England and Scotland football rivalry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The England and Scotland football rivalry is a highly competitive sports rivalry that exists between the national football teams of the two countries.[1] It is also the oldest international fixture in the world, first played in 1872 at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow. The close proximity of the neighbouring countries and their joint status as members of the United Kingdom has led to much rivalry between the nations in many forms, and the social and cultural effects of centuries of antagonism and conflict between the two has contributed to the intense nature of the sporting contests. Scottish nationalism has also been a factor in the Scots' desire to defeat England above all other rivals, with the Scots referring to the English as the "Auld Enemy".[2]
The footballing rivalry has diminished somewhat since the late 1970s, particularly since the annual fixture stopped in 1989. England have developed rivalries with Germany and Argentina, which some England fans now consider to be more important than the historic rivalry with Scotland.[3] Nonetheless, when there have been matches between the two nations, these have attracted great media attention, public interest and comment in both countries.
The rivalry also manifests itself in the fact that many Scottish people support England's opponents, and vice-versa, despite the fact that England and Scotland are both countries of the United Kingdom.[4][5] Whether Scots should support England against other national teams is routinely a matter of heated debate.[6][7] The BBC website has commented that the games "have represented all that is good and all that is bad about football since the fixture began,"[8] while The Guardian newspaper once reported that "for millions across both sides of the border the encounter represents a chance for the ultimate victory over the enemy."[9] As of November 2008, the teams have played 110 matches; England have won 45, Scotland 41, and there have been 24 draws.[10]
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[edit] Background and early years
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The rules of association football had been formalised and set down by the Football Association in England in 1863.[11] By 1870 C. W. Alcock (Secretary of the English Football Association) issued public challenges in various Scottish newspapers [12], including the Glasgow Herald, to Scottish players to an international match against England. One of the few public responses Alcock received stated that "devotees of the "association" rules will find no foemen worthy of their steel in Scotland"[13]. Alcock ardently defended that the right to play in these matches "was open to every Scotchman [Alcock's italics] whether his lines were cast North or South of the Tweed" [14] Although the 1870 and 1871 matches are not currently recognised by FIFA as official, they were organised under the auspices of the FA and were described as "international" by The Scotsman newspaper. In 1870 Alcock even suggested that the next international match should be held in northern England.[15] Further matches between the two sides were arranged in 1871 and again Scotland based players were invited: "any Scotch players who may be desirous of assisting their country ... may communicate with Messrs A F Kinnaird"[16]. In 1872 a challenge match was agreed with the Glasgow team Queen's Park, who would represent Scotland. The FA's minutes of 3 October 1872 note that:
| “ | In order to further the interests of the Association in Scotland, it was decided that during the current season, a team should be sent to Glasgow to play a match v Scotland. | ” |
According to The Scotsman newspaper of 2 December 1872, there were only about ten soccer clubs in Scotland. These early international matches helped to increase the popularity of association football in Scotland.[17] The first official match was held on 30 November 1872, on Scotland's national saint's day, St. Andrew's Day, and it took place at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club.[18] The Scotland team was made up entirely of players from Queen's Park, the most successful Scottish club of the period.[18] The game ended a 0–0 draw, watched by a crowd of 4000 who had payed a shilling each for admission.[18]
The first goal between the two sides was scored by England's Alexander Bosnor in the next game at The Oval, the first official match between the two in England, which the English won 4–2 on 8 March 1873.[17] Following this, the game became an annual event, being held in England or Scotland in alternate years.[17] Scotland took their first win in the fixture in the 1874 game, again played at Hamilton Crescent, where they defeated England 2–1.[19] Later in the 1870s Scotland won the fixture three times in a row, including a 7–2 victory in the 1878 game.[17]
[edit] Famous matches in the annual series
- See also: British Home Championship and Rous Cup
From the first match in late 1872, England and Scotland played each other in the spring of every year (except during the two world wars) until 1989. From 1884 until 1984, the match was the highlight of the annual British Home Championship played between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland[20]. After the British Home Championship ended in 1984, the annual England v Scotland fixture continued in the form of the Rous Cup until 1989.
The only exception to this pattern of annual fixtures in the spring was in 1973, when there were two games. The first game that year was a friendly match that marked the centenary of the Scottish Football Association. There were also two fixtures staged in 1902, but this was because the first game had to be abandoned due to the first Ibrox disaster. The British Home Championships also acted as qualifiers for three major tournaments - the 1950 World Cup, the 1954 World Cup and the 1968 European Championship.
[edit] 1928
Wembley Wizards is the name given to the 1928 Scotland team which defeated England 5–1 at Wembley in a match that has become mythologised by Scots ever since. The match had an unusual background; England and Scotland were the two traditionally dominant countries in the British Home Championship, yet neither side had managed to beat either Ireland or Wales in their first two games of that year's Championship.
[edit] Match summary
| 31 March 1928 12:30 |
England  |
1–5 |  Scotland |
Wembley Stadium , London Attendance: 80,868 Referee: William Bell (Scotland) |
Bob Kelly  89' |
Alex Jackson 3' 65' 85' Alex James 44' 74' |
[edit] 1961
The game played in 1961 is infamous from the Scottish perspective, as they suffered their heaviest defeat in the fixture. Frank Haffey, the hapless Scottish goalkeeper, later decided to emigrate to Australia partly due to this game. Haffey's performance largely contributed towards the English stereotype of bad Scottish goalkeepers.[21][22]
[edit] Match summary
| 15 April 1961 | England |
9–3 | Scotland |
Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 97,350 Referee: Marcel Lequesne (France) |
| Bobby Robson 9' Jimmy Greaves 21' 30' 83'Bryan Douglas 55'Bobby Smith 73' 85'Johnny Haynes 78' 82' |
Dave Mackay 48' Davie Wilson 53'Pat Quinn 75' |
[edit] 1967
The match played in 1967 is Scotland's most famous victory against England. England were World Champions and undefeated in 19 games[23] before the match, played at the ground where they had won their world title less than a year beforehand. Memorably, Jim Baxter played "keepie uppie" as Scotland toyed with their opponents.[23][24] Scotland were aided somewhat by the fact that Jack Charlton was hampered by an injury sustained early in the game.[23] England manager Alf Ramsey was unable to substitute Charlton and therefore decided to use him in the unfamiliar role of centre forward.[23] Ironically, Charlton scored England's first goal.
Naturally, the Scots claimed after the game that the victory made them unofficial world champions. Ultimately, however, it was England who qualified for the 1968 European Championship because of results in the other matches.[23]
[edit] Match summary
| 15 April 1967 | England |
2–3 | Scotland |
Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 99,063 Referee: Gerhard Schulenburg (West Germany) |
| Jack Charlton 84' Geoff Hurst 88' |
Denis Law 27' Bobby Lennox 78'Jim McCalliog 87' |
[edit] 1977
The 1977 match is less memorable for what happened during the game itself, but what happened on the park after the game. The Scottish fans invaded the pitch, ripping up large sections of it and tearing down the goalposts.[25] This incident contributed towards the growing awareness of football hooliganism in the United Kingdom.
The match itself was a triumph for the new Scotland manager Ally MacLeod, which contributed to the sense of optimism that built towards Scotland's participation in the 1978 FIFA World Cup. Gordon McQueen opened the scoring late in the first half with a powerful header from a crossed free-kick from the left-hand side. Kenny Dalglish doubled Scotland's advantage with a scrambled effort, before England scored a late consolation goal from a penalty kick taken by Mick Channon. The defeat hastened the end of Don Revie's tenure as England manager.
[edit] Match summary
| 4 June 1977 | England |
1–2 | Scotland |
Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 98,103 Referee: Károly Palotai (Hungary) |
| Mick Channon (pen) 87' |
Gordon McQueen 42' Kenny Dalglish 60' |
[edit] Matches since the end of the annual series
[edit] 1996 European Championship
In December 1995, despite media rumours that UEFA would deliberately keep the two apart in the draw,[26] England and Scotland were both drawn in the same group for the forthcoming European Championships, to be hosted by England in the summer of 1996. This draw excited much comment and anticipation in the build-up to the championships, especially as it would be the first meeting between the two sides for seven years, and tickets for the game sold out within two days of the draw being made.[27] The match assumed even greater significance for both teams when both England and Scotland drew their opening fixtures, against Switzerland and the Netherlands respectively, meaning both were even more in need of a win to further their chances of progressing in the tournament.
The match was played at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 15 June 1996, and the first half was closely-fought, ending 0–0, although Scotland had the better of the chances.[28] The introduction of Jamie Redknapp into the England team as a substitute for the second half helped to turn the match in England's favour,[29][30] and they took the lead through a headed goal by Alan Shearer.[29] Scotland were awarded a penalty kick in the 76th minute after a foul by Tony Adams on Gordon Durie, but Gary McAllister's kick was saved by the England goalkeeper David Seaman.[30] Shortly afterwards, Paul Gascoigne, who played in Scotland for the Glasgow club Rangers, scored a second goal for England, after chipping the ball over Scottish defender Colin Hendry.[31] In 2006, the year before he became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Scotsman Gordon Brown drew criticism in Scotland when he stated that Gascoigne's goal was one of his favourite moments in football,[32] although Brown subsequently denied saying this.[33]
Scotland eventually went out of the championships on goal difference, but would have proceeded beyond the first round of a tournament for the first time in their history had England not conceded a late goal in their 4–1 defeat of the Netherlands in their next game.[34] It has been joked that England fans were happy their team had conceded the goal as it meant that the Scots were eliminated from the competition.[35]
| 1996-06-15 15:00 |
Scotland |
0–2 | England |
Wembley Stadium, London[36] Attendance: 76,684 Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy) |
| (Report) | Shearer 53' Gascoigne 79' |
[edit] 2000 European Championship
The Euro 96 game had encouraged some to call for the resumption of regular matches between the two, but this did not eventually happen.[37] The teams did not meet again until three years later, in 1999, when they were again drawn together in the European Championships; this time in a qualifying play-off for the 2000 tournament, after both teams had finished as runners-up in their respective qualifying groups.[38]
The tie took place over two legs, the first in Scotland at Hampden Park on Saturday 13 November 1999, with the return leg at Wembley four days later. This was the first time the match had taken place in Scotland for ten years, but England won the first game 2–0, with two goals from Paul Scholes.[39] There was crowd trouble following the game, and 51 people were arrested in the city centre of Glasgow after battles between fans.[40] Scotland had the better of the second match, winning 1–0 with a goal from Don Hutchison and coming close to a second goal, but England narrowly progressed to the finals of the tournament, winning 2–1 on aggregate.[41]
| 1999-11-13 15:00 |
Scotland |
0–2 | England |
Hampden Park, Glasgow Attendance: 50,132 Referee: Manuel Diaz Vega (Spain) |
| (Report) | Scholes 21' 41' |
| 1999-11-17 19:45 |
England |
0–1 | Scotland |
Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 76,848 Referee: Pierluigi Collina (Italy) |
| (Report) | Hutchison 39' |
[edit] Future
The UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying play-off in 1999 is the most recent occasion upon which the two have played, and there have been no matches so far in the 21st century. There have been many calls for the British Home Championship to be restored to the schedule, or at least for the England v Scotland fixture to be played more regularly.[42] There was some speculation that Scotland would be invited to be the first opponents when Wembley Stadium was re-opened following its rebuilding in 2007,[43] but this did not eventually happen, and further suggestions that the fixture might be made regular again have similarly passed without action.[44]
There was further talk of organising a one-off England v Scotland match at the end of the 2007-08 season,[45] but the new Scotland manager George Burley was opposed to this timing and the match was not arranged.[46] SFA chief executive Gordon Smith has also raised the concern that the riots in Manchester on the day of the 2008 UEFA Cup Final may lead the FA to believe that there could be incidents of hooliganism connected to an England v Scotland fixture.[47]
In December 2006, Lawrie Sanchez suggested that a tournament featuring Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland be organised instead.[48] This tournament, now called the Celtic Cup, is proposed to begin in 2011.[49] There will not be a England v Scotland match until at least 2009 because England have already planned a schedule ahead of the next World Cup.[50] The next theoretically possible meeting would be in a World Cup qualifying play-off in the autumn of 2009.
[edit] Records
England have marginally the better record in the fixture, with 45 wins to 41 by Scotland. There have been 24 draws, only three of them goalless. England have scored 192 goals to 169 by Scotland. The record margin of victory in the fixture was England's 9–3 win in 1961. Scotland's biggest victory was 7–2 in 1878.
The record attendance was 149,547, set at Hampden Park on 17 April 1937. This is also a European record attendance.[51]
[edit] All matches between England and Scotland
- Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.