The Scottish Football Association (; 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.

It 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. 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:

Founding members

The following eight football clubs founded the Scottish Football Association:

{| class="wikitable"

|+

!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.

  • 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

thumb|right|210px|Logo used until 30 November 2012

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. 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

  • 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: