England vs Scotland - Facts and Figures - Historical overview of the football rivalry

A ticket for the first ever England v Scotland international fixture which was played on the 30th November 1872 at the West of Scotland Cricket Ground in Partick, Scotland

With Scotland visiting Wembley to take on the “Auld Enemy” for the first time in almost 14 years tonight, I thought it’d be interesting to look over the history of the England-Scotland rivalry and look at some of the statistics of the world’s oldest international fixture.

The First Game

There were unofficial games between a ‘Scotland’ (the English FA selected the team) side and England, played in London before 1872, but the first ever official match between Scotland and England was also the first ever official international football match. The game took place on 30th November 1872 at Hamilton Crescent, home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club.

Scotland’s starting XI all played with the leading Scottish club at the time, Queen’s Park, while England’s team was selected from nine different clubs.

SCOTLAND: (All of Queen’s Park)

GK Robert Gardner (c)BK William KerBK Joseph TaylorHB James ThomsonHB James SmithFW Robert SmithFW Robert LeckieFW Alexander RhindFW William MacKinnonFW James WeirFW David Wotherspoon

ENGLAND:

GK Robert Barker (Hertfordshire Rangers)BK Ernest Greenhalgh (Notts County)HB Reginald de Courtenay Welch (Harrow Chequers)FW Frederick Chappell (Oxford University)FW William Maynard (1st Surrey Rifles)FW John Brockbank (Cambridge University)FW Charles Clegg (Sheffield Wednesday)FW Arnold Kirke-Smith (Oxford University)FW Cuthbert Ottaway (Oxford University) (c)FW Charles Chenery (Crystal Palace)FW Charles Morice (Barnes)

The match finished 0-0, although the Scots had a goal chalked off in the first half when the umpires (not referees then) decreed the ball had cleared the tape which was used as a crossbar (Tape was used before crossbars were introduced in Scotland, although crossbars were being used under the Sheffield Rules at this time).

Robert Leckie would go closest to scoring in the second half, but his shot landed on top of the tape. Incredibly, England goalkeeper Barker would swap positions with Maynard in the latter stages of the match! Can you imagine Joe Hart swapping places with Wayne Rooney tonight?

If Hart shows the same form as he did last season, that might not be a bad thing for England

Some Stats

- As of today, Scotland and England have met each other on 110 occasions. England have won 45 games, Scotland 42, with 24 games drawn, so put your money on a victory.

- The first team to win a match was England, defeating Scotland 4-2 at The Oval in London on 8 March 1873.

- Scotland won 10 of the first 16 matches against England, losing only two of them in the process and soaring into an early lead in the rivalry.

- Only three of the draws between the teams have been goalless, with a gap of 98 years between the first and last draw.

- England have scored 192 goals in the fixtures compared to Scotland’s 169.

- England’s biggest victory in the fixture was a 9-3 hammering of the Scots in 1961, which I’ll look at in more detail further down the page.

- Scotland’s biggest victory was a 7-2 demolition back in 1878.

- The fixture set an European attendance record for a football match in 1937, when 149,915 people packed into Hampden Park to watch Scotland take the spoils with a 3-1 victory.

- Scotland have only won 12 of 47 matches with England since the Second World War.

- Of the last 10 matches, Scotland have only won twice. However, they also won the last match between the old rivals.

The Last England – Scotland Match

Scotland won the last match back on 17th November 1999. A Don Hutchison header sealed a 1-0 victory in Wembley’s ‘final’ match before the stadium’s redevelopment during the Euro 2000 playoff between the teams.

Sadly, the victory wasn’t enough to progress to Euro 2000 at the expense of England, as the “Auld Enemy” won the first leg 2-0 due to a Paul Scholes double at Hampden Park.

Scotland actually had the better record in the group stages of qualification with three wins, one draw and two losses providing a total of 10 points. England qualified with a total of seven points, with one win, four draws and a loss making that total.

Some information about November 1999:

- Tony Blair was in his second year of office as the UK’s Prime Minister.

- Robbie Williams was top of the music charts with ‘She’s The One’ the week of the second leg.

- Gary Glitter was imprisoned for four months after being found guilty of downloading child pornography.

- Australia voted to keep the British monarch as their head of state after a referendum.

- Rangers beat Celtic 3-2 in an Old Firm derby, Gabriel Amato sealing the three points with a goal in the 66th minute.

Famous Matches

31 March 1928 – The Birth of the Wembley Wizards

England (Bob Kelly 89?) 1–5 Scotland (Alex Jackson 3?, 65?, 85?; Alex James 44?, 74?)Wembley Stadium, LondonAttendance: 80,868Referee: Willie Bell (Scotland)

England

GK Ted Hufton (West Ham United)FB Roy Goodall (Huddersfield Town) (c)FB Herbert Jones (Blackburn Rovers)RH Willis Edwards (Leeds United)CH Thomas Wilson (Huddersfield Town)LH Henry Healless (Blackburn Rovers)RW Joe Hulme (Arsenal)IR Bob Kelly (Huddersfield Town)CF Dixie Dean (Everton)IL Joe Bradford (Birmingham)LW Billy Smith (Huddersfield Town)

Scotland

GK Jack Harkness (Queen’s Park)FB James Nelson (Cardiff City)FB Tommy Law (Chelsea)RH Jimmy Gibson (Aston Villa)CH Tom Bradshaw (Bury)LH Jimmy McMullan (Manchester City) (c)RW Alex Jackson (Huddersfield Town)IR James Dunn (Hibernian)CF Hughie Gallacher (Newcastle United)IL Alex James (Preston North End)LW Alan Morton (Rangers)

Neither team had won a match heading into this 1928 British Home Championship game, leaving both of the tournament’s historical giants battling it out for the wooden spoon.

The Scottish team was written off before the match by the media and the fans, with usual stars like Davie Meiklejohn, Jimmy McGrory and Willie McStay omitted for the likes of debutante Tom Bradshaw (who would mark the legendary Dixie Dean out of the game) and recent returnee from injury Hughie Gallacher. The Scottish team were less powerful and less talented up front than their English counterparts and were expected to lose handsomely.

The scoreline makes it clear how the match went. The rain-soaked pitch played into Scotland’s hands, and they handled the soggy weather a lot better than the heavily fancied England. It was not only a historic day for the teams, but for Wembley Stadium itself. In a booklet published by the stadium owners in 1945, the story is told like this:

“English football fans shudder when the year 1928 is mentioned. The traditional enemy, Scotland came to Wembley and gave the Sassenachs a first class lesson in the art of playing football. So much so that, to this day, that Scottish team is still spoken of as ‘The Wembley Wizards’. All Scotland seemed to come to town for that match, and the fans actually brought their own scaling ladders to make sure of getting into the stadium. As a result of this, Wembley afterwards became a barbed wire fortress.

The King and Queen of Afghanistan were among the mammoth crowd who saw the Scots make rings around England. It was Scotland’s day without a doubt. Alan Morton, Glasgow Rangers’ Wee Blue Devil, and Alex Jackson, then with Huddersfield and later with Chelsea, were on the Scottish wings and the English defenders just couldn’t do anything about them. Also of course there was the great Alex James – he of long pants who rarely scored a goal but made openings for hundreds.”

15 April 1961 – Hapless Haffey

England (Bobby Robson 9?, Jimmy Greaves 21?, 30?, 83?, Bryan Douglas 55?, Bobby Smith 73?, 85?, Johnny Haynes 78?, 82′) 9–3 Scotland (Dave Mackay 48?, Davie Wilson 53?, Pat Quinn 75′)

It’s fair to say England got their revenge for the Wembley Wizards match.

Scotland suffered their heaviest ever defeat to England in this match, and is famous for partially causing Scotland goalkeeper Frank Haffey to emigrate to Australia a few years after the match.

This was only Haffey’s second match for Scotland, the first also being against their biggest rivals in a creditable 1-1 draw at Hampden Park the year before. This match would be his last one for Scotland.

Haffey had an absolute nightmare, fumbling numerous shots as England went 3-0 up within 30 minutes, then letting five goals in the last 15 minutes. Whether it was nerves or incompetence, I’ll never know.

Haffey was always an eccentric goalkeeper, but his career went steadily downhill after the 9-3 drubbing.

In February 1962, he managed to put a free kick into the net by himself. March 1963 saw him inexplicably throw the ball between his legs into the goal, while a Scottish Cup semi-final the next month saw him boot the ball straight to an opposing striker, who gleefully fired the ball past Frank.

Wikipedia reliably informs me he called it a day in 1965 and moved to Australia to become, of all things, a cabaret singer.

15 April 1967 – Unofficial World Champions

England (Jack Charlton 84?, Geoff Hurst 88?) 2–3 Scotland (Denis Law 27?, Bobby Lennox 78?, Jim McCalliog 87?)

With England famously winning the World Cup the year before and being undefeated in 19 matches before this one, it was hard to see Scotland taking anything out of this match, despite fielding superstars like Denis Law and Jim Baxter as well as four of the Celtic team who would go on to win the European Cup a few weeks later.

Against all the odds, Scotland managed what would be their most famous victory over England. Law stuck the Scots into the lead in the first half before Bobby Lennox made it 2-0 with 12 minutes to go.

A late fightback from England saw Jack Charlton score before Jim McCalliog sealed the victory a few minutes later. World Cup hero Geoff Hurst scored to make the end of the game interesting, but Scotland were crowned ‘unofficial world champions’ by the Tartan Army.

Although the tag was intended merely to rub salt in the wounds after the defeat, Scotland’s victory set up the Unofficial Football World Championships and they were deemed to be the original winners of the imaginary competition as it’s known today, at least until people went further back in history!

The match is also famous for Jim Baxter’s ‘keepie-uppie’ as he toyed with his English opponents.

4 June 1977 – Invasion

England (Mick Channon 87? (pen.)) 1–2 Scotland (Gordon McQueen 42?, Kenny Dalglish 60?)

This game is more famous for the events after the match rather than the match itself.

Gordon McQueen sent the Scots in front just before half-time with a powerful header past the despairing dive of Ray Clemence in the England goal. Kenny Dalglish would make it 2-0 on the hour mark after a goalmouth scramble fell kindly for him to slot the ball into the gaping net.

Mick Channon ensured a nervy ending for the Scots with a coolly-taken penalty with mere minutes to go, but Scotland held on for the win.

As mentioned, it was the events after the final whistle that sends this match into folklore.

It should be pointed out there was no malice behind the pitch invasion. Scotland’s fans were just happy at the result and wanted to celebrate on the field! They certainly didn’t mean to break the crossbar, it just couldn’t hold their weight. Although, it’s said to this day parts of the Wembley pitch are still growing inside some Scottish gardens.

15 June 1996 – The Dentist Chair

Scotland 0–2 England (Shearer 53?, Gascoigne 79?)

England and Scotland were drawn together in Group A of Euro ’96 despite media rumours suggesting UEFA would deliberately keep the teams apart in the group draw. With both teams drawing their first matches, this game took on extra significance as the winner was virtually guaranteed to go through to the knockout stages.

After a tight first half where Scotland had the better chances to score, England manager Glenn Hoddle brought on Jamie Redknapp at half time, and the substitution turned the game on its head. England would take the lead in the 53rd minute through Alan Shearer’s close range header.

Scotland put the pressure on in an attempt to get a deserved equaliser, and it looked like their luck was finally in when Gordon Durie was adjudged by referee Pierluigi Pairetto to be fouled in the box in the 77th minute by Tony Adams.

But then, this happened:

Enjoy the game tonight everyone!