Scottish Football Association


The Scottish Football Association is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA include clubs in Scotland, affiliated national associations as well as local associations. It was formed in 1873, making it the second-oldest national football association in the world. It is not to be confused with the Scottish Football Union, which is the name that the SRU was known by until the 1920s.
The Scottish Football Association is a member of both UEFA and FIFA and holds a permanent seat on the International Football Association Board which is responsible for the Laws of the Game. It is based at Hampden Park in Glasgow. In addition, the Scottish Football Museum is located there.
The Scottish Football Association is responsible for the operation of the Scotland national football team, the annual Scottish Cup and several other duties important to the functioning of the game in Scotland.

History

Formation

Following the formation of Scotland's earliest football clubs in the 1860s, football experienced a rapid growth but there was no formal structure, and matches were often arranged in a haphazard and irregular fashion.
Queen's Park, a Glasgow club founded in 1867, took the lead, and following an advertisement in a Glasgow newspaper in 1873, representatives from seven clubs – Queen's Park, Clydesdale, Vale of Leven, Dumbreck, Third Lanark, Eastern and Granville – attended a meeting on 13 March 1873. Furthermore, Kilmarnock sent a letter stating their willingness to join.
That day, these eight clubs formed the Scottish Football Association, and resolved that:

Founding members

The following eight football clubs founded the Scottish Football Association:
Club NameLocation
Queen's ParkGlasgow
ClydesdaleGlasgow
Vale of LevenAlexandria
DumbreckGlasgow
Third LanarkGlasgow
EasternGlasgow
GranvilleGlasgow
KilmarnockKilmarnock

Chief Executive/Secretary

The chief executive of the Scottish Football Association oversees the development of football in Scotland and the administration of disciplinary matters, and is also responsible for the general organisation of the national side. One of the most prominent roles of the chief executive is to hire and dismiss Scotland national football team managers.

National teams

As well as the Scotland national football team, the Scottish Football Association is also currently responsible for organising the Scotland national football B team, as well as men's national teams at under-21, under-19, under-18 and under-17 levels. There was also a semi-professional team, but this was disbanded in 2008. In women's football, there is the full Scotland women's national football team, under-19 and under-17 teams. In Futsal, there is a full national side.

Club competitions

The Scottish Football Association organises the Scottish Cup and the Scottish Youth Cup. Although the SFA are not involved in the day-to-day operation of the Scottish Professional Football League or other league competitions, they do appoint referees to officiate the games in these leagues, as well as dealing with player registrations and disciplinary issues.

Club licensing

All SFA member clubs are assessed annually in four areas and, if appropriate, awarded a licence at platinum, gold, silver, bronze or entry level. only Celtic are currently holders of a platinum-level licence, while four others hold gold-level licences. All clubs in the Scottish Professional Football League are required to be licensed at bronze level, Highland Football League, and Lowland Football League are required to be licensed at entry level or above.

Performance Schools

The Scottish Football Association established a number of performance schools around Scotland in 2012 with the aim of developing footballing talent in young people and at grassroots level. The programme is for under-12 players, and will provide them with 800 hours of additional coaching., seven performance schools exist:
125 clubs are full members of the Scottish Football Association, comprising:

National associations

The Scottish Football Association has affiliated to it the following seven national associations:
There are 10 local associations affiliated and the competitions they manage are also listed below:
The following six leagues with their affiliated leagues and cups are recognised by The Scottish Football Association: