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Football in Scotland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Football is the most popular sport in Scotland and is the country's national sport. There is a long tradition of football games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Scottish Borders, although the modern game (Association Football) first took off in the Nineteenth century in west central Scotland, primarily Glasgow and Dunbartonshire. Scotland has the second oldest Football Association in the world and its own premier league and knockout competition.
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A book published in the 17th century suggests the modern game of football may have been invented in Aberdeen. The book Vocabula was written by city teacher David Wedderburn in 1633, more than 200 years before the Football Association (FA) was formed in England.
The "amazing discovery" is written in Latin and describes playing a match and passing the ball.
A 1711 edition was stored at the National Library of Scotland (NLS) and is now on display in Germany.
Mr Wedderburn wrote: "Let's pick sides. Those who are on the outside, come over here. Kick off, so that we can begin the match...Pass it here."
Richard McBrearty, curator of the Scottish Football Museum, said: "The book is the first evidence we have come across of a passing game with goalkeepers and players passing the ball to score goals."
It is generally believed that the modern game has its origins in disorganised and spontaneous "mob football", he said.
And that English public schools, such as Eton and Harrow, "civilised" the game by drawing up rules that encouraged players to kick the ball and forbid them from carrying it.
However, McBrearty said Wedderburn's book suggested that while England was pursuing a "dribbling game" in the mid 1800s, Scotland was already playing a much more structured game with team formations and passing.
"The other interesting thing is that the FA was not formed until 1863," he continued.
"In the first FA rule book there is no mention of goalkeepers and the game is based more on a rugby-type structure, where players could not pass the ball forward.
"Scotland has a fantastic claim to have developed the modern game." he said.
"It is frankly an amazing discovery and one which is hard to dispute."
Mr McBrearty said further research by the Scottish Football Museum had shown that many of the first Football Association clubs comprised of Scottish players.
These players, with their superior technique, were known as the "Scottish professors", he said.
The book is on display at the Museum fur Volkerkunde in Hamburg as part of a World Cup football exhibition.
Professor Wulf Koepke of the Museum fur Volkerkunde said: "The influence of this book is quite tremendous - it rewrites part of football history."
The Scottish Football Association (SFA) is the principal organising body for Scottish football.
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.
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 51 league championships and Celtic have 41. 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.
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, etc.) 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 they have not played in Scotland's top division since 1958.
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, covering Lothian and the Scottish Borders
- South of Scotland Football League, covering the south west of Scotland
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 (although many of these clubs do not participate due to inadequate ground standards), as well as Burntisland Shipyard Amateur F.C., Glasgow University F.C. and Girvan F.C..
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, were not in the main eligible to participate in the Scottish Cup until 2007-08. The one previous exception to this rule, Girvan F.C., participated in the Scottish Qualifying Cup (South) by virtue of the fact that they opted to switch from the senior level to the junior level, but still retained their right to attempt to qualify. From the 2007-08 season however, the winners of each of the three regional leagues and the winner of the Junior Cup will enter the first round of the Scottish Cup proper, following a decision by the SFA to allow them entry at their previous Annual General Meeting.
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.
The Scottish Cup is the world's second oldest national cup competition, first contested in 1873 and only being predated by the English FA Cup. It is a pure knockout tournament with single matches, with replays being held if the first match is a tie. All 12 Scottish Premierleague clubs automatically enter the tournament, as do all Scottish Football League clubs. A number of non-league clubs participate by virtue of having qualified through one of two regionalised qualifying cups; or since 2007-08 by having won the Scottish Junior Cup or one of the three regionalised Junior leagues. The final is usually played at Hampden Park.
The Scottish League Cup is open to members of the SPL and SFL, and has been contested since 1947.
The Scottish League Challenge Cup is open to members of the SFL, and has been contested since 1990.
The Scottish Junior Cup is contested by Scotland's major junior league teams and has been done so since the 1886-87 season. Currently, 163 teams are eligible to take part.
The Scottish Irn Bru Schools Cup is contested by scotland's Schools and has been done since 1999. Currently 190 schools can take part.
The Scottish national 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,[1] who they played in the world's first international football match at Hamilton Crescent, Partick, Glasgow in 1872.[2] Scotland have qualified for eight World Cups and two European Championships, but have never progressed beyond the first round.
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, friendly nature and charity work.
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For more details on this topic, see List of football clubs in Scotland.
The following articles detail the major results and events in each season since 1890, when the Scottish League was formed. Each article provides the final league tables for that season, with the exception of the current one, as well as details on cup results, Scotland national football team results and a summary of any other important events during the season.
Like its English counterpart, Scottish women's football is largely seen as an amateur game, given the emphasis on the male competitions. As in the men's game, the women's pyramidal structure consists of a Premier League and a Football League with Divisions One to Three, but the third division is split into Southwest and Northeast (like the men's Third Division was between 1949 and 1955). In the women's SFL, reserve and youth squads may compete as long as they do not compete in the same division as the titular club.
- ^ The first international football match. BBC Scotland. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
- ^ This day in history. The History Channel. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
- List of Scotland national football team results
- Scottish football champions
- Scottish Football (Defunct Leagues)
- Sport in Scotland
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