This article lists all the captains of the men’s Scotland national football team. As of 16 November 2023, Scotland have played 825 officially recognised international matches and have had 156 different team captains. George Young captained Scotland most often, with 48.[1] Four other players (Billy Bremner, Darren Fletcher, Gary McAllister and Andrew Robertson) have captained the team at least 30 times.[1]
The first captain of the Scotland team was Robert Gardner, who led the team in the first ever international match, against England on 30 November 1872. He went on to captain Scotland on just one further occasion, the second international match, on 8 March 1873, against the same opposition.
Statistics include official FIFA recognised matches, five matches from a 1967 overseas tour that were reclassified as full internationals in 2021,[8] and a match against a Hong Kong League XI played on 23 May 2002 that the Scottish Football Association includes in its statistical totals.[2][9]
Unofficial games
The above list considers captains selected for games officially recognised by FIFA and the Scottish Football Association. In addition to these, there have been a number of games played by Scotland teams on an unofficial basis, for example the "wartime internationals" during the Second World War. Some of the captains selected for these unofficial games are listed below.
^ ab"Scotland Captains by Total Games as Captain". www.londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
^ abc"Hong Kong v Scotland". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
^Morrison, Neil (2 February 2005). "2002 INTERNATIONAL MATCHES". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
^Roberts, Chris (14 December 2011). "Darren Fletcher has the courage and strength to beat illness, says ex-Man Utd mate Henning Berg". Daily Record. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
^Brown, Alan; Tossani, Gabriele (4 November 2021). "Scotland - International Matches 1881-1890". RSSSF. Retrieved 25 November 2021. John Lambie was previously believed to be the youngest ever player to be capped by Scotland, making his debut aged 17 years and 92 days in this match. He was also credited with being captain of the team. New research by Andy Mitchell in 2020 has revealed that although he was selected to play he was replaced by James Kelly of Renton. The captain is not known.
^Bell, Stephen; Zlotkowski, Andre (6 June 2008). "Scotland XI Tour of Asia and Oceania 1967". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
^ ab"Tour games in 1967 that the Aussies count and we don't". The Scotsman. Johnston Publishing. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
^ abc"Former Scotland players to be recognised with international caps including Sir Alex Ferguson". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
^"Gordon Strachan". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
^"Scotland Unofficial Matches 1902-1919". RSSSF. 8 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
^Morrison, Neil (15 November 2012). "1921 TOUR OF CANADA AND USA BY "THIRD LANARK'S SCOTLAND XI"". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
^"Sat 18 Apr 1942 Scotland 5 England 4". www.londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
^"Sat 10 Oct 1942 England 0 Scotland 0". www.londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
^"Sat 17 Apr 1943 Scotland 0 England 4". www.londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
^"Sat 16 Oct 1943 England 8 Scotland 0". www.londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
^"Sat 02 Feb 1946 Northern Ireland 2 Scotland 3". www.londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
^Morrison, Neil (15 November 2012). "1949 TOUR OF CANADA AND USA BY THE SCOTTISH FA". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
External links
Scotland captains by date, London Hearts Supporters' Club