Scottish Football Association

Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA; ; Scottish Gaelic: Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba) 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. 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:
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
As well as the Scotland national football team, the Scottish Football Association is also currently responsible for organising the Scotland B national football 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
The Scottish Football Association encourages quality of governance in football clubs through a system of club licence awards. 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 and Rangers have been awarded a platinum-level licence, while two others (Hibernian and St Johnstone) hold gold-level licences. All clubs in the Scottish Professional Football League, 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
124 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
2 clubs in the North Caledonian League:
Fort William and Golspie Sutherland
24 clubs in the East of Scotland Football League:
Blackburn United, 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, 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, Clydebank, Cumnock Juniors, Darvel, Girvan, Glasgow University, Glenafton Athletic, Irvine Meadow XI, Kilwinning Rangers, Pollok, Rutherglen Glencairn, 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
External links
FIFA profile (archived 26 March 2019)
UEFA profile
1
Scotland
Sports organizations established in 1873
1873 establishments in Scotland
Organisations based in Glasgow