List of Scottish Football League representative players
The Scottish Football League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League (SFL). 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.[1] A match between the Scottish League and The Football League XI was first played in April 1892 at Pike's Lane, Bolton and ended in a 2–2 draw.[1] The Scottish League also played representative matches against the Irish League XI,[2] League of Ireland XI,[3] a Welsh League XI,[4] a Danish Combination and the Italian league. They had also played four fundraising matches during World War I and six unofficial trial matches against Scotland between 1958 and 1964 - players involved in those matches are recorded separately.
A Scottish League team last played in 1990, to mark the league's centenary, in a match against the Scotland national team.[5][6] The Scottish Football League ceased to exist in 2013, when it merged with the Scottish Premier League to form the Scottish Professional Football League.
Bobby Evans holds the record for Scottish League XI appearances, having played 25 times between 1948 and 1960.[7] George Young attained 22 caps, and is the only other player to have won at least 20.[7] Seventeen other players achieved at least 10 caps.[7] Willie Bauld scored the most goals for the Scottish League XI, with his 15 goals coming in 13 appearances between 1949 and 1958.[8] Lawrie Reilly scored 14 goals in as many games.[8] As well as being the third highest scorer, Barney Battles, Jr. is also the most prolific, with his 13 goals coming from only five games (averaging 2.6 goals per game).[8] Bobby Collins (12) and William Reid (10) also scored at least 10 goals for the team.[8]
List of players
Inter-league matches
Of the 155 players who made at least four appearances for the Scottish League team, only eight never played for the full Scotland team, including John Stewart Wright whose career coincided with World War I and played in unofficial internationals, Bob Ferrier who was ineligible during his era due to being born in Sheffield, South African Johnny Hubbard, and goalkeepers Willie White and George Niven, the latter of whom is the Rangers player with most appearances for the club without a full cap, having missed out through injury on several occasions.[9] The other players in that group are John McFarlane, Chic Geatons and Willie Rankin.
Barney Battles Jr. was capped for both Scotland and the United States, Joe Kennaway played for Scotland and Canada, and Patsy Gallacher featured for both Ireland teams.
Notes
- One more cap should be attributed to Jimmy McMenemy and one fewer to Alec McNair than listed at London Hearts[10] due to an error in a 1908 match summary whereby McNair was counted twice, in place of McMenemy whom contemporary sources confirm did play.[13]
- One more cap should be attributed to William Walker and one fewer to Jimmy Gordon than listed at London Hearts[10] due to an error in a 1912 match summary whereby Gordon was counted twice, in place of Walker whom contemporary sources confirm did play.[11]
- Includes one appearance as a substitute in 1976, not recorded at London Hearts.[12]
- One more cap should be attributed to Bobby Neill and one fewer to Johnny Campbell than listed at London Hearts[10] due to an error in a 1901 match summary whereby Campbell was counted twice, in place of Neill whom contemporary sources confirm did play.[14]
- Was on wartime guest loan, never played for club in official SFL match.
- One more cap should be attributed to James Oswald and one fewer to Jimmy Oswald than listed at London Hearts[10] due to an error in a 1900 match summary; contemporary sources confirm the player involved was the Leith Athletic goalkeeper.[15]
- Several sources[16][17][18] attribute a 1907 Scottish League appearance to Tommy Logan, but this is extremely unlikely as he was a teenager with no top level experience at the time of the fixture in question; by contrast, his elder brother Alec Logan was an established forward at Falkirk and it can be assumed that he was the player involved, with records of 'Logan, Falkirk' being linked to Tommy in error after he became a prominent member of the same team within a few years.
- Attributed by London Hearts to Harry Wilson who played for the same club (Partick Thistle) in the same era.[19]
- One more cap should be attributed to John Jackson (Clyde) and one fewer to John Anderson (Falkirk) than listed at London Hearts[10] due to an error in a 1912 match summary.[11]
- One more cap should be attributed to Billy Campbell and one fewer to Robert Campbell than listed at London Hearts[10] due to an error in a 1948 match summary whereby Robert was counted in place of Billy whom contemporary sources confirm did play.[20]
- Attributed by London Hearts to Willie Stewart who played for the same club (Motherwell) at the time.[21]
Scotland trial matches / SFL Centenary players
- During World War I, no inter-league matches were played after the English and Irish leagues were suspended in 1915. The Scottish League continued to operate, and three post-season challenge matches were arranged in 1915, 1916 and 1917, with the proceeds going to charities and war fundraising; the SFL XI (including some players who were contracted to English clubs but had returned to play in Scotland temporarily as the league continued, while the English Football League was suspended) played against the title-winning club, which was Celtic on all three occasions.[22] An additional match against a Military XI was also played in 1917.[23] In 1918, the Navy and Army War Fund Shield was played between clubs instead.
- Between 1958 and 1964, except in 1963, the Scottish League XI played an annual mid-season trial match against the Scotland (SFA) team (or an approximation thereof) in an attempt to judge the ability of players in both sides for possible selection for the national squad.[24] A previous similar match took place in 1955 between Scotland and Scotland B.[25] Due to the matches' potential importance for some of the players' careers, they were taken fairly seriously and were well attended, although some call-offs through injury and clashes with important club fixtures led to weaker teams taking the field than the original squads in some cases. As they were not inter-league fixtures, these six matches[26] are counted separately from other SFL XI totals, likewise the Scotland appearances and goals are not official - some of the players selected never received a full cap. A few players featured for both sides, particularly when they had played for an SFL club but then moved to England so were no longer eligible. The trials did serve as a stepping stone to the Scotland team for some players on both the SFA and SFL teams, although in terms of improving the standard of international players, the experimental series could be judged not to have been particularly successful as Scotland made little impact on the first relevant tournament after the initial trial match (the 1958 FIFA World Cup) and failed to qualify for the next seven major competitions, their next being the 1974 FIFA World Cup. They did manage to win three editions of the British Home Championship outright in the 1960s.
- The 16-man SFL centenary match squad[6] which faced Scotland's 1990 FIFA World Cup squad in August 1990 contained 10 players who were already full internationals. Boyd, Lambert, Robertson, Wright and McKinlay were later capped by Scotland (Boyd within weeks); only Dutchman van der Hoorn was never selected for his country.
- Flag icon in FIFA field shows the player gained a full FIFA-recognised cap for that nation.
Name | First | Last | Caps | Goals | FIFA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Peter Nellies | 1915 | 1917 | 4 | 0 | |
Andy Kerr | 1958 | 1961 | 3 | 3 | |
Alan Morton | 1915 | 1917 | 3 | 0 | |
Jock Simpson | 1916 | 1917 | 3 | 1 | |
James Bowie | 1917 | 1917 | 2 | 2 | |
Tommy Cairns | 1916 | 1917 | 2 | 0 | |
Jimmy Gordon | 1915 | 1916 | 2 | 0 | |
Joe Hogan | 1960 | 1962 | 2 | 0 | |
Bert McCann | 1959 | 1961 | 2 | 1 | |
Davie McParland | 1961 | 1964 | 2 | 2 | |
Bob Mercer | 1916 | 1917 | 2 | 0 | |
Pat Quinn | 1961 | 1962 | 2 | 2 | |
Alex Stewart | 1916 | 1917 | 2 | 0 | |
Willie Toner | 1960 | 1961 | 2 | 0 | |
Doug Baird | 1959 | 1959 | 1 | 0 | |
Jim Baxter | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 0 | |
Frank Beattie | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 | |
Jimmy Blair | 1917 | 1917 | 1 | 0 | |
Tom Blair | 1917 | 1917 | 1 | 0 | |
Pat Bonner | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 | |
Tom Boyd | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 | |
Bill Brown | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 0 | |
Jimmy Brownlie | 1917 | 1917 | 1 | 0 | |
Bobby Carroll | 1962 | 1962 | 1 | 1 | |
Bobby Collins | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 0 | |
Eddie Connachan | 1962 | 1962 | 1 | 0 | |
Bobby Connor | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 | |
Alan Cousin | 1960 | 1962 | 2 | 2 | |
Bobby Cox | 1961 | 1961 | 1 | 0 | |
Alex Craig | 1915 | 1915 | 1 | 0 | |
Pat Crerand | 1961 | 1961 | 1 | 0 | |
Paddy Crossan | 1915 | 1915 | 1 | 0 | |
Jim Cruickshank | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 | |
Bill Culley | 1917 | 1917 | 1 | 0 | |
Andy Cunningham | 1915 | 1915 | 1 | 0 | |
Neil Duffy | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 | |
Alex Edwards | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 | |
Bobby Evans | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 0 | |
Hughie Ferguson | 1917 | 1917 | 1 | 0 | |
Jimmy Gabriel | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 0 | |
Hans Gillhaus | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 1 | |
Jimmy Goodfellow | 1962 | 1962 | 1 | 0 | |
Jimmy Gourlay | 1915 | 1915 | 1 | 0 | |
Matt Gray | 1959 | 1959 | 1 | 0 | |
John Greig | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 | |
Billy Hainey | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 | |
Johnny Hamilton | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 0 | |
George Herd | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 0 | |
Billy Higgins | 1962 | 1962 | 1 | 0 | |
Willie Hunter | 1962 | 1962 | 1 | 0 | |
Jim Kennedy | 1962 | 1962 | 1 | 0 | |
Gordon Kerr | 1915 | 1915 | 1 | 0 | |
Peter Kerr | 1917 | 1917 | 1 | 0 | |
Michael Kiernan | 1917 | 1917 | 1 | 0 | |
Andy King | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 | |
Istvan Kozma | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 | |
Miodrag Krivokapic | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 | |
Paul Lambert | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 | |
John Little | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 0 | |
James Low | 1915 | 1915 | 1 | 0 | |
Dave Mackay | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 0 | |
Duncan MacKay | 1959 | 1959 | 1 | 0 | |
Bert Manderson | 1916 | 1916 | 1 | 0 | |
Andy Matthew | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 0 | |
George McCallum | 1959 | 1959 | 1 | 0 | |
Ian McColl | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 0 | |
John McCormick | 1962 | 1962 | 1 | 0 | |
Jimmy McEwan | 1959 | 1959 | 1 | 0 | |
Jackie McGrory | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 | |
Jackie McInally | 1961 | 1961 | 1 | 0 | |
Jim McInally | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 | |
Bert McIntosh | 1917 | 1917 | 1 | 0 | |
Jimmy McIntosh | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 0 | |
Billy McKinlay | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 | |
Malcolm McPhail | 1917 | 1917 | 1 | 3 | |
John McTavish | 1916 | 1916 | 1 | 0 | |
Chris Morris | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 | |
Jimmy Murray | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 1 | |
Charlie Nicholas | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 | |
George Niven | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 0 | |
John Ogston | 1961 | 1961 | 1 | 0 | |
George Ormond | 1917 | 1917 | 1 | 0 | |
Willie Ormond | 1959 | 1959 | 1 | 0 | |
Andy Penman | 1961 | 1961 | 1 | 0 | |
David Provan | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 | |
James Reid | 1915 | 1915 | 1 | 0 | |
Willie Reid | 1916 | 1916 | 1 | 0 | |
Frank Reilly | 1915 | 1915 | 1 | 0 | |
David Robertson | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 | |
Walter Rutherford | 1917 | 1917 | 1 | 0 | |
Alex Scott | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 1 | |
Bobby Seith | 1962 | 1962 | 1 | 0 | |
Bobby Shearer | 1961 | 1961 | 1 | 0 | |
Chris Shevlane | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 | |
Eric Smith | 1959 | 1959 | 1 | 0 | |
Theo Snelders | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 | |
Gary Stevens | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 | |
Ian St John | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 0 | |
Fred van der Hoorn | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 | |
Jock Wallace | 1959 | 1959 | 1 | 0 | |
Jimmy Wardhaugh | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 0 | |
John White | 1959 | 1959 | 1 | 3 | |
Tom White | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 | |
Jock Wilson | 1916 | 1916 | 1 | 0 | |
John Stewart Wright | 1917 | 1917 | 1 | 0 | |
Keith Wright | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 | |
Alex Young | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 1 | |
Players for Scotland XI against SFL XI
- § = Player was never capped at full international level.
Name | First cap | Last cap | Caps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|---|
Eric Caldow | 1958 | 1961 | 4 | 0 |
Dave Mackay | 1959 | 1962 | 3 | 0 |
Alex Parker | 1958 | 1960 | 3 | 0 |
Bill Brown | 1959 | 1962 | 2 | 0 |
Bobby Collins | 1959 | 1960 | 2 | 0 |
John Cumming | 1959 | 1960 | 2 | 0 |
Alex Scott | 1958 | 1959 | 2 | 0 |
John White | 1962 | 1964 | 2 | 0 |
Charlie Aitken § | 1962 | 1962 | 1 | 0 |
Roy Aitken | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
Sammy Baird | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 0 |
Jim Baxter | 1961 | 1964 | 2 | 0 |
Ralph Brand | 1961 | 1961 | 1 | 1 |
Billy Bremner | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 |
John Collins | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
John Colrain § | 1959 | 1959 | 1 | 3 |
Doug Cowie | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 0 |
Dan Currie § | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 1 |
Pat Delaney § | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 |
Tommy Docherty | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 0 |
Bobby Evans | 1959 | 1959 | 1 | 0 |
Robert Fleck | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
Campbell Forsyth | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 |
Dave Gibson | 1959 | 1959 | 1 | 0 |
Alan Gilzean | 1962 | 1962 | 1 | 2 |
Andy Goram | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
Frank Haffey | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 0 |
Alex Hamilton | 1962 | 1964 | 2 | 0 |
John Harvey § | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 0 |
Willie Henderson | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 |
David Herd | 1961 | 1961 | 1 | 2 |
John Hewie | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 0 |
Dave Hilley § | 1961 | 1962 | 2 | 1 |
David Holt | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 |
Willie Hunter | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 0 |
Stewart Imlach | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 1 |
Denis Law | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 2 |
Graham Leggat | 1959 | 1959 | 1 | 0 |
Lawrie Leslie | 1961 | 1961 | 1 | 0 |
Duncan MacKay | 1961 | 1961 | 1 | 0 |
Gary Mackay | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
Johnny MacLeod | 1961 | 1962 | 2 | 0 |
Maurice Malpas | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
Gary McAllister | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
Joe McBride | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 2 |
Bert McCann | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 0 |
Chris McCart § | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
Ally McCoist | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
Brien McIlroy § | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 1 |
Frank McLintock | 1962 | 1964 | 2 | 0 |
Stuart McKimmie | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
Billy McNeill | 1961 | 1961 | 1 | 0 |
Dave McPherson | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
Paul McStay | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
Campbell Money § | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
Jackie Mudie | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 1 |
Stuart Munro § | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
Pat Nevin | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
John Robertson | 1990 | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
Ian St John | 1962 | 1962 | 1 | 0 |
Ian Ure | 1962 | 1962 | 1 | 0 |
Andy Weir | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 0 |
Davie Wilson | 1961 | 1961 | 1 | 0 |
Ron Yeats | 1964 | 1964 | 1 | 0 |
Alex Young | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 0 |
Tommy Younger | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 0 |
References
- (Bob Crampsey 1990, p. 245)
- "Sat 29 Apr 1893 Irish League 3 SFL 2". Londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
- (Bob Crampsey 1990, p. 251)
- (Bob Crampsey 1990, p. 253)
- Traynor, Jim (18 August 1990). "The Aberdeen connection". The Herald. Herald & Times Group. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
- On this day, back in 1990, a Scottish League XI beat Scotland 1-0 at Hampden Park in the SFL Centenary match with the goal coming from then Aberdeen Football Club star Hans Gillhaus, Scottish Professional Football League via Facebook, 18 August 2016
- "Scotland FL Players by Appearances". Londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
- "Scotland FL Players by Goals Scored". Londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
- "Ibrox custodian was club's rock during transition from 50s side to 60s". The Scotsman. 19 July 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
- Scotland FL Players by Appearances, London Hearts Supporters Club
- Scottish League, 3; Irish League, 1, The Glasgow Herald, 7 November 1912
- Under 9000 see Scots defeated, Glasgow Herald, 18 March 1976
- League International: England v. Scotland, The Glasgow Herald, 2 March 1908
- Saturday's Football. | Scotland V. England–League International Match, The Glasgow Herald, 18 March 1901
- Saturday's Football. | Scottish v. Irish League., The Glasgow Herald, 19 February 1900
- "Scottish League player Thomas Logan". London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
- "Scottish League vs English League 0-0". 2 March 1907. Retrieved 14 November 2018 – via Play Up Liverpool.
- "Died in bus: Passing of former noted Falkirk F.C. player". Falkirk Herald. 8 April 1944. Retrieved 14 November 2018 – via Falkirk Football Historian.
- SFL player Harry Wilson, London Hearts Supporters Club
- Late Penalty Goal Saves Scottish League, The Glasgow Herald, 18 March 1948
- SFL player Willie Stewart, London Hearts Supporters Club
- Association Football. Belgian Refugees' Fund, The Glasgow Herald, 17 May 1915
Association Football. War Fund Games, The Glasgow Herald, 22 May 1916
Notes on Sport. Football's Exit, The Glasgow Herald, 28 May 1917 - Association Football. War Funds Match | The Army XI, 4; Scottish League, 3., The Glasgow Herald, 21 May 1917
- Ronnie McDevitt (2016). Scotland in the 60s: The Definitive Account of the Scottish National Football Side During the 1960s. Pitch Publishing. ISBN 9781785312458.
- Easter Road game should not have been played, Glasgow Herald (page 4), 22 February 1955
- Scottish trial match at Easter Road, Glasgow Herald, 4 February 1958
The selectors still have problems, The Bulletin, 17 March 1959
Selectors still have a problem, The Bulletin, 2 February 1960
Herd excels in strong Scotland attack, Glasgow Herald, 31 January 1961
Brown and White in good form, Glasgow Herald, 6 February 1962
Scotland's victory over League, Glasgow Herald, 25 February 1964
- Sources
- Bob Crampsey (1990). The First 100 Years. Scottish Football League. ISBN 0-9516433-0-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players, John Litster, Scottish Football Historian magazine, October 2012 (all players involved denoted in statistical list)