, The IFAB is still very much in operation today and acts as the guardian of the international Laws of the Game. The four founding nations were joined on the board by FIFA in 1913; each individual association holds one vote on any matter, while FIFA holds four.

The Scotland national team
Despite working together in The IFAB, the home nations and FIFA did not always agree on international matters, and after joining the game’s world governing body relatively early in 1910, Scotland, alongside the other home nations, withdrew in 1920. There was a brief four year period of reconciliation starting in 1924, before the four countries cancelled their membership once more, but when Scotland rejoined in 1946, it was as a permanent member, eligible to compete in the FIFA World Cup™ for the very first time.

To date, Scotland have played at the FIFA World Cup a total of eight times, marking their first appearance in 1954. Scotland have never managed to progress from the first round of the competition, despite some notable results – including drawing with defending champions Brazil in 1974 and defeating the 1974 runners-up the Netherlands 3-2 in 1978. The latter result was sealed with one of the best goals in World Cup history, in which Archie Gemmill dribbled past three Dutch opponents before scoring over the head of goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed.  

In fact, Scotland have been notoriously unlucky in the World Cup, being the only team to have been eliminated on goal difference an incredible three times – in consecutive years no less (1974, 1978 and 1982).

After their most recent World Cup appearance, Scotland fans (or the Tartan Army, as they are known, due to the traditional attire donned for international fixtures), had a brutal 23 year wait before their next participation in a major men’s tournament – the 2020 Euros, which were postponed to 2021.

Again, the Scots failed to progress from the group stages, but they managed to clinch a moment of national pride – when they held the “auld enemy”, and ultimate runners-up, to a 0-0 draw when the two sides met on English soil at Wembley.

The Scotland women’s national team
Women were representing Scotland in international football matches as early as 1881, but these games were unofficial and it was not until November 1972 (almost exactly a century after the men’s first such match) that the first official match was played against – yes, you guessed it – England.

The game in Scotland was heavily affected by a nationwide ban on women’s football that was introduced in 1921 and remained in place for some 50 years. Even once it was lifted, the Scottish Football Association did not agree to the affiliation of the Scottish Women’s Football Association until 1998.

Scotland’s women gave the Tartan Army two quick successive reasons to celebrate when they made their debut at both the Euros and the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in 2017 and 2019 respectively. However, just like the men’s team, they have yet to progress beyond the group stages of a major tournament.

That is not to say that they have not caused a splash on the international scene. In 2019, they were the only debutantes to score in every one of their matches, with Claire Emslie becoming the first Scottish player to score in the tournament in their opening match against, once again, England.

The Scottish Cup
As well as being responsible for the national teams, the Scottish FA takes charge of many other functions of the game in Scotland, including the annual Scottish Cup, which was first contested in 1873-74 between the eight founding members of the SFA and another eight clubs who had promptly joined the organisation in the following months.

The inaugural final saw Queen’s Park defeat Clydesdale with unanswered goals from both MacKinnon and Leckie, and so the south Glasgow side became the first to lift what is now recognised by Guinness World Records as the oldest trophy in association football. As is the case with the FIFA World Cup Trophy, the winners celebrate with the original silverware after their victory but it is a replica that is displayed in the club’s trophy cabinet, while the genuine article returns to its display case at the Scottish Football Museum.

Queen’s Park went through a period of domination in the first two decades of the competition, winning ten out of 20 tournaments. However, the last time they triumphed was in 1893, and Celtic have since overtaken them as record holders with a total of 40 Scottish Cup victories.

The Scottish Women’s Cup was established in 1970 by the Scottish Women’s Football Association independently of the Scottish FA, before the two organisations became affiliated in 1998. The most successful team of the competition is Glasgow City, who are narrowly ahead of Hibernian with nine titles to the latter’s eight.

The home of the Tartan Army
Hampden Park is not only home to both the men and women’s national teams, but also to the Scottish FA, whose offices are located there.

The ground has hosted many iconic matches in its near 120-year history and was originally the home of Scotland’s oldest association football club – Queen’s Park. While the modern stadium can accommodate over 50,000 fans, Hampden once had capacity for more than three times that amount and was classified as the biggest football stadium in the world. It was the location of one of the greatest matches football has ever gifted us, when Real Madrid beat Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 in front of 127,000 fans in the 1960 European Cup Final. This remains the highest scoring and attended final in the competition’s history.  

The 1937 match between Scotland and England drew a record 149,415 spectators, which has yet to be broken in international European football. What is so fascinating about this crowd is that Wales had already won the British Home Championship and so the score was essentially of no consequence (although for the record, the hosts triumphed 3-1). However, if you know your Scottish football history, you will be aware that, whatever the stakes, the Tartan Army will always be out in force to cheer on their side – especially in a head-to-head between the oldest rivals in international football.