Football records in Scotland
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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 Sco ...
is a popular professional sport. Founded in 1873, Scotland has the second oldest national football association in the world. The national cup competition, the
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1873–74 season. Its trophy is the oldest national sporting trophy in the world. A
Scottish football league system The Scottish football league system is a series of generally connected leagues for Scottish football clubs. The Scottish system is more complicated than many other national league systems, consisting of several completely separate systems or 'gra ...
was first instituted in 1890, with the creation of the
Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...
. A second national cup competition, the
Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
, was created in the 1946–47 season. This page details the team and individual records set in these competitions.


League competitions


Team records

;Titles *Most top-flight league titles: 55, Rangers *Most consecutive league titles: 9, joint record: **
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
(1965–66 to 1973–74) ** Rangers (1988–89 to 1996–97) ** Celtic (2011–12 to 2019–20Hearts (1897 to 1958) ;Top-flight appearances *Most appearances: 125 completed seasons, Celtic (1890–present) ;Largest victories *Largest top flight home win: 11–0, Celtic v
Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
, 26 October 1895 *Largest top flight away win: 1–11,
Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...
v Hibernian, 24 October 1959 ;Streaks *Longest top flight unbeaten run: 62 games, Celtic (20 November 1915 – 21 April 1917) **Longest top flight unbeaten run (games in all national competitions): 69 games (56 in the league), Celtic (15 May 2016 – 13 December 2017) *Most consecutive top flight wins: 25, Celtic ( 2003–04) *Unbeaten league season: **Celtic P18 W15 D3 L0, 1897–98 **Rangers P18 W18 D0 L0, 1898–99 **Celtic P38 W34 D4 L0 2016–17 **Rangers P38 W32 D6 L0
2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
;Attendances *Highest attendance: 118,567 - Rangers v Celtic at
Ibrox Park Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated capacity of . O ...
, 2 January 1939


Individual

;Goals *Most top flight goals in a career: 410,
Jimmy McGrory James Edward McGrory (26 April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward and then went on to manage Kilmarnock before returning to Celtic as manager after the end of the Second World Wa ...
(Celtic 397,
Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...
13) *Most top flight goals in a season: 52,
Willie MacFadyen William MacFadyen (23 June 1904 – 20 January 1971) was a Scottish football player and manager. A goalscoring centre forward, his 52 league goals for Motherwell's 1931–32 championship winning side remains the record goals total for a sin ...
(
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 Lanarks ...
, 1931–32) *Most top flight goals in a game: 8, Jimmy McGrory (Celtic 9
Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...
0, 14 January 1928) *Most top flight hat-tricks: 48, Jimmy McGrory ;Appearances *Most top flight appearances: 626, Bob Ferrier (Motherwell) *Most consecutive appearances with a goal scored: 14,
Evelyn Morrison Evelyn Sneddon Morrison (1 August 1902 – 15 November 1968) was a Scottish footballer who played as a centre forward. His most notable spell was with Falkirk, where he finished as the top scorer in Scottish Football League Division One in the 1 ...
(
Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...
, 1928–29) ;Goalkeepers *Longest consecutive period of time without conceding a goal: 1,256 minutes,
Fraser Forster Fraser Gerard Forster (born 17 March 1988) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur. Forster sta ...
(Celtic, 2013–14) ;Titles *Most league title wins by a manager 18,
Bill Struth William Struth (16 June 1875 – 21 September 1956) was a Scottish football manager. He was the second manager of Rangers Football Club, leading the club for 34 years between 1920 and 1954, as well as being the holder of a number of other positi ...
(
Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
) *Most league title wins by a player 13,
Sandy Archibald Alexander "Sandy" Archibald (23 November 1896 – 29 November 1946) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Raith Rovers, Rangers and Scotland. He was later secretary/manager of Raith and Dunfermline Athletic. Playing career Club Initially ...
(
Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
)


Scottish Cup


Team records

*Most final wins: 40,
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
*Most consecutive final wins: 4, Celtic (2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20) *Most final appearances: 59, Celtic (includes cancelled 1909 fixture) *Most consecutive final defeats: 3,
Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning '' ...
(1882–83 – 1884–85) *Most consecutive final appearances: 8, Rangers (1975–76 – 1982–83) *Longest gap between final wins: 114 years, Hibernian (1901–02 – 2015–16) *Most final appearances without winning: 2,
Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish association football, football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championshi ...
(1910–11, 1934–35) *Most final appearances without defeat: 2,
St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...
*Longest winning streak in finals: 14, Rangers (1929–30, 1931–32, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1952–53, 1959–60, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1965–66) *Longest losing streak in finals: 10, Hibernian (1913–14, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1946–47, 1957–58, 1971–72, 1978–79, 2000–01, 2011–12, 2012–13) *Biggest final wins: 5 goals, joint record: ** Renton 6–1
Cambuslang Cambuslang ( sco, Cammuslang, from gd, Camas Lang) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a ...
, ( 1887–88) **Rangers 5–0 St Mirren, ( 1933–34) **Celtic 6–1 Hibernian, ( 1971–72) *Most goals in a final: 7: **Renton 6–1 Cambuslang, (1887–88) **Celtic 4–3 Queen's Park, ( 1899–1900) ** Hearts 4–3 Celtic, ( 1900–01) **Celtic 6–1 Hibernian (1971–72) **
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 Lanarks ...
4–3
Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
( 1990–91) *Most goals by a runner-up: 3: **Queen's Park: Lost 3–4 against Celtic (1899–1900) **Celtic: Lost 3–4 against Hearts (1900–01) **Dundee United: Lost 3–4 against Motherwell (1990–91) **Hearts: Lost on penalties against Celtic after the game finished 3–3 ( aet) (2019–20) *Most final losses:18, joint record: Celtic and Rangers (excludes cancelled 1909 fixture) *Most common pairing in the final: 15, Celtic v Rangers (7 wins each, 1908–09 was withheld) ;Attendances *Highest attendance: 146,433, Celtic v Aberdeen at
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 ...
, 24 April 1937 (
1937 Scottish Cup Final Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Febr ...
)


Individual

* Most cup final wins by manager: 14,
Willie Maley William Patrick Maley (25 April 1868 – 2 April 1958) was an Irish-born Scottish international football player and manager. He was the first manager of Celtic Football Club, and one of the most successful managers in Scottish football history. ...
(
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
) *Most cup final wins by player 8,
Bobby Lennox Robert Lennox, MBE (born 30 August 1943, in Saltcoats, Ayrshire) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played for Celtic and was a member of their 1967 European Cup-winning team, known as the Lisbon Lions. He earned ten internationa ...
(
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
) *Most overall goals:
Jimmy McGrory James Edward McGrory (26 April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward and then went on to manage Kilmarnock before returning to Celtic as manager after the end of the Second World Wa ...
77 goals (
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
74,
Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...
3) *Most Scottish Cup goals in a match:
John Petrie John Petrie (15 January 1822 – 8 December 1892) was a Scottish-born politician, architect, stonemason and building contractor in Brisbane who became the city's first Mayor. Private life John Petrie was born 15 January 1822Toowong Cemetery ...
13 (
Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...
36, Bon Accord 0, 12 September 1885)A day when Scottish football scorched the record books
The Scotsman, retrieved 14 July 2007. Archived fro
the original
on 27 March 2008.


Scottish League Cup


Team records

*Most final wins: 27,
Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
*Most consecutive final wins: 5,
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
(1965–66 – 1969–70) *Most final appearances: 35, joint record: Celtic and Rangers *Most consecutive final defeats: 4, Celtic (1970–71 – 1973–74) *Most consecutive final appearances: 14, Celtic (1964–65 – 1977–78) *Most final appearances without winning: 3,
Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...
  (1949–50, 1991–92, 2005–06) *Most final appearances without losing: 3, East Fife (1947–48, 1949–50, 1953–54) *Longest gap between final wins: 21 years,
Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
(1955–56 – 1976–77) *Longest winning streak in finals: 9, Rangers (1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2007–08) *Longest losing streak in finals: 5, joint record: **
Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
(1952–53, 1960–61, 1962–63, 2000–01, 2006–07), **
Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
(1981–82, 1984–85, 1997–98, 2007–08, 2014–15) *Biggest final win: 6 goals: **Celtic 7–1 Rangers, ( 1957–58) *Most goals in a final: 9: **Celtic 6–3 Hibernian, ( 1974–75) *Most goals by a runner-up: 3: **
Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
: Lost 3–5 against Celtic ( 1967–68) **Hibernian: Lost 3–6 against Celtic (1974–75) **Aberdeen: Drew 3–3 against Rangers but lost on penalties ( 1987–88) ** Hearts: Lost 3–4 against Rangers ( 1996–97) *Most final losses: 15, Celtic *Most common pairing in the final: 15, Celtic v Rangers (9 Rangers wins, 6 Celtic wins) ;Attendances *Highest attendance: 107,609, Celtic v Rangers at
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 ...
, 25 October 1965 ( 1965–66) ;Individual * Most cup final wins by manager: 6,
Scot Symon James Scotland Symon (9 May 1911 – 30 April 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He also played cricket for Scotland in an age when it was possible to play and excel in several sports. Footballer Symon started his professional ca ...
( East Fife and
Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
),
Jock Stein John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...
(
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
) and
Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...
(Rangers) *Most overall goals:
Joe Harper Joseph Montgomery Harper (born 11 January 1948) is a Scottish former footballer, mainly remembered for his two spells with Aberdeen, during which he won the three main domestic trophies once each and became the club's record goalscorer with 20 ...
74 goals (
Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
51, Hibernian 16,
Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton ...
7)


Transfers


Record transfer fees paid


Record transfer fees received


Most successful clubs by titles


References


External links

* {{Football in Scotland
Records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...
Football in Scotland Scottish football club statistics