The Scotland women's national football team represents

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in international women's football competitions. Since 1998, the team has been governed by the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility f ...

(SFA). Scotland qualified for the

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's international governing bod ...

for the first time in

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, and qualified for their first UEFA Women's Championship in

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. As of July 2019, the team was 22nd in the

FIFA Women's World Rankings The FIFA Women's World Rankings for football were introduced in 2003, with the first rankings published on 16 July of that year, as a follow-on to the existing Men's FIFA World Rankings. They attempt to compare the strength of internationall ...

. Although most national football teams represent a

sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined ter ...

, as a member of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

Home Nations Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...

, Scotland is permitted by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

statutes to maintain its own national side that competes in all major tournaments, with the exception of the

Women's Olympic Football Tournament Football at the Summer Olympics, referred to as the Olympic Football Tournament, has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except 1896 (the inaugural Games) and 1932 (in an attempt to promote the new FIFA Wor ...

History

Church documents recorded women playing football in Carstairs, Lanarkshire, in 1628. Scotland first played a women's international match in May 1881. Women's football struggled for recognition during this early period and was banned by the football authorities in 1921. Club sides who were interested in using their grounds for women's football were subsequently denied permission by the

(SFA). The sport continued on an unofficial basis until the 1970s, when the ban was lifted. In 1971

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...

instructed its members to take control of women's football within their territories. The motion was passed 31–1, but Scotland was the only member to vote against it.

Football in Scotland Association football ( sco, fitbaa, gd, ball-coise) is one of the national sports of Scotland and the most popular sport in the country. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the S ...

has traditionally been seen as a

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

and

male Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

preserve.

La Scozia della partita di San Siro 1974

Scotland's first official match, a 3–2 defeat to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, took place in November 1972. The team was managed by

Rab Stewart Robert Edward Thorburn Stewart (7 October 1932 – 27 September 1992) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a right half, making nearly 150 appearances in the Scottish Football League. After retiring as a player, Stewart became a ...

. The 1921 ban on women's football was lifted in 1974, and the SFA assumed direct responsibility for Scottish women's football in 1998. Scotland have participated in most international competitions since the ban was removed. The team's standing has improved significantly in recent years, reaching an all-time high of 19th place in the

in March 2014. They reached their first major tournament finals when they qualified for

UEFA Women's Euro 2017 The 2017 UEFA European Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2017, was the 12th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the women's national tea ...

. The team followed this up by qualifying for their first World Cup finals tournament in

. Following their qualification, the Scottish Government announced they would provide funding to allow all the players to train full-time in the lead up to the World Cup, a welcome announcement as several players do not play professionally. Their final home match (against

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

) before the 2019 World Cup saw a record attendance for the national team of 18,555.

Claire Emslie Claire Emslie (born 8 March 1994) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a forward for Angel City FC in the National Women's Soccer League of the United States of America, and the Scotland national team. She previously played college soccer fo ...

scored Scotland's first World Cup goal, netting in a 2–1 defeat against England on 9 June. After losing their second game, 2–1 against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, Scotland needed to win their third game against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

to qualify for the last 16 as a third-placed team. They appeared to be heading for qualification when they took a 3–0 lead, but they conceded three late goals to draw 3–3 and exited at the group stage. Three consecutive 1–0 defeats in

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

(two by

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

and one by

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

) prevented Scotland from qualifying for UEFA Women's Euro 2022. Head coach

Shelley Kerr Michelle Kerr (born 15 October 1969) is a Scottish football manager and former player who is currently the English Football Association's technical lead for women's national teams. As a player Kerr was a powerful centre back, who captained Sc ...

, who had guided the team to their appearance at the 2019 World Cup, left her position following this failure.

Pedro Martínez Losa Pedro Martínez Losa (born 9 May 1976) is a Spanish football coach and sporting director, who is currently the head coach of the Scotland women's national team. Known primarily for his prominence within women's football, Martínez Losa has won ...

was appointed manager in July 2021, ahead of the first 2023 World Cup qualifiers.

Home stadium

The first official match played by the Scotland women's team was hosted by the

Ravenscraig Stadium Ravenscraig Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. The stadium is primarily set up for athletics, with a running track, but it is also the traditional home of Greenock Juniors Football Club. The stadium underwent ...

, an

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

facility in

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowland ...

. Until 2020 the team normally played its home games at (men's) club stadiums around the country. Venues used included

Fir Park Fir Park Stadium is a football stadium situated in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Premiership club Motherwell and was the temporary home of Gretna for the 2007–08 SPL season. M ...

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lana ...

Tynecastle Park Tynecastle Park is a football stadium in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, which is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). It has also hosted Scotland international matches, and been used as a ...

and

Easter Road Easter Road is a association football, football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian F.C., Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, and

St Mirren Park St Mirren Park, also known as The SMISA Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Paisley, Scotland. It is the home of St Mirren. The stadium is the sixth home of the club and replaced Love Street. History Talks over a new ...

in Paisley.

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

in Glasgow is the traditional home of the men's national team and is described by the

as the ''National Stadium''. A Scotland women's international was played at Hampden for the first time in October 2012, when it hosted the first leg of a European Championship qualifying playoff against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. Earlier in 2012, Hampden had hosted matches in the Olympic women's football tournament. In May 2019 the team attracted a record attendance for a women's football match in Scotland, when 18,555 were present at Hampden for a World Cup warm-up friendly with

. In July 2021 the SFA announced that all of the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification process determines 30 of the 32 teams which will play in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, with the co-hosts Australia and New Zealand qualifying automatically. It is the ninth FIFA Women's World Cup, ...

home matches would be played at Hampden, making it the regular home ground.

Media coverage

Scotland women's internationals have been televised by

BBC Alba BBC Alba is a Scottish Gaelic-language free-to-air public broadcast television channel jointly owned by the BBC and MG Alba. The channel was launched on 19 September 2008 and is on-air for up to seven hours a day with BBC Radio nan Gàidheal ...

and broadcast by

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scotland, Scottish radio station, radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same na ...

presenter

Tam Cowan Thomas Cowan (born 21 April 1969) is a Scottish football journalist and radio presenter who was previously also a television presenter. Early life He was educated at Braidhurst High School in Motherwell where he was one of the school captains. ...

was temporarily taken off the air in 2013, after he criticised the use of

for women's internationals in his '' Daily Record'' column. In a November 2013 interview with ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' newspaper, Laura Montgomery of Glasgow City FC suggested that media coverage of women's football in Scotland often reflected

sexist Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primaril ...

and

misogynist Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced f ...

attitudes. This is due to a preponderance of "stupid male journalists", according to Montgomery.

Competitive record

World Cup

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on

penalty kicks A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

.''

Olympic Games

At the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

charter only permit a

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

team, representing the whole of the United Kingdom, to compete. As London hosted the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

, a Great Britain team was entered and two Scotland players (

Kim Little Kim Alison Little (born 29 June 1990) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a midfielder for and captains Arsenal of the English FA WSL. Before her retirement from international duty in 2021, Little was vice-captain of the Scotland women's nat ...

and Ifeoma Dieke) were selected for the squad.

The FA The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

indicated in June 2013 that they would be prepared to run women's teams at future Olympic tournaments, subject to one of the home nations meeting the qualification criteria (i.e. being one of the top three European nations at the Women's World Cup). Following objections from the Scottish,

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

and

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

football associations, and a commitment from

that they would not allow entry of a British team unless all four Home Nations agreed, the FA said they would not seek entry into the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

tournament. In October 2018, an agreement was reached between the four associations ahead of the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

tournament, and qualification was secured by England reaching the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup; Kim Little and Caroline Weir were the Scottish players selected for the squad.

European Championship

Unofficial competitions

*World Cup ** 1970: Did not compete **

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events J ...

: Did not compete **1978: Did not competeWomen's World Invitation Tournament – Overview (1978–1987)
rsssf.com. Retrieved 12 March 2014. **1981: Did not compete **1984: Did not compete **1987: Did not compete *European Competition **1969: Did not participate **

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

: Group stage

Other tournaments

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on

.''

Coaching staff

Current staff

Head coaches

* 1972–?:

* 1974:

Elsie Cook Elsie Cook was the secretary for the Scottish Women’s Football Association when it was formed. Cook's advocacy for women's football in Scotland helped the ban on the sport get reversed and led to the Scotland women's national football team pl ...

* 1979–1985:

John Pollatschek Jean Louis Pollatschek (born 1 August 1943) is a Scottish former footballer and manager who played as a left back in the Scottish League for Queen's Park and Hamilton Academical. He was capped by Scotland at amateur level and after his retireme ...

* 1998: Jim Fleeting * 1998–2004:

Vera Pauw Vera Pauw (; born 18 January 1963) is a Dutch football coach and former player. She currently manages the Republic of Ireland women's national football team. She has managed several national women's football teams, including Scotland, Netherlands ...

* 2005–2017:

Anna Signeul Anna Signeul (born 20 May 1961) is a Swedish former football player. She was the national coach of the Scotland women's team from March 2005 until 2017, and the national coach of the Finland women's team from 2017 to 2022. Playing career Signe ...

* 2017–2020:

* 2021:

Stuart McLaren Stuart McLaren (born 28 August 1975) is a Scottish/Australian football player and coach, who is currently employed at Scottish club Celtic as U18 manager. Biography Queensland Roar coach Miron Bleiberg signed McLaren on a short-term contract ...

(interim) * 2021–:

Players

Current squad

The following players were named in a squad for

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

es with

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

in November 2022. The match with Panama was designated as an under-23 game, with each side able to field five players over that age. ''

Caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

and goals are current as of 14 November 2022 after the match against

.''

Recent call-ups

The following players have been selected by Scotland within the past 12 months. ''Notes:'' * = Withdrew due to injury * = Preliminary squad * = Retired from international football

Honoured players

The SFA operates a roll of honour for every female player who has made more than 100 appearances for Scotland. The Scottish Football Museum operates a

hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

, based at

, which is open to players and managers involved in Scottish football.

Rose Reilly Rose Reilly (born 2 January 1955), whose married name is Rose Peralta, is a Scottish former women's association football player, who represented both Scotland and Italy in international football. Club career Rose was born in Kilmarnock and w ...

(2007) and

Julie Fleeting Julie Fleeting MBE (born 18 December 1980), whose married name is Julie Stewart, is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward. She spent nine years at English club Arsenal and was the first Scot to play as a full-time professional i ...

(2018) are the only women to be inducted so far. Sportscotland operates the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame, which has inducted some footballers, also including Reilly.

Notes

References

External links

Official website

FIFA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scotland Women's National Football Team European women's national association football teams 1972 establishments in Scotland 1972 establishments in the United Kingdom