History of the Scotland national football team
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The history of the Scotland national football team dates back to the first ever international football match in 1872.
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[edit] Early years
Between 1872 and 1929, Scotland played matches exclusively against the 'home nations' England, Ireland and Wales largely due to the dominance of the UK in international football, as well as the problems of arranging internationals in the days before air travel was commonplace. Between 1872 and 1883, all of these matches were merely annual friendly fixtures however the introduction of the British Home Championship in 1884 provided competitive international football for the first time. During these early years, defeats for Scotland were something of a rarity, losing just 2 of their first 43 international matches, both against England. Indeed it wasn't until 1903 that Scotland lost a match to a team other than England, a 2-0 home defeat by Ireland. Scotland continued to enjoy regular success in the British Home Championships, winning 16 of the annual 31 tournaments before World War I, 6 of which were shared. The SFA had joined FIFA in 1910, but the relationship between FIFA and the British associations was fraught, and the British nations withdrew from FIFA in 1928, in a dispute over payments to amateur players.
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 being beaten 5-0 and 3-0 by Austria and Italy respectively in 1931.
[edit] Post-war
Scotland had to wait until 1954 before taking part in their first World Cup, although they did qualify for the 1950 World Cup Finals in Brazil. Two places were allocated to the Home Nations, with the British Home Championship doubling up as a qualifying group. However, the SFA stated that they would only send a team to participate if they won the Championship. Going into their last game with England this was a possibility, but defeat confined them to the runners-up spot, behind England. Despite pleas from the players to reverse their statement, the SFA refused to send the national side to participate.
In 1954 however, the SFA took a more relaxed stance, and having qualified along with England in what was a combined World Cup qualifying and British Home Championship group, Scotland were beaten 1-0 and 7-0 by Austria and Uruguay respectively in that year's finals in Switzerland. It was in 1954 that Scotland appointed their first ever team manager, Andy Beattie, but he resigned during the World Cup after the SFA had decided to take only 13 players, despite the maximum allowed by FIFA being 22. Scotland shrugged off the disappointment of 1954 by qualifying for the 1958 World Cup where they picked up their first World Cup point, in a 1-1 draw with Yugoslavia, but again finished bottom of their group. The team was officially managed by Matt Busby but due to his injuries in the Munich Air Disaster, trainer Dawson Walker was given the post during the World Cup.
[edit] 1960s
Scotland enjoyed back-to-back British Home Championship successes in 1961-62 and 1962-63 under the management of Ian McColl, winning the tournament outright for the first time in over a decade. 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 something of a daunting one, against newly crowned World Cup winners England at Wembley Stadium. Despite being underdogs, Scotland emerged with 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 juggled the ball at walking pace in an attempt to torment the opposition, footage which is generally considered symbolic of Scotland's victory that day. After the result, many fans heralded Scotland Unofficial Football World Championships.
However despite Scotland's victory at Wembley, and their subsequent victory in the 1966-67 British Home Championships, Scotland missed out on the chance to play a quarter-final match against Spain at the 1968 European Championship after they finished one point below England in their qualifying group, in what was a combination of the 1966-67 and 1967-1968 British Home Championships.
Bobby Brown's managership continued to be inconsistent. After failure to qualify for the 1970 World Cup, and after a poor start to the 1972 European Championship qualifying campaign, Tommy Docherty took up the managerial reigns in 1971.
[edit] 1970s
The 1970s is generally considered to be the best era of the Scotland national team's history. After Tommy Docherty's brief spell as manager between 1971 and 1972, during which Scotland shared the British Home Championship with England, Willie Ormond was appointed in 1973. Despite losing his first match in charge, a 5-0 thrashing by England in the SFA Centenary Match, Ormond recovered to steer Scotland to their first World Cup finals in 16 years in 1974. Scotland qualified by winning 4 of their 6 games in a group including Czechoslovakia and Denmark. At the finals in West Germany, Scotland remained unbeaten but failed to progress beyond the group stages on goal difference after beating Zaire 2-0 and drawing 0-0 and 1-1 with Brazil and Yugoslavia respectively. Scotland also shared the 1973-1974 British Home Championship with England but failed to qualify for their first European Championship in 1976. Willie Ormond resigned in 1977 after several minor breaches of player discipline.
Scotland appointed Ally MacLeod in May 1977 with qualification for the 1978 World Cup far from assured. Scotland won the 1976-1977 British Home Championship after beating England 2-1 at Wembley, after which Scotland fans infamously invaded the Wembley field ripping up the pitch and breaking a crossbar. Scotland went on to assure qualification for the 1978 World Cup with victories over Czechoslovakia and Wales- with a Don Masson penalty and a Kenny Dalglish header.
During the build up to the finals, MacLeod had fuelled the hopes and dreams of the nation by stating that even if Scotland didn't win the World Cup, they would most definitely come home with a medal of some kind. 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 in an open-topped bus. Thousands more fans lined the route to Prestwick Airport as the team set off for Argentina.
Things began to go wrong soon after, however, as a row between players and the SFA regarding bonus payments began to emerge. Despite this, Scotland opened up their World Cup campaign against the South Americans Peru. Things appeared to be going to plan as a Joe Jordan goal put Scotland 1-0 up after just 14 minutes. They 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 they took control of the match. A late second half double from Teófilo Cubillas condemned Scotland to a 3-1 defeat.
Willie Johnston tested positive for a drug test after the game and was subsequently sent home in disgrace. Johnston had taken an over the counter medication. To this day many believe he was sent up to hurt Scotland's chances, as many thought they had a good chance to win the World Cup.
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. After the finals MacLeod took charge of only one more match, a 3-2 defeat to Austria in the first match of the 1980 European Championship qualifiers, before resigning. Jock Stein was appointed as his replacement but he failed to take Scotland to their first European Championship.
[edit] 1980s
After failure to qualify for Euro 1980, Stein set his sights on taking Scotland to their third successive World Cup finals - Spain 1982. Scotland qualified from a group consisting of Sweden, Portugal, Israel and Northern Ireland, losing just one match. At the finals, Scotland, for the third successive World Cup, went out on goal difference. An opening 5-2 win over New Zealand was followed by a 4-1 defeat to Brazil, in which Scotland had famously taken the lead through a goal from David Narey, and a 2-2 draw with USSR.
Scotland once again failed to qualify for the European Championships, this time for the 1984 finals in France, as they won just one match in their qualifying group. They did, however, qualify for their fourth successive World Cup in 1986. Scotland went into their last qualification match against Wales, needing a point to earn a play-off match. With Wales leading, Scotland were awarded a penalty with nine minutes remaining which was scored by Davie Cooper. However, as the players and fans celebrated at full-time, news began to circulate that manager Jock Stein had suffered a heart-attack and he later died.
After the death of Jock Stein, Alex Ferguson was given the role of manager for the World Cup qualifier against Australia in which Scotland won 2-0 on aggregate. Ferguson was subsequently appointed manager for the World Cup. This time though, there was no hard-luck story as Scotland went out of the World Cup with just one point from their three matches, losing to Denmark and West Germany and drawing with Uruguay.
[edit] Andy Roxburgh era: 1986-1993
Following the 1986 World Cup, Andy Roxburgh took charge of Scotland for the European Championship 1988 Qualifying Campaign. Scotland did poorly in the qualifying group with the highlights being a 2-0 home win over Belgium and an away victory against Bulgaria in which Gary Mackay scored to hand the Republic of Ireland qualification for the tournament. The games that killed Scotland were the shock 1-0 home defeat against the Republic of Ireland with Mark Lawrenson scoring the only goal of the game and the 4-1 hammering away in Belgium. Following this failure, Scotland regrouped for the 1990 World Cup and qualified narrowly. They beat France 2-0 at home in terrible rainy conditions, a game in which Mo Johnston (Who was playing football in France at the time and was to move to Rangers F.C. in the summer) scored twice. Scotland then only managed to pick up one point from their final three games. Norway scored in the last minute in the final match of the qualifying campaign thanks to a bad error from Scotland goalkeeper Jim Leighton. Had they scored again, Scotland would have been out but the 65,000 crowd breathed a sigh of relief when the final whistle went.
As it was, Scotland prepared for the 1990 World Cup with confidence. They famously beat Argentina 1-0 in a friendly match with Stewart McKimmie scoring the only goal. However the team proceeded to produce bad results with a shocking 3-1 defeat against Egypt at Pittodrie Stadium in Aberdeen and also produce dull performances at home against both Poland and East Germany. Crowds for both matches were low with supporters lost in the huge Hampden terraces. In their opening World Cup match They lost 1-0 to Costa Rica which turned to be a disaster for the country and decrease expectations of the National team as a whole. However in the following match against Sweden they produced a 2-1 win with Stuart McCall and Mo Johnston (penalty) scoring. Scotland held out Brazil for eighty minutes in their final group match in Turin but lost out due to a blunder from keeper Jim Leighton who was then having a bad time at his club Manchester United. He would not play again for Scotland for another five years with Andrew Goram picking up the Number 1 goalkeeping spot.
Scotland's Euro 92 qualifying campaign was unspectacular. They were far from impressive and lost 1-0 to Romania away from home but a 1-1 draw played out between Bulgaria and Romania in the final group match saw Scotland through, top of their group.
It was Scotland's debut in the European Championship. The team were knocked out of the first round group stage of Euro 92 but played well in matches against Holland and Germany even though they lost both. Their final match produced a 3-0 win over the C.I.S. and the Scottish fans went home happy even though the team had been knocked out yet again. The Scotland supporters known as the Tartan Army also won an award for their superb behaviour in the tournament.
Scotland faced a tough group in the bid to qualify for World Cup 1994. Their first game against Switzerland at the Wankdorf Stadium ended in a 3-1 defeat with Richard Gough sent off. Scotland then drew 0-0 against Italy and Portugal with both games played at Ibrox towards the end of 1992. The real moment of truth though was the 5-0 defeat against Portugal in Lisbon. Ally McCoist broke his during the night as Portugal outplayed Scotland with Jorge Cadete who would be a future Celtic F.C. star scoring twice with Rui Barrosand Paulo Futre also scoring. It was to spell the end for Roxburgh as manager with depression setting in again and a post-match analysis of 'a team died out there!' which reflected on the poor state of football in the country. The Scotland captain Richard Gough also famously walked out on his country after a bitter dispute with the manager over the tactics for the game. Gough himself played a part in allowing Portugal to score five as he was part of the defence that night. When Craig Brown was appointed as manager, Gough brought himself forward by saying he wanted to play for Scotland again but Brown never picked him and his international career was over. Andy Roxburgh's final match in charge was against Switzerland at Pittodrie in September 1993 and the game ended as a 1-1 draw sparking the end of qualification for the World Cup.
[edit] Craig Brown era: 1993-1998
Craig Brown took over in charge of Scotland in October 1993 and his first match in charge (as caretaker) was against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico. Scotland lost 3-1 and were already out of the World Cup.
Scotland were desperate to make it to Euro 96 which was to be held in England. They only lost once in the whole qualifying section. Their most important match was the 1-0 home victory over Greece at Hampden played in August 1995. Ally McCoist scored the only goal of the game, in his first match for his country since the Portugal fiasco. Victories against San Marino and the Faroe Islands pushed Scotland into the European Championships for a second time in a row.
Scotland's first match of the tournament was against the Netherlands at Villa Park. They drew 0-0, raising morale ahead of the England game at Wembley. Scotland lost 2-0 with Paul Gascoigne scoring a wonder goal and Alan Shearer also scoring with Gary McAllister missing a penalty to add to Scotland's woes. Scotland then beat Switzerland 1-0 at Villa Park again with McCoist scoring but Scotland were knocked out on goal difference yet again.
All hopes were now on the World Cup 1998 tournament. In qualifying, Scotland won 1-0 victory over Sweden at Ibrox and a 2-0 home win over Austria with Kevin Gallacher scoring. This was key for Scotland and they were also part of an infamous non-match against Estonia in which Estonia failed to turn-up for kick-off. In the replay, Scotland drew 0-0 in Monaco. Eventually Scotland sealed qualification in October 1997 with a 2-0 home victory against Latvia with goals from Kevin Gallacher and Gordon Durie. The game was originally set to be played at Easter Road in Edinburgh but the venue was moved to Celtic Park because of the large expected crowd. After all Easter Road the home of Hibernian could only hold 18,000.
World Cup 1998 approached and Scotland played a number of friendles. They failed to win either of them and went on a pointless tour to America where they drew with Colombia and lost to the USA.
Scotland were drawn against Brazil in the opening game of the 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 2-1 defeat despite a good performance.
They then drew 1-1 against Norway in Bordeaux with Craig Burley scoring . However the final match against Morocco in Bordeaux was a big disappointment for Scotland, losing 3-0 and on the plane home early yet again. Would Scotland ever get another chance to play on the big stage again?
[edit] Post World Cup, under Craig Brown: 1998-2002
Scotland had high hopes of qualifying for Euro 2000. Their first match ended in a 0-0 draw away against Lithuania. However they slipped up away at the Faroe Islands to draw 1-1. Against Estonia at Tynecastle they twice went behind but won 3-2 thanks to two late strikes from substitute Billy Dodds. The game was to spark the end for goalkeeper, Jim Leighton who after a long international career dating back over 17 years announced his international retirement after being blamed for the Estonian goals. Gary McAllister was booed by a section of the crowd when Scotland lost 2-1 to the Czech Republic at Celtic Park, and subsequently retired from international football. In the away match against the Czechs in Prague, Scotland went 2-0 up against the Czech Republic through Paul Ritchie and Allan Johnston but lost 3-2. Amazingly Scotland still made it to the play-offs.
Scotland were drawn against England in a two-legged play-off.
In the first leg of their playoff and their first trip to Scotland in nine years England won 2-0 at Hampden with Paul Scholes scoring both goals. However Scotland then went to Wembley and won 1-0 with Don Hutchison scoring. It was a superb Wembley victory for Scotland but it was of little consolation as Scotland failed to qualify.
The World Cup 2002 qualifying campaign sparked the end of the road for Craig Brown. They failed to pick up a single victory against both Croatia and Belgium and against Belgium at Hampden they went 2-0 up with both goals from Billy Dodds but conceded two goals including one in the last minute. The end of the road was nigh for Brown as Scotland collapsed 2-0 against Belgium in Brussels sparking a new low for Scottish football with Brown exiting. His final match in charge was a low-key qualifier against Latvia at Hampden Park in which Scotland won 2-1.
[edit] Berti Vogts era: 2002-2004
Scotland appointed their first ever foreign coach in the former Germany manager Berti Vogts in February 2002. Vogts signalled his intentions to blood young players after previous manager Craig Brown had stuck with the old crop of players. Critics asked if the players selected by Vogts were ready to play at international level, or if they were good enough.
In Vogts' first match in charge against France at the Saint-Denis stadium, Scotland were hammered 5-0 against the European and World Cup champions.
A number of friendly matches were then arranged during the first half of 2002 including a tour to the Far East. Scotland lost them all including a 4-1 defeat against South Korea. The team did manage to win 4-0 against an Hong Kong select (not a recognised international team).
Scotland then played Denmark in August at Hampden Park. Scotland played poorly and lost 1-0.
On 7 September 2002 Scotland drew 2-2 with the Faroe Islands after going 2-0 down in just under 12 minutes. Both were scored by a schoolteacher called John Peterson. Paul Lambert and Barry Ferguson hit back for Scotland but the damage had been done and Scotland were ridiculed by fans and media alike. David Weir retired from international football after being criticised by Berti Vogts for his poor performance (although he returned after Vogts left). Christian Dailly was also criticised but decided to play on.
The Faroes disaster was still lingering in the minds of fans but Scotland ended up reaching the playoffs for a place in the Euro 2004 finals. They defeated Iceland home and away, drew with Germany at home and beat Lithuania 1-0 in the final match of the group to qualify to the playoffs where they were drawn against the Netherlands.
Scotland beat the Dutch 1-0 at Hampden Park. James McFadden scored the only goal of the game but the 6-0 defeat at the Amsterdam Arena in the second leg put them out on aggregate, with Ruud Van Nistelrooy scoring a hat-trick.
In February, with the Dutch disaster still in the minds of the players, Scotland played Wales in a friendly match at the Millennium Stadium. Both teams had been beaten in the Euro 2004 play-offs. Wales won 4-0, with Robert Earnshaw the Cardiff City striker scoring a hat-trick. Gareth Taylor scored the other.
Scotland then played Romania and lost 2-1 at Hampden. John Kennedy, the Celtic defender suffered serious knee ligament damage on his international debut that night and was out for two and a half years. Soon afterwards the Scots lost 1-0 to Denmark. They did however pick up wins over Estonia (away) 1-0 and Trinidad and Tobago at Easter Road in Edinburgh winning 4-1.
Scotland lost 3-0 to Hungary in a friendly match in August at Hampden Park. They then played Spain and were drawing 1-1 when the match was abandoned due to the floodlights failing.
Scotland's opening game against Slovenia in the World Cup 2006 qualifying campaign finished in a 0-0 draw. Scotland then lost 1-0 to Norway at Hampden, their first home competitive defeat in 17 years. Four days later Scotland drew 1-1 away to Moldova. Vogts and his players suffered a torrent of abuse as they returned to Scotland.
In December 2004 Vogts announced his resignation, blaming the media for his departure.
[edit] Walter Smith era: 2004-2007
Following a 4-1 friendly defeat against Sweden at Easter Road in November 2004 in which caretaker manager Tommy Burns took charge, Scotland announced that they had appointed the former Rangers and Everton manager, Walter Smith as their new coach. Ally McCoist would also join the backroom staff as first-team coach.
Smith's first game in charge was against Italy at the San Siro in March 2005. Scotland lost 2-0 from two Andrea Pirlo free-kicks. However the team played very well and gave hope for the future.
In June, Scotland beat Moldova 2-0 and drew 0-0 in Belarus.
The following autumn Scotland beat Norway 2-1 and Slovenia 3-0 away and also drew with Italy 1-1 at home. The 1-0 defeat against Belarus at home however ended the campaign.
With Scotland sitting out yet another tournament, all eyes were on what Smith would do next. They played the USA at Hampden in November 2005 drawing 1-1 and then they lost against Switzerland 3-1. In May, Scotland then went to Japan to take part in the Kirin Cup competition. Scotland beat Bulgaria 5-1. Debutants Chris Burke and Kris Boyd, both of Rangers, scored twice each and James McFadden netted the other. Scotland then kept out the hosts Japan drawing 0-0, and picked up the trophy.
The Euro 2008 qualifying group looked difficult, with Scotland's group including: World Cup finalists France and Italy; quarter-finalists Ukraine; and Georgia. Scotland got off to a good start against the Faroe Islands at Celtic Park, winning 6-0. Kris Boyd scored twice with Kenny Miller, James McFadden, Darren Fletcher and Gary O'Connor all scoring.
Scotland then faced a difficult away trip to Kaunas to take on Lithuania on 6 September 2006. Scotland won 2-1 with Christian Dailly and Kenny Miller scoring.
Scotland recorded a 1-0 victory against France at Hampden on 7 October 2006, with Gary Caldwell scoring the only goal in the 67th minute, giving Scotland maximum points from the first three games. The next match, against Ukraine, ended in a 2-0 defeat, with Steven Pressley sent off.
The defeat proved Walter Smith's final match, as in January 2007, he left to return to Rangers. This left Scotland managerless with just over two months until the next matches against Georgia and Italy. Former Rangers manager Alex McLeish was quickly named favourite with bookmakers to become new manager, with Dundee United manager Craig Levein, and Gary McAllister. [1]
[edit] Alex McLeish era: 2007-present
On 29 January 2007, Alex McLeish was appointed Scotland's manager. His assistants were announced as Roy Aitken and Andy Watson. McLeish's first match in charge was the Euro 2008 Qualifier against Georgia in March 2007. In the 11th minute Kris Boyd scored to put Scotland in front; Georgia equalised just before half time with a goal from former Rangers striker Shota Arveladze but a late winner in the 88th minute from Craig Beattie gave Scotland the 2-1 win and also made McLeish the first Scotland manager since Jock Stein in 1978 to gain a win in his first match in charge of the squad. Four days later Scotland went down 2-0 to the World Champions Italy in Bari. Scotland defeated the Faroe Islands 2-0 in Toftir and followed this up with a 3-1 win against Lithuania at Hampden in September 2007 with Kris Boyd, Stephen McManus and a superb goal from James McFadden sealing the win. Scotland then went on to a stunning victory over France in Paris, 1-0, with McFadden scoring from all of 30 yards out. Scotland sat top of their qualifying group prior to the Georgia game, but lost 2-0 to Georgia meaning the underdogs needed at least a point from their last game to have a hope of qualification, after both France and Italy took victories in their respective matches. Scotland were beaten by an Italian side at Hampden to send the team out of the qualifying round. The game was noted for passionate partizan support and the poor refereeing decisions from the Spanish referee Manuel Gonzalez. Scotland finished the campaign in third place closely behind the current World Champions and France a position showing the determination, belief, and character of the national team and all it's followers.
On the 27th of November 2007, Alex McLeish resigned from his post as the manager of Scotland. He was announced as Birmingham City's new manager the next day.
The trio has since been replaced by manager George Burley, Steven Pressley, and controversially, former England captain Terry Butcher.
