The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture between the English and Scottish leagues was only second in importance to the matches between the two national teams. The fixture declined in importance after regular European club competition was instituted in the 1950s; matches in the 1960s and 1970s were played irregularly and poorly attended. A match involving a Scottish League XI was last played in 1990, to mark the centenary of the League.

History

Soon after the creation of the

(SFL) in 1890, there was a desire on the part of its officials to test its strength against the more senior (English) Football League. An Anglo-Scottish league match was first played in April 1892 at Pike's Lane,Pike's Lane was the home ground of

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

until 1895, when the club moved to Burnden Park. Bolton and ended in a 2–2 draw. The first Football League team contained Scottish players (

Harry Gardiner Harry H. Gardiner (1871 – perhaps 1933), better known as the Human Fly, was an American man famous for climbing buildings. He began climbing in 1905, and successfully climbed over 700 buildings in Europe and North America, usually wearing or ...

Donald Gow Donald Robertson Gow (8 February 1868 – 1945) was a Scottish people, Scottish association football, footballer who played for Rangers F.C., Rangers, Sunderland A.F.C., Sunderland and the Scottish national football team as a Fullback (associati ...

, Willie Groves and Tom McInnes). This practice did not continue, however, as Scots were not selected for the Football League again until the 1960s, by when the match was declining in importance. A return match was played at Celtic Park in April 1893, attracting an attendance of 31,500. In the same year, the Scottish League played its first match against the Irish League XI, in Belfast. In the early years of organised football, clubs in the Football League were almost exclusively from

northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

and the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

, while clubs from

southern England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes G ...

played in the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...

. The increased importance of the Southern League was reflected when a fixture was played between the Scottish League and the Southern League for the first time, at Millwall in October 1910. The Southern League won both that fixture and a match against The Football League in the same year. These matches continued until the First World War, after which the Southern League was absorbed into the Football League.

Frederick Wall Sir Frederick Joseph Wall (14 April 1858 – 25 March 1944) was an English football administrator. Career Wall became Secretary of the Football Association, a position he held from 1895 to 1934. He was knighted in the 1930 New Year's Honours List ...

, the secretary of

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

, wrote to the SFL in 1913 objecting to the use of the term "international" in describing matches between the Scottish League and the Football League. The SFL defended their right to use the term in Scottish advertising of the fixture. The Scottish League team was always at a disadvantage compared to the Scotland national team because many of the better Scottish players were contracted to English clubs. Despite this handicap, the Scottish League team performed quite well before the fixtures were stopped in 1915 due to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The league itself continued during the conflict, unlike others in the UK, and three end-of-season fundraising friendly matches were played between the select team and

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, the Scottish champions in each of the seasons.Association Football: Belgian Refugees' Fund
The Glasgow Herald, 17 May 19151916-05-20: Scottish League XI 1-0 Celtic XI, Friendly
The Celtic Wiki
Rest of the League, 1; Celtic, 0
Glasgow Herald, 22 May 1916 (via Partick Thistle History Archive)Football's Exit
The Glasgow Herald, 28 May 1917
1917-05-26: Rest of the League 2-1 Celtic, Friendly
The Celtic Wiki At the end of the war, the Scottish Football League was badly affected by the decline of heavy industry in the country, which meant that only the

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

clubs and

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

were able to retain a high standard of player. To improve the standard of the Scottish League team, two notable English-born players were selected, Bob Ferrier of Motherwell and J. B. McAlpine of Queen's Park as well as

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

-born Patsy Gallacher. Their birthplace meant that they were ineligible to play for the national team, but they were educated and played all of their senior football in Scotland. Despite these efforts, the Scottish League team suffered heavy defeats against the Football League in 1928 (6–2) and 1930 (7–3). The Football League started to express concerns about the viability of the match, particularly because playing it on a Saturday meant that any cancelled league fixtures had to be played instead on midweek afternoons as

floodlights A floodlight is a broad-beamed, gas discharge lamp#High-intensity discharge lamps, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is Night game, being held during low-li ...

were not yet in use. The match continued to be played because the fixtures in Scotland were well attended and therefore lucrative to both leagues. The higher attendances in Scotland reflected the greater interest in the fixture there. Some venues in England had good attendance though, particularly Newcastle. Matches against the Irish League XI were poorly attended. Even in the early years of the fixture, steps were taken to improve attendance, such as moving it around Scotland and picking local players. For example, the match in 1900 was played at Easter Road and each of the four senior Edinburgh clubs were represented. Just before the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1939, the Scottish League played its first match against the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

. The clubs in the then

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

had formed their own League of Ireland after the

partition of Ireland The partition of Ireland ( ga, críochdheighilt na hÉireann) was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. I ...

in 1922. The League of Ireland XI surprisingly won 2–1 against a strong Scottish League XI. Only one inter-league match (a fundraiser for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

) was played during the Second World War, a 3–2 defeat against the Football League at

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

in October 1941.Wins for England and Belgium
The Glasgow Herald, 12 October 1941 The Scottish League XI selected

Matt Busby Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager, who managed Manchester United F.C., Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 197 ...

, who was then playing as a guest for Hibernian.

Post-1945

Attendances for the inter-league matches greatly increased after the war. The first match, a 3–1 defeat to a Football League XI inspired by Stanley Matthews and

Wilf Mannion Wilfrid James Mannion (16 May 1918 – 14 April 2000) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward, making over 350 senior appearances for Middlesbrough. He also played international football for England. With his blonde ...

, attracted 84,000 to

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

on a

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

y day in March 1947. Even the less attractive fixture against the Irish League XI drew a crowd of 62,000 to

Ibrox Park Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated capacity of . O ...

in 1949. A frequent problem for the selectors was judging the strength of opposition and the importance of the match. An example of this was when the Scottish League XI played a Welsh League XI at

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

in September 1952, although the term "Welsh League" was inaccurate as their players were selected from the Welsh clubs playing in the Football League. The Scottish League picked only a few players of genuine international quality and lost 3–0, with

Ivor Allchurch Ivor John Allchurch MBE (16 October 1929 – 10 July 1997) was a Welsh professional footballer who played for Swansea Town, Newcastle United and Cardiff City, as well as the Wales national football team. Known as the "Golden Boy of Welsh foot ...

scoring twice for the Welsh side. Denis Law

The Scottish League XI played opposition from outside the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

for the first time in 1955, when a Danish Combination was beaten 4–0 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. The

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n player

Johnny Hubbard John Gaulton Hubbard, MBE (16 December 1930 – 21 June 2018) was a South African footballer. Hubbard spent the majority of his career at Scottish club Rangers, and later played for English club Bury before ending his career back in Scotland w ...

scored one of the goals. Perhaps the best result achieved by the Scottish League XI was in November 1961, when an

Italian league The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

team containing

John Charles William John Charles (27 December 1931 – 21 February 2004) was a Welsh footballer who played as a centre-forward or as a centre-back. Best known for his first stint at Leeds United and Juventus, he was rated by many as the greatest all-round ...

and

Denis Law Denis Law (born 24 February 1940) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward. His career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, he was signed by Manchester City ...

was held to a 1–1 draw at Hampden, watched by 67,000 fans. A return match was played in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

a year later. The Scots lost 4–3, but forwards

Willie Hamilton William Winter Hamilton (26 June 1917 – 23 January 2000) was a British politician who served as a Labour Member of Parliament for constituencies in Fife, Scotland for 37 years, between 1950 and 1987. He was known for his strong republican ...

and

Charlie Cooke Charles Cooke (born 14 October 1942) is a Scottish former footballer. He played as a winger for Aberdeen, Dundee, Chelsea and Crystal Palace, before ending his career in the United States. Club career Cooke began his professional career wi ...

made a significant impression. These kind of contests were needed to revive interest in the inter-league matches, but they had come too late. Fixture congestion, caused by increased domestic and European commitments, meant that it was very difficult to arrange dates when strong teams could be assembled. Paradoxically, over the next fifteen years the approach to inter-league matches became more professional. Scottish League XI matches were seen as preparation for World Cup and European Nations Cup games. John White was an example of a player who quickly became a Scotland international player after impressing in one of the trial matchesThe selectors still have problems
The Bulletin, 17 March 1959 between the Scottish League XI and a Scotland national team – after moving to England, he was one of several who 'switched sides' and played for the SFA team against the SFL in a subsequent trial. The Scotland national team manager of the day would also manage the Scottish League XI. Despite this new-found professionalism and notable wins against the Football League in 1962 and 1966, the inter-league matches were declining in importance. Players who had been selected were often withdrawn if their club team had other commitments. Games against the Irish leagues sometimes resulted in embarrassing mismatches, such as an 11–0 win against a League of Ireland XI in 1962. This affected the level of interest amongst fans, and only 5,000 attended a match against the Irish League XI at Ibrox in 1969. Any remaining credibility of the inter-league matches was finally destroyed by a 5–0 defeat against the Football League at Maine Road in 1974. The Scottish League team only contained a few players who had any realistic hope of playing regularly for the Scotland national team, while the Football League had picked a strong side. Two years later, less than 10,000 fans attended a low-key return match at Hampden and the fixture was put into abeyance. The Scottish League XI played out a creditable 1–1 draw in 1978 against an Italian league team in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

, as preparation for the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by t ...

. Games were played against both Irish leagues in 1980, but no inter-league matches have been played by the Scottish League since then. A Scottish League team last played in 1990, to mark the league's centenary, in a match against the Scotland national team. The manager of the Scottish League team was Dundee United manager Jim McLean. The Scottish League select won 1–0, with the only goal scored from a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

by Dutch player Hans Gillhaus.

Players

Bobby Evans holds the record for Scottish League XI appearances, having played 25 times between 1948 and 1960. George Young attained 22 caps, and is the only other player to have won at least 20. Seventeen other players achieved at least 10 caps.

Willie Bauld William Russell Logan Bauld (24 January 1928 – 11 March 1977) was a footballer who played for Newtongrange Star, Heart of Midlothian, Edinburgh City and the Scotland national team. Heart of Midlothian Bauld was born in Newcraighall, Edin ...

scored the most goals for the Scottish League XI, with his 15 goals coming in 13 appearances between 1949 and 1958.

Lawrie Reilly Lawrance Reilly (28 October 1928 – 22 July 2013) was a Scottish footballer. He was one of the " Famous Five", the Hibernian forward line during the late 1940s and early 1950s, along with Bobby Johnstone, Gordon Smith, Eddie Turnbull, and W ...

scored 14 goals in as many games. As well as being the third highest scorer,

Barney Battles, Jr. Bernard "Barney" Joseph Battles (12 October 1905 – 15 November 1979) was a Scottish footballer whose name is synonymous with Heart of Midlothian. A dual-internationalist, he represented both Scotland and the United States at full international ...

is also the most prolific, with his 13 goals coming from only five games (averaging 2.6 goals per game). Bobby Collins (12) and William Reid (10) also scored at least 10 goals for the team.

Stadium

Unlike the Scotland national team, the Scottish League XI had no traditional home ground. Matches were moved around various club grounds. The high-profile matches against the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

and the

were always played in one of the three main stadiums in Glasgow:

or Celtic Park. Until the fixture declined in importance in the late 1960s, matches against the Football League would regularly attract crowds in excess of 40,000, peaking at 90,000 in 1949. The less attractive matches, against the Irish League XI or the

, were spread around Scotland more evenly. Grounds in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

( Carolina Port and Dens Park),

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

( Easter Road and Tynecastle), Paisley ( Love Street) and

( Fir Park) were used in addition to Glasgow. Smaller stadiums were also used in Glasgow itself, namely

Firhill Firhill Stadium is a football and former rugby union, rugby league and greyhound racing stadium located in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, Scotland which has been the home of Partick Thistle since 1909. The stadium is commonly referred to as simp ...

and

Shawfield Shawfield is an industrial/commercial area of the Royal Burgh of Rutherglen in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located to the north of the town centre. It is bordered to the east by the River Clyde, to the north by the Glasgow neighbourhood of Oatl ...

Results

The largest margin of victory achieved by a Scottish League XI is 11–0, against the

in 1962. The record defeat occurred in 1974, a 5–0 deficit against the Football League. Both matches helped to precipitate the end of inter-league matches.

Results by opponent

Against other league selects

Against other opponents

P - Played; W - Won; D - Drawn; L - Lost

Notes

References

;Sources * {{Football League Select XIs Scottish Football League Representative teams of association football leagues Sports organizations established in 1892 1892 establishments in Scotland