List of Scotland national football team captains


This article lists all the captains of the Scotland national football team. As of 19 November 2019, Scotland have played 778 officially recognised international matches and have had 152 different team captains. George Young captained Scotland most often, with 48. Only three other players, Billy Bremner, Darren Fletcher and Gary McAllister, have captained the team more than 30 times.
The first captain of the Scotland team was Robert Gardner, who led the team in the first ever international match, against England on 30 November 1872. He went on to captain Scotland on just one further occasion, the second international match, on 8 March 1873, against the same opposition.

List of captains

;Key
*Still active for the national team
Caps as captainAppearances made while captain
Total capsTotal number of appearances made

and Netherlands captain Johan Cruyff exchange pennants before an international match in 1971.
captained Scotland 27 times, which included the 1990 FIFA World Cup campaign.
captained Scotland in a match against the Hong Kong League XI on 20 May 2002. Although the match is included by the Scottish Football Association in its statistical totals, it was not recognised as a full international by FIFA.
became the youngest player to captain Scotland in over a century when he first led the team, in a friendly against Estonia in May 2004.
PlayerScotland careerCaps as captainTotal capsFirst captaincyLast captaincy
1872–187825
1872–187413
1872–187626
1874–1886813
1876–188025
1877–187915
1878–188115
1881–188223
1880–188212
1882–188323
1883–1893314
1883–188625
1879–188518
1886–188823
188611
1882–188729
1887–189326
188811
188811
1889–189234
188911
1880–189127
1888–189315
1888–189013
1891–189212
1885–189319
1891–189525
1888–189648
1892–189412
1892–189818
1892–1903414
1889–189713
189611
189711
1892–189719
189811
1885–189817
1896–189813
1897–1902212
189913
1899–1911211
1899–190012
1898–1905516
190212
1893–1903112
1901–1911214
1900–190748
1904–190915
1904–190716
1895–1905114
1904–19141321
190922
1905–1914311
1905–191118
1906–1920515
1911–191314
1913–191412
1912–1920110
1920–192335
1920–192218
1920–1923112
1921–192427
1920–1927112
1920–192438
1923–1928110
1920–1929616
1923–192536
192511
1921–1928513
1922–192918
1927–193048
1922–1933615
1929–193249
1926–193334
1920–1932131
1928–193218
193112
1929–193213
1933–193416
1933–1938423
1931–1937218
1934–19371314
1930–1938219
1938–193913
193911
1946–194766
1946–194712
1946–194819
1947–1952124
1946–19574854
1948–1954125
1951–1959825
1954–195558
1946–1957219
1955–1958424
1948–19601248
1957–1965722
1957–19631540
1958–1974555
1961–1972829
1960–1967434
1964–19751544
1965–19753954
1963–197119
1968–1972716
1966–1974316
1970–1974227
1970–1979938
1974–1981130
1971–1978234
1971–1978122
1971–19812343
1971–19866102
1975–19781024
1976–1978217
1973–19821062
1972–1982350
1974–19862754
1979–198318
1975–19891165
1979–19912757
1980–1993877
1982–1998491
1983–1997776
1984–1992255
1983–1993861
1980–1992550
1990–1994116
1990–19993257
1986–1998161
1993–20012251
1990–2001672
1995–20031740
1988–2001153
1995–2003146
1997–20081266
1998–20092845
2004–20173480
2000–2006132
1996–2005133
1997–2010468
2006–2010826
2001–2013567
2002–2013755
2005–20172555
2008–2017146
*2016–112
*2012–444
*2018–114
*2014–1234
*2017–119
*2007–251

Statistics include official FIFA recognised matches, and a match against a Hong Kong League XI played on 23 May 2002 that the Scottish Football Association includes in its statistical totals.

Unofficial games

The above list considers captains selected for games officially recognised by FIFA and the Scottish Football Association. In addition to these, there have been a number of games played by Scotland teams on an unofficial basis, for example the "wartime internationals" during the Second World War. Some of the captains selected for these unofficial games are listed below.