Scottish Football Association

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:

Founding members

The following eight football clubs founded the Scottish Football Association:

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.

• 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)
• Stewart Regan (2010–2018)
• Ian Maxwell (2018–present)

Association overview

National teams

Main article: Scotland national football team

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. 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.

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. 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. , seven performance schools exist:

• Hazlehead Academy – Aberdeen (Head Coach: Stuart Glennie)
• St John's Roman Catholic High School – Dundee (Head Coach: Iain Jenkins)
• Broughton High School – Edinburgh (Head Coach: Keith Wright)
• Graeme High School – Falkirk (Head Coach: Ian Ross)
• Holyrood Secondary School – Glasgow (Head Coach: Joe McBride)
• Grange Academy – Kilmarnock (Head Coach: James Grady)
• Braidhurst High School – Motherwell (Head Coach: Stephen Clarke)

Member 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:
  • Golspie Sutherland
• 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:
  • Creetown, Dalbeattie Star, Newton Stewart, St Cuthbert Wanderers, and Wigtown & Bladnoch
• 15 clubs in the West of Scotland Football League:
  • Auchinleck Talbot, Benburb, Bonnyton Thistle, Carluke Rovers, Cumnock Juniors, Darvel, Girvan, Glasgow University, Glenafton Athletic, Irvine Meadow XI, Kilwinning Rangers, Pollok, Rutherglen Glencairn, St Cadoc's and Threave Rovers

Affiliated associations

National associations

The Scottish Football Association has affiliated to it the following seven national associations:

• 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:

• Aberdeenshire and District Football Association
  • Aberdeenshire Cup
  • Aberdeenshire Shield
  • Aberdeenshire League
• East of Scotland Football Association
  • East of Scotland Cup
  • East of Scotland Shield
  • King Cup
  • East of Scotland Qualifying Cup
  • Alex Jack Cup
• Fife Football Association
  • Fife Cup
• Forfarshire Football Association
  • Forfarshire FA Challenge Cup
• Glasgow Football Association
  • The City of Glasgow Cup
• North of Scotland Football Association
  • North of Scotland Cup
  • North of Scotland FA U20 League
• Southern Counties Football Association
  • Alba Cup
  • Southern Counties FA Challenge Cup
  • J Haig Gordon Memorial Trophy
  • Potts Cup
  • East, South and West of Scotland Cup Winners Shield
  • South Region Challenge Cup
• Stirlingshire Football Association
  • Stirlingshire Cup
• West of Scotland Football Association
  • Renfrewshire Cup
  • Renfrewshire Victoria Cup
• Wigtownshire & District Football Association
  • Cree Lodge Cup
  • Tweedie Cup
• 5 North Caledonian Football Association competitions also registered:
  • North Caledonian League
  • Ness Cup
  • North Caledonian Cup
  • Football Times Cup
  • Jock Mackay Cup

Recognised leagues

The following six leagues with their affiliated leagues and cups are recognised by The Scottish Football Association:

• Scottish Professional Football League
  • Scottish League Cup
  • Scottish Challenge Cup
• 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
  • East of Scotland Football League Cup
• West of Scotland Football League
  • West of Scotland Football League Cup
  • Strathclyde Cup
• South of Scotland Football League
  • South of Scotland Football League Cup

References

References

1. "Contact Us – Scottish Football Association – Scottish FA".
2. James Shaw. (30 November 2012). "James Shaw".
3. "Brief History of the Scottish Football Association". Scottish Football Association.
4. (1 June 2007). "New SFA chief ready to take flak". BBC Sport.
5. (19 April 2010). "SFA chief executive Gordon Smith steps down from role". BBC Sport.
6. (28 July 2010). "Regan named new Scottish FA chief executive". BBC Sport.
7. (1 February 2018). "Scotland: Stewart Regan steps down as SFA chief executive". BBC Sport.
8. (23 April 2018). "Ian Maxwell appointed as Chief Executive". Scottish Football Association.
9. McLauchlin, Brian. (8 May 2018). "Scottish FA & SPFL merger not likely, says Andrew McKinlay". BBC Sport.
10. (7 November 2008). "SFA pulls the plug on Scots semi-pro team". Johnston Publishing.
11. (28 June 2023). "Licensed Clubs – June 2025".
12. "Scottish FA JD Performance Schools | Performance | Scottish FA".
13. "Hazlehead Academy | Performance Schools | Scottish FA".
14. "St John's High School | Performance Schools | Scottish FA".
15. "Broughton High School | Performance Schools | Scottish FA".
16. "Graeme High School | Performance Schools | Scottish FA".
17. "Holyrood Secondary | Performance Schools | Scottish FA".
18. "Grange Academy | Performance Schools | Scottish FA".
19. "Braidhurst High School | Performance Schools | Scottish FA".
20. "The Scottish Football Association Handbook 2021/2022".