The history of football: Scotland edition
Versions of football have been played for centuries and there is evidence of people in China playing a similar game more than 2,000 years ago.
The earliest record of football in Scotland comes in an unexpected form – the 1424 Act of Parliament which tried to ban it! King James I wanted his people to concentrate on military practice, not their footie skills.
Fast forward to 1650 and we come across the first record of Orkney’s the ‘Ba’ game being played. This much-loved traditional game is still going strong. Every year, on Christmas day and New Year’s Day, two teams of 75 – 100 players battle it out for possession of the ball in the streets of Kirkwall.
Moving into the 1800s, football as we know it begins to take shape. In 1824 the first football club in the world was established in Edinburgh. In 1851 the football team of the 93rd (Sutherland) Highlanders defeated the Edinburgh University Football Club to win a beautiful silver medal, which would become the oldest surviving football trophy. You can still see it in The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum within Stirling Castle.
In 1872 the first official international football match in the world took place in Glasgow, Scotland vs England. It attracted 2,500 spectators and led to an ‘explosion’ of football in the west of Scotland. Shortly afterwards, in 1873, seven Scottish clubs met to form the Scottish Football Association, and the Scottish Cup was born.
In 1903 the present-day Hampden Park opened Glasgow. At that time it was the biggest football stadium in the world. Nowadays this is Scotland’s national football stadium and home of the Scottish Football Museum, Europe’s first ever national football museum which opened in 1994.
The 1980s brought another unique football accolade for Scotland - the world’s oldest football was discovered in a hidden spot at Stirling Castle. The football dates to around 1540, making it over 500 years old. It can be seen today at Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum in Stirling.
In 2015 the Isle of Eriskay’s football club pitch in the Outer Hebrides was named by FIFA as the eighth most remarkable place to play football in the world, thanks to its stunning sea views.
And bringing us up to present day, 2025 saw the Scotland men’s team qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. This will be their first time competing in the tournament since 1998!
