Scottish Football Association
Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football association The Scottish Football Association (Template:Langx; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA include clubs in Scotland, affiliated national associations as well as local associations. It was formed in 1873, making it the second-oldest national football association in the world. It is not to be confused with the Scottish Football Union, which is the name that the SRU was known by until the 1920s.
The Scottish Football Association is a member of both UEFA and FIFA and holds a permanent seat on the International Football Association Board (IFAB) which is responsible for the Laws of the Game. It is based at Hampden Park in Glasgow.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In addition, the Scottish Football Museum is located there.
The Scottish Football Association is responsible for the operation of the Scotland national football team, the annual Scottish Cup and several other duties important to the functioning of the game in Scotland.
History
Formation
Following the formation of Scotland's earliest football clubs in the 1860s, football experienced a rapid growth but there was no formal structure, and matches were often arranged in a haphazard and irregular fashion.
Queen's Park, a Glasgow club founded in 1867, took the lead, and following an advertisement in a Glasgow newspaper in 1873, representatives from seven clubs – Queen's Park, Clydesdale, Vale of Leven, Dumbreck, Third Lanark, Eastern and Granville – attended a meeting on 13 March 1873. Furthermore, Kilmarnock sent a letter stating their willingness to join.
That day, these eight clubs formed the Scottish Football Association, and resolved that:Template:Blockquote
Founding members
The following eight football clubs founded the Scottish Football Association:
| Club Name | Location |
|---|---|
| Queen's Park | Glasgow |
| Clydesdale | Glasgow |
| Vale of Leven | Alexandria |
| Dumbreck | Glasgow |
| Third Lanark | Glasgow |
| Eastern | Glasgow |
| Granville | Glasgow |
| Kilmarnock | Kilmarnock |
Chief Executive/Secretary
The chief executive of the Scottish Football Association oversees the development of football in Scotland and the administration of disciplinary matters, and is also responsible for the general organisation of the national side. One of the most prominent roles of the chief executive is to hire and dismiss Scotland national football team managers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Archibald Rae (1873–1874)
- J.C. Mackay (1874–1875)
- William Dick (1875–1880)
- James Fleming (1880–1882)
- Robert Livingstone (1882)
- John McDowall (1882–1928)
- Sir George Graham (1928–1957)
- Willie Allan (1957–1977)
- Ernie Walker CBE (1977–1990)
- Jim Farry (1990–1999)
- David Taylor (1999–2007)
- Gordon Smith (2007–2010)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Stewart Regan (2010–2018)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Ian Maxwell (2018–present)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Association overview
National teams
Template:Main As well as the Scotland national football team, the Scottish Football Association is also currently responsible for organising the Scotland national football B team, as well as men's national teams at under-21, under-19, under-18 and under-17 levels. There was also a semi-professional team, but this was disbanded in 2008.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In women's football, there is the full Scotland women's national football team, under-19 and under-17 teams. In Futsal, there is a full national side.
Club competitions
The Scottish Football Association organises the Scottish Cup and the Scottish Youth Cup. Although the SFA are not involved in the day-to-day operation of the Scottish Professional Football League or other league competitions, they do appoint referees to officiate the games in these leagues, as well as dealing with player registrations and disciplinary issues.<ref name=ref-one />
Club licensing
All SFA member clubs are assessed annually in four areas (ground, first team, youth team, and governance) and, if appropriate, awarded a licence at platinum, gold, silver, bronze or entry level. Template:As of<ref name="licensed-clubs">Template:Cite web</ref> only Celtic are currently holders of a platinum-level licence, while four others (Hibernian, Rangers, St Johnstone, and St Mirren) hold gold-level licences. All clubs in the Scottish Professional Football League are required to be licensed at bronze level, Highland Football League, and Lowland Football League are required to be licensed at entry level or above.
Performance Schools
The Scottish Football Association established a number of performance schools around Scotland in 2012 with the aim of developing footballing talent in young people and at grassroots level. The programme is for under-12 players, and will provide them with 800 hours of additional coaching.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:As of, seven performance schools exist:
- Hazlehead Academy – Aberdeen (Head Coach: Stuart Glennie)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- St John's Roman Catholic High School – Dundee (Head Coach: Iain Jenkins)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Broughton High School – Edinburgh (Head Coach: Keith Wright)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Graeme High School – Falkirk (Head Coach: Ian Ross)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Holyrood Secondary School – Glasgow (Head Coach: Joe McBride)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Grange Academy – Kilmarnock (Head Coach: James Grady)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Braidhurst High School – Motherwell (Head Coach: Stephen Clarke)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Member clubs
Template:As of<ref name="licensed-clubs" /> 125 clubs are full members of the Scottish Football Association, comprising:
- All 42 clubs in the Scottish Professional Football League
- All 18 clubs in the Highland Football League
- All 16 clubs in the Lowland Football League
- 2 clubs in the Midlands Football League:
- Lochee United and Tayport
- 1 club in the North Caledonian League:
- 26 clubs in the East of Scotland Football League:
- Blackburn United, Bo'ness Athletic, Broxburn Athletic, Burntisland Shipyard, Camelon Juniors, Coldstream, Dalkeith Thistle, Dunbar United, Dundonald Bluebell, Dunipace, Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare, Haddington Athletic, Hawick Royal Albert, Hill of Beath Hawthorn, Jeanfield Swifts, Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale, Musselburgh Athletic, Newtongrange Star, Penicuik Athletic, Preston Athletic, Sauchie Juniors, St Andrews United, Tweedmouth Rangers Tynecastle, Vale of Leithen, and Whitehill Welfare
- 5 clubs in the South of Scotland Football League:
- 15 clubs in the West of Scotland Football League:
Affiliated associations
National associations
The Scottish Football Association has affiliated to it the following seven national associations:<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Scottish Amateur Football Association
- Scottish Junior Football Association
- Scottish Para Football Association
- Scottish Schools Football Association
- Scottish Welfare Football Association
- Scottish Women's Football
- Scottish Youth Football Association
Local associations
There are 10 local associations affiliated and the competitions they manage are also listed below:<ref name=":0" /> Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2
- Aberdeenshire and District Football Association
- East of Scotland Football Association
- Fife Football Association
- Forfarshire Football Association
- Forfarshire FA Challenge Cup
- Glasgow Football Association
- North of Scotland Football Association
- North of Scotland Cup
- North of Scotland FA U20 League
- Southern Counties Football Association
- Stirlingshire Football Association
- West of Scotland Football Association
- Renfrewshire Cup
- Renfrewshire Victoria Cup
- Wigtownshire & District Football Association
- 5 North Caledonian Football Association competitions also registered:
Recognised leagues
The following six leagues with their affiliated leagues and cups are recognised by The Scottish Football Association:<ref name=":0" />
- Scottish Professional Football League
- Scottish Highland Football League
- Highland League Cup
- SHFL U17 League
- Scottish Lowland Football League
- Lowland League Cup
- Lowlands Development League
- Lowlands Development League Cup
- Lowlands Development Challenge Cup
- Lowlands Development Knock Out Cup
- East of Scotland Football League
- West of Scotland Football League
- South of Scotland Football League
References
External links
- Template:Official website
- FIFA profile (archived 26 March 2019)
- UEFA profile
Template:Scottish Football Association Template:Scotland national football team Template:Football in Scotland Template:Women's Football in Scotland Template:Football in the United Kingdom Template:British Football Associations Template:Navbox Template:Sports governing bodies of Scotland Template:Sports governing bodies of the United Kingdom Template:Authority control