Scotland national football team results (1872–1914)

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international association football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It is the joint-oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, Scotland's opponents in what is now recognised as the world's first international football match, which took place at Hamilton Crescent in Glasgow in November 1872.^[1] Prior to this, a series of matches had been played between teams representing the two countries, but the Scottish team was drawn almost entirely from players based in and around London and these games are now not regarded as full international matches.^[2] The lack of involvement by players from Scottish clubs in these matches led to some controversy, which was resolved when The Football Association arranged to send a team to play in Glasgow, where the English players took on a Scotland team composed entirely of players from the Queen's Park club.^[1]

Scotland national football team results
1872–1914 (matches 1–113) 1920–39 (matches 114–188) 1940–59 (matches 189–274) 1960–79 (matches 275–432) 1980–99 (matches 433–611) 2000–19 (matches 612–783) 2020–present (matches 784–839) Unofficial matches

Between 1872 and 1914, when competitive football was interrupted by the First World War, Scotland played 113 international matches, resulting in 70 victories, 23 draws and 20 defeats. This total does not include a match in 1902 which was declared void after a disaster at Ibrox Park in which 25 spectators died. Scotland played an annual friendly against England each year until 1883, and added a regular game against Wales in 1876. These two teams remained Scotland's only opponents until the British Home Championship was instituted in 1884, consisting of a round-robin tournament between England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.^[3] Of the 31 tournaments staged prior to the war, Scotland won 10 outright and 6 jointly.^[3] Scotland's 11–0 defeat of Ireland in 1901 is the national team's biggest win,^[4] and the 6–1 victory over England at Kennington Oval in 1881 remains the team's biggest win away to fierce rivals England.^[5] Scotland's games with England during this period drew extremely large crowds, with five matches prior to the First World War attracting crowds of over 100,000 spectators. The compilers of the World Football Elo Ratings retrospectively consider Scotland to have been ranked at number 1 during much of the early period of international football.^[6]

Key

Iillustrations of the first international at Hamilton Crescent, by William Ralston.

Key to matches

• Att. = Match attendance
• (H) = Home ground
• (A) = Away ground

Key to record by opponent

• P = Games played
• W = Games won
• D = Games drawn
• L = Games lost
• GF = Goals for
• GA = Goals against

Results

Scotland's score is shown first in each case.

Match number	Date	Venue	Opponents	Score	Competition	Scotland scorers	Att.	Ref.
1	30 November 1872	Hamilton Crescent, Partick (H)	England	0–0	Friendly		3,000	[7]
2	8 March 1873	Kennington Oval, Lambeth (A)	England	2–4	Friendly	Henry Renny-Tailyour, William Gibb	3,000	[7]
3	7 March 1874	Hamilton Crescent, Partick (H)	England	2–1	Friendly	Frederick Anderson, Angus MacKinnon	7,000	[7]
4	6 March 1875	Kennington Oval, Lambeth (A)	England	2–2	Friendly	Henry McNeil, Peter Andrews	2,000	[7]
5	4 March 1876	Hamilton Crescent, Partick (H)	England	3–0	Friendly	Billy MacKinnon, Henry McNeil, Thomas Highet	15,000	[7]
6	25 March 1876	Hamilton Crescent, Partick (H)	Wales	4–0	Friendly	John Ferguson, Jimmy Lang, Billy MacKinnon, Henry McNeil	17,000	[7]
7	3 March 1877	Kennington Oval, Lambeth (A)	England	3–1	Friendly	John Ferguson (2), James Richmond	2,000	[7]
8	5 March 1877	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	2–0	Friendly	Own goal, Charles Campbell	4,000	[7]
9	2 March 1878	Hampden Park [I], Crosshill (H)	England	7–2	Friendly	John McDougall (3), John McGregor, Henry McNeil (2), Billy MacKinnon	10,000	[7]
10	23 March 1878	Hampden Park [I], Crosshill (H)	Wales	9–0	Friendly	Peter Campbell (2), Jerry Weir (2), John Ferguson (2), John Baird, James Watson, Jimmy Lang	6,000	[7]
11	5 April 1879	Kennington Oval, Lambeth (A)	England	4–5	Friendly	Billy MacKinnon (2), John McDougall, John Smith	4,500	[7]
12	7 April 1879	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	3–0	Friendly	John Smith (2), Peter Campbell	2,000	[7]
13	13 March 1880	Hampden Park [I], Crosshill (H)	England	5–4	Friendly	George Ker (3), John Baird, John Kay	12,000	[7]
14	27 March 1880	Hampden Park [I], Crosshill (H)	Wales	5–1	Friendly	David Davidson, William Beveridge, Joseph Lindsay, J. McAdam, John Campbell	2,000	[7]
15	12 March 1881	Kennington Oval, Lambeth (A)	England	6–1	Friendly	John Smith (3), George Ker (2), David Hill	8,500	[5]
16	14 March 1881	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	5–1	Friendly	George Ker (2), Henry McNeil, two own goals	1,500	[5]
17	11 March 1882	Hampden Park [I], Crosshill (H)	England	5–1	Friendly	George Ker (2), William Harrower, John Kay, Robert McPherson	10,000	[5]
18	25 March 1882	Hampden Park [I], Crosshill (H)	Wales	5–0	Friendly	Eadie Fraser (2), John Kay, George Ker, James McAulay	5,000	[5]
19	10 March 1883	Bramall Lane, Sheffield (A)	England	3–2	Friendly	John Smith (2), Eadie Fraser	7,000	[5]
20	12 March 1883	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	3–0	Friendly	John Smith, Eadie Fraser, William Anderson	2,000	[5]
21	26 January 1884	Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast (A)	Ireland	5–0	British Home Championship	James Gossland (2), William Harrower (2), John Goudie	2,000	[5]
22	15 March 1884	Cathkin Park [I], Crosshill (H)	England	1–0	British Home Championship	John Smith	10,000	[5]
23	29 March 1884	Cathkin Park [I], Crosshill (H)	Wales	4–1	British Home Championship	John Kay (2), Joseph Lindsay, Francis Shaw	5,000	[5]
24	14 March 1885	Hampden Park [II], Crosshill (H)	Ireland	8–2	British Home Championship	Alexander Higgins (3), Alexander Barbour, W. Lamont, Willie Turner, John Marshall, Robert Calderwood	6,000	[5]
25	21 March 1885	Kennington Oval, Lambeth (A)	England	1–1	British Home Championship	Joseph Lindsay	8,000	[5]
26	23 March 1885	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	8–1	British Home Championship	Joseph Lindsay (3), Robert Calderwood (2), William Anderson (2), David Allan	4,000	[5]
27	20 March 1886	Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast (A)	Ireland	7–2	British Home Championship	Charles Heggie (4), James Kelly, James Gourlay, Michael Dunbar	3,000	[5]
28	27 March 1886	Hampden Park [II], Crosshill (H)	England	1–1	British Home Championship	George Somerville	11,000	[5]
29	10 April 1886	Hampden Park [II], Crosshill (H)	Wales	4–1	British Home Championship	Bob McCormick, James McCall, David Allan, William Harrower	5,500	[5]
30	19 February 1887	Hampden Park [II], Crosshill (H)	Ireland	4–1	British Home Championship	William Watt, Tom Jenkinson, William Johnstone, James Lowe	1,000	[5]
31	19 March 1887	Leamington Road, Blackburn (A)	England	3–2	British Home Championship	James McCall, Leitch Keir, James Allan	12,000	[5]
32	21 March 1887	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	2–0	British Home Championship	William Robertson, James Allan	2,000	[5]
33	10 March 1888	Hibernian Park, Edinburgh (H)	Wales	5–1	British Home Championship	Alex Latta (2), William Paul, Neil Munro, Willie Groves	8,000	[5]
34	17 March 1888	Hampden Park [II], Crosshill (H)	England	0–5	British Home Championship		10,000	[5]
35	24 March 1888	Solitude Ground, Belfast (A)	Ireland	1010–2	British Home Championship	William Dickson (4), Geordie Dewar, Thomas Breckenridge, Allan Stewart, Neil McCallum, Ralph Aitken, own goal	5,000	[5]
36	9 March 1889	Ibrox Park [I], Govan (H)	Ireland	7–0	British Home Championship	Willie Groves (3), Frank Watt (2), David Black, Tom McInnes	6,000	[5]
37	13 April 1889	Kennington Oval, Lambeth (A)	England	3–2	British Home Championship	Neil Munro, Jimmy Oswald, James McLaren	10,000	[5]
38	15 April 1889	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	0–0	British Home Championship		6,000	[5]
39	22 March 1890	Underwood Park, Paisley (H)	Wales	5–0	British Home Championship	William Paul (4), Hughie Wilson	7,500	[5]
40	29 March 1890	Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast (A)	Ireland	4–1	British Home Championship	Gilbert Rankin (3), Tom Wylie	5,000	[5]
41	5 April 1890	Hampden Park [II], Crosshill (H)	England	1–1	British Home Championship	John McPherson	26,379	[5]
42	21 March 1891	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	4–3	British Home Championship	Bob Boyd (2), James Logan, Robert Buchanan	4,000	[8]
43	28 March 1891	Celtic Park [I], Glasgow (H)	Ireland	2–1	British Home Championship	James Low, Tom Waddell	8,000	[8]
44	4 April 1891	Ewood Park, Blackburn (A)	England	1–2	British Home Championship	Frank Watt	31,000	[8]
45	19 March 1892	Solitude Ground, Belfast (A)	Ireland	3–2	British Home Championship	Alexander Keillor, William Lambie, Dave Ellis	10,500	[8]
46	26 March 1892	Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh (H)	Wales	6–1	British Home Championship	James Hamilton (2), John McPherson (2), Davie Baird, William Thomson	600	[8]
47	2 April 1892	Ibrox Park [I], Govan (H)	England	1–4	British Home Championship	Jack Bell	20,000	[8]
48	18 March 1893	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	8–0	British Home Championship	Jake Madden (4), John Barker (3), William Lambie	4,500	[8]
49	25 March 1893	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Ireland	6–1	British Home Championship	William Sellar (2), James Kelly, James Hamilton, own goal	12,000	[8]
50	1 April 1893	Athletic Ground, Richmond (A)	England	2–5	British Home Championship	William Sellar (2)	16,000	[8]
51	24 March 1894	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock (H)	Wales	5–2	British Home Championship	Davidson Berry, John Barker, Thomas Chambers, David Alexander, John Johnstone	10,000	[8]
52	31 March 1894	Solitude Ground, Belfast (A)	Ireland	2–1	British Home Championship	Jack Taylor, own goal	6,000	[8]
53	7 April 1894	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	England	2–2	British Home Championship	William Lambie, Sandy McMahon	45,017	[8]
54	23 March 1895	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	2–2	British Home Championship	Jake Madden, John Divers	4,000	[8]
55	30 March 1895	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Ireland	3–1	British Home Championship	John Walker (2), William Lambie	15,000	[8]
56	6 April 1895	Goodison Park, Liverpool (A)	England	0–3	British Home Championship		42,500	[8]
57	21 March 1896	Carolina Port, Dundee (H)	Wales	4–0	British Home Championship	Robert Neil (2), Alexander Keillor, Daniel Paton	11,700	[8]
58	28 March 1896	Solitude Ground, Belfast (A)	Ireland	3–3	British Home Championship	Robert Smyth McColl (2), Patrick Murray	8,000	[8]
59	4 April 1896	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	England	2–1	British Home Championship	William Lambie, Jack Bell	56,500	[8]
60	20 March 1897	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	2–2	British Home Championship	John Ritchie, John Walker	5,000	[8]
61	27 March 1897	Ibrox Park [I], Govan (H)	Ireland	5–1	British Home Championship	John McPherson (2), Neil Gibson, Robert Smyth McColl, Alexander King	15,000	[8]
62	3 April 1897	Crystal Palace, London (A)	England	2–1	British Home Championship	Tommy Hyslop, Jimmy Millar	35,000	[8]
63	19 March 1898	Fir Park, Motherwell (H)	Wales	5–2	British Home Championship	James Gillespie (3), James McKee (2)	3,500	[8]
64	26 March 1898	Solitude Ground, Belfast (A)	Ireland	3–0	British Home Championship	Thomas Robertson, Robert Smyth McColl, William Stewart	5,000	[8]
65	2 April 1898	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	England	1–3	British Home Championship	Jimmy Millar	40,000	[8]
66	18 March 1899	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	6–0	British Home Championship	Robert Smyth McColl (3), John W. Campbell (2), Henry Marshall	12,000	[8]
67	25 March 1899	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Ireland	9–1	British Home Championship	Robert Smyth McColl (3), John W. Campbell (2), Robert Hamilton (2), Jack Bell, Alex Christie	12,000	[8]
68	8 April 1899	Villa Park, Aston (A)	England	1–2	British Home Championship	Robert Hamilton	25,590	[8]
69	3 February 1900	Pittodrie, Aberdeen (H)	Wales	5–2	British Home Championship	Davie Wilson (2), Jack Bell, Alexander Smith, Robert Hamilton	12,500	[8]
70	3 March 1900	Solitude Ground, Belfast (A)	Ireland	3–0	British Home Championship	Alexander Smith, John J. Campbell (2)	6,000	[8]
71	7 April 1900	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	England	4–1	British Home Championship	Robert Smyth McColl (3), Jack Bell	63,000	[8]
72	23 February 1901	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Ireland	1111–0	British Home Championship	Sandy McMahon (4), Robert Hamilton (4), John W. Campbell (2), Davie Russell	15,000	[4]
73	2 March 1901	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	1–1	British Home Championship	John Robertson	5,000	[4]
74	30 March 1901	Crystal Palace, London (A)	England	2–2	British Home Championship	John J. Campbell, Robert Hamilton	18,520	[4]
75	1 March 1902	Grosvenor Park, Belfast (A)	Ireland	5–1	British Home Championship	Robert Hamilton (3), Robert Walker, Albert Buick	15,000	[4]
76	15 March 1902	Cappielow Park, Greenock (H)	Wales	5–1	British Home Championship	John Robertson, Albert Buick, Alec Smith, Robert Walker, John J. Campbell	5,284	[4]
77	3 May 1902	Villa Park, Aston (A)	England	2–2	British Home Championship	Bobby Templeton, Ronald Orr	15,000	[A][4]
78	9 March 1903	Arms Park, Cardiff (A)	Wales	1–0	British Home Championship	Finlay Speedie	11,000	[4]
79	21 March 1903	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Ireland	0–2	British Home Championship		17,000	[4]
80	4 April 1903	Bramall Lane, Sheffield (A)	England	2–1	British Home Championship	Finlay Speedie, Robert Walker	32,000	[4]
81	12 March 1904	Dens Park, Dundee (H)	Wales	1–1	British Home Championship	Robert Walker	12,000	[4]
82	26 March 1904	Dalymount Park, Dublin (A)	Ireland	1–1	British Home Championship	Robert Hamilton	1,000	[4]
83	9 April 1904	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	England	0–1	British Home Championship		45,000	[4]
84	6 March 1905	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	1–3	British Home Championship	John Robertson	6,000	[4]
85	18 March 1905	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Ireland	4–0	British Home Championship	Charles Thomson (2 pens.), Bobby Walker, Jimmy Quinn	35,000	[4]
86	1 April 1905	Crystal Palace, London (A)	England	0–1	British Home Championship		32,000	[4]
87	3 March 1906	Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh (H)	Wales	0–2	British Home Championship		25,000	[4]
88	17 March 1906	Dalymount Park, Dublin (A)	Ireland	1–0	British Home Championship	Thomas Fitchie	8,000	[4]
89	7 April 1906	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	England	2–1	British Home Championship	James Howie (2)	102,741	[4]
90	4 March 1907	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	0–1	British Home Championship		7,715	[4]
91	16 March 1907	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Ireland	3–0	British Home Championship	Frank O'Rourke, Robert Walker, Charles Thomson (pen.)	26,000	[4]
92	6 April 1907	St James' Park, Newcastle (A)	England	1–1	British Home Championship	Own goal	35,829	[4]
93	7 March 1908	Dens Park, Dundee (H)	Wales	2–1	British Home Championship	Alex Bennett, Willie Lennie	18,000	[4]
94	14 March 1908	Dalymount Park, Dublin (A)	Ireland	5–0	British Home Championship	Jimmy Quinn (4), James Galt	10,000	[4]
95	4 April 1908	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	England	1–1	British Home Championship	Andrew Wilson	121,452	[4]
96	1 March 1909	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	2–3	British Home Championship	Robert Walker, Harold Paul	6,000	[4]
97	15 March 1909	Ibrox Park, Govan (H)	Ireland	5–0	British Home Championship	James McMenemy (2), Sandy MacFarlane, Alexander Thomson, Harold Paul	24,000	[4]
98	3 April 1909	Crystal Palace, London (A)	England	0–2	British Home Championship		27,000	[4]
99	5 March 1910	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock (H)	Wales	1–0	British Home Championship	Archie Devine	22,000	[4]
100	19 March 1910	Windsor Park, Belfast (A)	Ireland	0–1	British Home Championship		17,000	[4]
101	2 April 1910	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	England	2–0	British Home Championship	Jimmy McMenemy, Jimmy Quinn	106,205	[4]
102	6 March 1911	Ninian Park, Cardiff (A)	Wales	2–2	British Home Championship	Robert Hamilton (2)	14,000	[9]
103	18 March 1911	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Ireland	2–0	British Home Championship	William Reid, James McMenemy	32,000	[9]
104	1 April 1911	Goodison Park, Liverpool (A)	England	1–1	British Home Championship	Alexander Higgins	38,000	[9]
105	2 March 1912	Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh (H)	Wales	1–0	British Home Championship	James Quinn	32,000	[9]
106	16 March 1912	Windsor Park, Belfast (A)	Ireland	4–1	British Home Championship	Walter Aitkenhead (2), William Reid, Bobby Walker	12,000	[9]
107	23 March 1912	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	England	1–1	British Home Championship	Andrew Wilson	127,307	[9]
108	3 March 1913	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	0–0	British Home Championship		8,000	[9]
109	15 March 1913	Dalymount Park, Dublin (A)	Ireland	2–1	British Home Championship	William Reid, Alex Bennett	12,000	[9]
110	5 April 1913	Stamford Bridge, Chelsea (A)	England	0–1	British Home Championship		52,500	[9]
111	28 February 1914	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Wales	0–0	British Home Championship		10,000	[9]
112	14 March 1914	Windsor Park, Belfast (A)	Ireland	1–1	British Home Championship	Joseph Donnachie	31,000	[9]
113	14 April 1914	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	England	3–1	British Home Championship	Charles Thomson, James McMenemy, William Reid	105,000	[9]

Notes

• A. ^ This match replaced the original England–Scotland game, played at the new Ibrox Park on 5 April, which was declared void after a disaster in which 25 spectators died.

Record by opponent

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	WPCT
England	43	18	12	13	85	75	+10	41.86
Ireland	31	26	3	2	128	27	+101	83.87
Wales	39	27	8	4	128	35	+93	69.23
Total	113	71	23	19	341	137	+204	62.83

Source: Results

British Home Championship record by season

Year	Placing[3]
1883–84	1st
1884–85	1st
1885–86	1st (joint)
1886–87	1st
1887–88	2nd
1888–89	1st
1889–90	1st (joint)
1890–91	2nd
1891–92	2nd
1892–93	2nd
1893–94	1st
1894–95	2nd (joint)
1895–96	1st
1896–97	1st
1897–98	2nd
1898–99	2nd
1899–1900	1st
1900–01	2nd
1901–02	1st
1902–03	1st (joint)
1903–04	3rd (joint)
1904–05	3rd (joint)
1905–06	1st (joint)
1906–07	3rd
1907–08	1st (joint)
1908–09	3rd
1909–10	1st
1910–11	2nd
1911–12	1st (joint)
1912–13	2nd (joint)
1913–14	2nd

References

1. Soar, Phil; Martin Tyler (1983). Encyclopedia of British Football. Willow Books. pp. 65–66. ISBN 0-00-218049-9.
2. Warsop, Keith (2004). The Early FA Cup Finals and the Southern Amateurs. SoccerData. p. 55. ISBN 1-899468-78-1.
3. Rollin, Jack (1985). Soccer: The Records. Guinness Books. p. 25. ISBN 0-85112-449-6.
4. Brown, Alan; Tossani, Gabriele (14 April 2016). "Scotland – International Matches 1901-1910". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
5. Brown, Alan; Tossani, Gabriele (26 May 2016). "Scotland – International Matches 1881–1890". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
6. "World Football Elo Ratings: Scotland". World Football Elo Ratings. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
7. Brown, Alan; Tossani, Gabriele (17 March 2016). "Scotland – International Matches 1872–1880". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
8. Brown, Alan; Tossani, Gabriele (17 March 2016). "Scotland – International Matches 1891-1900". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
9. Brown, Alan; Tossani, Gabriele (14 April 2016). "Scotland – International Matches 1911-1920". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 June 2016.

External links

• Scottish FA: National Team Archive