Scotland national football team results (unofficial matches)
From 1870 to the present day, the Scotland national football team have played various matches that are not accorded the status of official internationals by the governing body, the Scottish Football Association. These include early matches against England prior to the first-ever official international in 1872, wartime fixtures between 1914–1919 and 1939–1946 when official competitions were suspended, overseas tour matches played by a Scotland XI of varying strength and status, and others as specified.
While some of the tour matches could be seen as similar in status to those played by the Scotland B team, they have not been recorded officially as such.
List of Matches
1870s–1910s
1870–1872 England v Scotland matches
1888
1891
1900
- A testimonial match for Everton's Scottish player Willie Muir in September 1900 was played between 'Englishmen' and 'Scotchmen' based at Merseyside clubs; the Scots won 2–1.
1902
- A testimonial match for Liverpool's Scottish player William Goldie in November 1902 was played between an 'England Select XI ' and a 'Scotland Select XI' drawn from players at Merseyside clubs; the Scots won 4–0.
1914
- A testimonial match for Partick Thistle and Scotland player Alex Raisbeck was played in January 1914 between Partick and a 'International XI' team, but this included England international Jack Parkinson and several other players who had never played for Scotland.
World War I
1920s–1940s
1920
- A Testimonial match for Partick Thistle and Scotland player Jimmy McMullan was played in April 1920 between Partick and an 'International Select' team.
1921 Tour of USA and Canada
1927
- A Testimonial match for Bradford City defender Willie Watson was played in April 1927 between Bradford and a 'Scottish Internationals' team, but this included Ireland international Bert Manderson and several other players who had never played for Scotland.
1927 Tour of USA and Canada
1929
- A friendly match between Scotland and the Netherlands in June 1929 was retrospectively considered not to be official by the Royal Dutch Football Association due to their disapproval of professionalism in the sport – all the Scotland players were professionals. The SFA regards it as official.
1932
- A friendly match in Copenhagen on 9 October 1932 in which Denmark defeated the Scotland amateur team 3–1 is regarded as a full international by the Danish Football Union, and consequently has sometimes been included in overviews of matches between the nations.
1935 Tour of USA and Canada
1935
1939 Tour of USA and Canada
A Scotland XI tour of North America was organised by the SFA in 1939.World War II
Official football tournaments were suspended soon after the outbreak of World War II in Autumn 1939. International matches took place occasionally during the duration of the war itself, with Scotland playing against England 15 times, a team representing the Republic of Ireland once, and various branches of the British armed forces who could call on strong squads of professional players called into service. In addition, there were six 'Army Internationals' nominally between Scotland and England, but with the players selected from members of the military stationed in each country regardless of their heritage.When the conflict ended in May 1945 with an Allied victory, regular sports events began to return, and Scotland participated in, and won, the 1945–46 British Victory Home Championship. Two further Victory International matches in 1946 against Belgium and Switzerland are considered to have full international status. All established competitions and fully recognised international matches resumed in the 1946–47 season, the outset of which included one further unofficial England v Scotland match to raise funds for those affected by the Burnden Park disaster earlier that year.
British Victory Home Championship
1946
1947
- On 10 May 1947, a Great Britain XI played a Europe XI at Hampden Park to commemorate the Home Nations rejoining FIFA. The GB team, which won the match 6–1 in front of over 130,000, wore the dark blue of Scotland to acknowledge the venue location, but only three Scottish players were involved.
1949
1949 Tour of USA and Canada
A Scotland XI tour of North America was organised by the SFA in 1949.1950s–1970s
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
- Scotland’s friendly against Austria in 1963 wss abandoned by the referee on 79 minutes due to violent play, particularly by the Austrians; however caps were awarded and it is recognised as a full international by FIFA.
1964
1966
1967 Tour
A Scotland XI tour of Israel, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Canada was organised by the SFA in 1967.1971
1972
- Partick Thistle went on a tour of Southeast Asia in summer 1972, including matches against Selangor FA, an Indonesian XI and Lokomotiv Plovdiv of Bulgaria, which were falsely promoted as 'Scotland vs Malaysia / Indonesia / Bulgaria' by the local organisers to attract spectators, and large crowds did attend.
1976
1977
1978
1980s–present
1982
1986
1990
1996
No caps were awarded to Scottish players who were on the field for the scheduled match against Estonia during 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification on 9 October 1996, when a scheduling dispute over floodlights led to Scotland turning up at an earlier time and kicking off against no opposition, while Estonia insisted on adhering to the original later time. All records for this fixture relate to the rearranged match played in Monaco on 11 February 1997.2002
- Caps were awarded by the SFA for a match in May 2002 between the Hong Kong League XI and Scotland as part of the HKSAR Reunification Cup, although it was not a full FIFA international.
2004
- Scotland's 2004 friendly match against Spain in Valencia was abandoned on 59 minutes due to floodlight failure; however caps were awarded and FIFA recognise it as a full international.