The England–Scotland football rivalry, between the England and Scotland national football teams, is the oldest international fixture in the world, first played in 1872 at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow. Scottish nationalism has been a factor in the Scots' desire to defeat England above all other rivals, with Scottish sports journalists traditionally referring to the English as the "Auld Enemy".
The rivalry has diminished somewhat since the late 1970s, particularly since annual fixtures stopped in 1989. For England, games against Germany and Argentina are now considered to be more important than the historic rivalry with Scotland.
BBC Online commented that the games "have represented all that is good and all that is bad about football since the fixture began," while The Guardian newspaper once reported that "for millions across both sides of the border the encounter represents a chance for the ultimate victory over the enemy." As of 2023, the teams have played 116 matches; England have won 49, Scotland 41, and there have been 26 draws.
Background and early years
The rules of association football had been formalised and set down by The Football Association in England in 1863. By 1870 C. W. Alcock, Secretary of The Football Association, issued public challenges in various Scottish newspapers, including The Glasgow Herald, to Scottish players to play an international match against England. One of the few public responses that Alcock received from Scotland stated that "devotees of the 'association' rules will find no foeman worthy of their steel in Scotland". Alcock ardently defended that the right to play in these matches "was open to every Scotchman whether his lines were cast North or South of the Tweed". The first match was described in the Glasgow Herald as "the great international football match" and there was acceptance by the same newspaper in 1871 that "both captains had been successful in the composition of elevens capable of efficiently representing their respective causes".
Although the five matches played between 5 March 1870 and 24 February 1872 are not currently recognised by FIFA as official, they were organised under the auspices of the FA and were described as "international" by The Scotsman newspaper. In 1870, Alcock had even suggested that the next international match should be held near the England-Scotland border as an easily accessible venue for both teams, but this did not receive a response. Requests for Scotland-based players to partake were issued for each of these five matches, for example in November 1870:
The matches are notable not just for being the first international matches, but also for illustrating emerging team playing tactics. For example, in the November 1870 match onlookers were treated to a match with "many scientific points" and in 1871 players (including Alcock) are noted to have been "acting in concert", leading to a goal"
England v Scotland 1870–72: scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.
In 1872 a challenge match was agreed with the Glasgow team Queen's Park, who would represent Scotland. The FA's minutes of 3 October 1872 note that:
According to The Scotsman newspaper of 2 December 1872, there were only about ten football clubs in Scotland. These early international matches helped to increase the popularity of association football in Scotland. The first official match was held on 30 November 1872, on Scotland's national saint's day, St. Andrew's Day, and it took place at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club. The Scotland team was made up entirely of players from Queen's Park, the most successful Scottish club of the period. The game ended a 0–0 draw, watched by a crowd of 4000 who had paid a shilling each for admission.
The first goal between the two sides was scored by England's William Kenyon-Slaney in the next game at The Oval, the first official match between the two in England, which the English won 4–2 on 8 March 1873. Following this, the game became an annual event, being held in England or Scotland in alternate years. Scotland took their first win in the fixture in the 1874 game, again played at Hamilton Crescent, where they defeated England 2–1. Later in the 1870s Scotland won the fixture three times in a row, including a 7–2 victory in the 1878 game.