This month sees two significant milestones for Scottish football. It is the 150th anniversary of the first international match in the world, between Scotland and England on 30 November 1872. It is also the 50th anniversary of Scotland's first women's international, against England on 18 November 1972.
   Both these events provide a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our football heritage. It is also a chance to recognise all the players who have contributed to Scottish football's national teams over the years.
   That is why I am proposing the introduction of unique Heritage Numbers for everyone who has played for Scotland, men and women.
   Currently the Scottish FA has a Roll of Honour for players who have amassed 50 or more caps. When this scheme was originally launched in the 1980s there were just a dozen or so players, all men, who qualified. Today, however, with the increased number of fixtures and greater use of substitutes, it is far easier for players to reach that total and 50 caps is less of a measure of greatness. Indeed, it fails to include many fine players of the past who could never have reached that figure at a time when Scotland only played three games a year.
   When I speak to former players, almost without exception the most memorable international they played was their first cap. Representing Scotland is a supreme honour in itself, and earning the tag of 'internationalist' is something that lasts a lifetime. Hence I think that is the event that should be marked, rather than an arbitrary number of caps.
   It is not a new idea: several sports from cricket to rugby league have adopted the scheme, and some countries already have it for football. The Football Association in England, for example, launched Legacy Numbers for their men's team in 2019, and this year are extending it to the women's team following a major research programme.
   Scotland has yet to adopt the idea. For the men's team, all the information is available although there was a recent complication with the retrospective adoption of some tour matches from 1967 as full internationals, which added players to the list. Including those late additions, a total of 1,227 men have now played for Scotland, the latest being Calvin Ramsay who won his first cap against Turkey.
   One of the major stumbling blocks to compiling an equivalent record for the women's national team has been the lack of historic information, but that is no longer a barrier.
   In recent months I have been researching and gathering details about the women's national team and I believe I now have a full list of every woman who has  ever played for Scotland. The latest additions are Brogan Hay and Rebecca McAllister who made their debuts against Venezuela, taking the total up to 244 players.
   Most of that number were first capped under the Scottish Women's FA who ran the team up to 1997. I have to admit that it is possible that my list may have to be slightly revised, as not all the teamlines were recorded at the time and media coverage was minimal. Sometimes players were included in squads but there is no definitive record of whether they actually played (substitutions were a particular problem). However, by a careful examination of archive material and by asking many former players for their memories, I am confident it is 99 per cent correct and possibly 100 per cent. I would be delighted to hear from anyone with additional information.
   My overall point is that playing for Scotland is an achievement that should live for ever, and I believe that players deserve the unique recognition that comes with a Heritage Number. At a time of celebration for those anniversaries, there is no better time for the Scottish FA to act.

Click here for the full list of Scotland Men's Heritage Numbers.

Click here for the full list of Scotland Women's Heritage Numbers.

This month marks 50 years since the first Scotland women's football international, against England at Greenock on 18 November 1972.
   That anniversary prompted me to research the history of the national team, a subject which appears to have been woefully neglected by the football authorities and the media in the past. There are no match reports for many games, in fact some games were barely mentioned in the press at all. Allied to poor record-keeping by the old Scottish Women's FA, and a lax attitude at the Scottish FA after they took over in 1997, many players have been forgotten, and those records and statistics which have been published are frequently wrong.
   After months of research, I can now start to put that right by publishing a definitive record of every Scotland women's international from 1972 to date, a total of 370 matches in fifty years.
​   To see a full list of Scotland matches, click here (pdf).

I have also been compiling a full set of statistics for every match. This has proved a considerable challenge given the lack of contemporary reporting for the early games. 
   Quite often, a squad list would be published for a game or a tournament, but the team that played was not recorded or was missing the substitutes. It has not yet been possible to finalise the statistics for the SWFA years from 1972-1997, but I do have a complete record from the time that the Scottish FA took over.
   To see Scotland's full match record from 1998 to date, click here (pdf).  This includes a wealth of details including the number of caps each player had won, the substitutes and the time they came on, goalscorers and times of goals, and the venue, with attendance where known. [NB I have watermarked the file to discourage copying.]
   It corrects a number of mistakes which have been published online, even in sources such as the Scottish FA archive which could (and should) more more accurate.
   In particular, the number of caps won by certain players has been wrongly recorded, notably record goalscorer Julie Fleeting whose caps total came to 118, with 110 goals scored in those matches (most accounts claim 121 caps and 116 goals).
   My next step is to add to the record of the pre-1998 matches, and in particular I hope that the players who featured in those matches can be recognised properly for their contribution to Scotland's football history.
   The Scottish FA recently presented caps to the 1972 team, and it would only be right if all the other players were also awarded caps. I also support the introduction of 'heritage numbers' for every internationalist.
   There are now 243 names on the list of Scotland players, of whom 144 made their first appearance under the SWFA. However, I acknowledge that the number may have to be revised slightly if new information comes to light.

If you have any comments or queries about these statistics, please get in touch through the Contact Form.

In compiling these statistics, I would like to acknowledge the help and co-operation of a number of football historians, in particular Neil Morrison and Tommy Malcolm. I would also like to thank several former players for sharing their memories (and their press cuttings!), notably Margaret McAulay Rae and Elsie Cook.