Scotland national under-21 football team
 | |||
| Association | Scottish Football Association | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Most caps | Christian Dailly (35)[1] | ||
| Top scorer |
Scott Booth (8)[1] Jordan Rhodes (8)[1] | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 Czechoslovakia 0 – 0 Scotland  12 October 1976 | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Scotland 5 – 0 Finland  6 September 1995[2] | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 England 6 – 0 Scotland 13 August 2013 | |||
| UEFA U-21 Championship | |||
| Appearances | 6 (First in 1980) | ||
| Best result | Semi-finalists (1982, 1992, 1996) | ||
The Scotland national under-21 football team, controlled by the Scottish Football Association, is Scotland's national under 21 football team and is considered to be a feeder team for the Scotland national football team.
As a European under-21 team, Scotland compete in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, which is usually held every other year. The team has qualified for the final stages of these Championships on six occasions, although not since 1996. There is no global tournament for under-21 national teams. Performance in the European Championship determines qualification for football at the Summer Olympics, which Scotland is unable to compete in.
History
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Scotland played under-23 international matches, mainly friendlies against England and Wales, from 1955 until 1975.[3] Scotland first entered the UEFA competition for under-23 national teams in 1975–76. Scotland reached the quarter-finals, but were eliminated on a penalty shootout by the Netherlands. An under-21 team then came into existence, replacing the under-23 team, when UEFA reduced the age limit.[4]
Scotland under-21s have reached the last four of the European tournament three times (1982, 1992 and 1996), while appearing in the quarter finals on three other occasions (1980, 1984 and 1988). The team qualified for the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1996 Summer Olympics, but were unable to compete due to Scotland not being independently represented in the International Olympic Committee.[5] Similar to the full national side, however, the under-21 team has not qualified for a finals tournament since the late 1990s. The under-21 team reached the playoff round for the 2004 and 2011 tournaments, but lost to Croatia[6] and Iceland[7] respectively.
| Year | Result | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Quarter Final[note 1] | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 4 |
| 1978 | Did not qualify | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| 1980 | Quarter Final | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 7 |
| 1982 | Semi Final | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 6 |
| 1984 | Quarter Final | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 10 |
| 1986 | Did not qualify | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 1988 | Quarter Final | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 |
| 1990 | Did not qualify | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 13 |
| 1992 | Semi Final | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 10 |
| 1994 | Did not qualify | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 11 |
| 1996 | Fourth place | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 21 | 10 |
| 1998 | Did not qualify | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 20 |
| 2000 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 12 | |
| 2002 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | |
| 2004 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 8 | |
| 2006 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 17 | |
| 2007 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2009 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 6 | |
| 2011 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 11 | |
| 2013 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 9 | |
| 2015 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 15 | |
*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided by a penalty shootout.
- Bronze background color indicates third or fourth place finish (some competitions did not have a third place playoff match).
Head coaches
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Archie Knox left his post as Scotland's National Youth Teams Coach on 30 August 2007 to take up a full-time with Bolton Wanderers as coaching co-ordinator, Maurice Malpas took temporary charge. In January 2008 the SFA appointed a new full-time coach in Billy Stark, who left his job as manager of Second Division side Queen's Park to take the position.[8] Stark resigned from the position in November 2014.[9]
| Tenure | Head Coach/Manager |
|---|---|
| 1975–1986 | Andy Roxburgh |
| 1986–1993 | Craig Brown |
| 1993–1998 | Tommy Craig[10] |
| 1998–2002 | Alex Smith[10][11] |
| 2002–2005 | Rainer Bonhof[11][12] |
| 2005–2006 | Maurice Malpas (caretaker)[13] |
| 2006–2007 | Archie Knox[14] |
| 2007–2008 | Maurice Malpas (caretaker)[15] |
| 2008–2014 | Billy Stark[8][9] |
| 2014–2015 | Ricky Sbragia (caretaker)[9] |
| 2015 | Danny Lennon (caretaker)[16] |
Players
Leading appearances
| Rank | Player | Club(s) | Period | U-21 Caps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Dailly | Dundee United | 1990–1996 | 35 |
| 2 | Steven Pressley | Rangers, Coventry City, Dundee United | 1993–1996 | 27 |
| 3 | Paul Hanlon | Hibernian | 2009–2012 | 23 |
| =4 | Craig Easton | Dundee United | 1997–2001 | 22 |
| =4 | Gary Naysmith | Heart of Midlothian | 1996–1999 | 22 |
| 6 | Shaun Maloney | Celtic | 2001–2005 | 21 |
| =7 | Stuart Armstrong | Dundee United | 2010–2014 | 20 |
| =7 | Jamie McCunnie | Dundee United, Ross County, Dunfermline Athletic | 2001–2005 | 20 |
| =9 | Stevie Crawford | Raith Rovers | 1994–1996 | 19 |
| =9 | Ryan Jack | Aberdeen | 2011–2014 | 19 |
| =9 | Mark Wilson | Dundee United, Celtic | 2004–2006 | 19 |
Note: Club(s) represents the permanent clubs during the player's time in the Under-21 team. Those players in bold are still eligible to play for the team at the moment.
Leading goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Club(s) | Period | U-21 Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Scott Booth | Aberdeen | 1990–1993 | 8 |
| =1 | Jordan Rhodes | Huddersfield Town | 2011–2012 | 8 |
| =3 | Jamie Murphy | Motherwell | 2008–2010 | 6 |
| =3 | Chris Maguire | Aberdeen | 2008–2010 | 6 |
| =3 | Jim Hamilton | Dundee, Heart of Midlothian | 1995–1997 | 6 |
| =3 | Mark Burchill | Celtic | 1998–2001 | 6 |
| =7 | Gerry Creaney | Celtic | 1990–1992 | 5 |
| =7 | Christian Dailly | Dundee United | 1990–1996 | 5 |
| =7 | Steven Fletcher | Hibernian | 2006–2008 | 5 |
| =7 | Simon Lynch | Celtic | 2002–2003 | 5 |
| =7 | Shaun Maloney | Celtic | 2001–2005 | 5 |
| =7 | Steven Naismith | Kilmarnock, Rangers | 2005–2008 | 5 |
| =7 | Steven Thompson | Dundee United | 1997–1999 | 5 |
| =7 | Tony Watt | Celtic | 2012–2013 | 5 |
Note: Club(s) represents the permanent clubs during the player's time in the Under-21s. Those players in bold are still eligible to play for the team at the moment.
Eligibility
The team is for players born in the year 21 years before the starting year of each tournament.[17] As each tournament normally takes two years to complete, players can continue to play for the under-21 team after their 22nd birthday.[17] For example, Theo Walcott (born March 1989) was eligible to play for England under-21s in the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.[17] As long as they are eligible, players can play at any level, making it possible to play for the under-21s, senior side and then return to the under-21 side.[17] It is now also possible to play for one country at youth level and another country at senior level (providing the player is eligible).[4] For instance, Nigel Quashie played for England under-21s and Scotland.[4] Until the late 1980s, teams were allowed to select some over-age players in the under-21 team,[18][19][20] similar to the present arrangement in football at the Summer Olympics.[21]
Current squad
The following players were selected to play Hungary in March 2015.[22]
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Recent call-ups
The following players have also been called up to the Scotland under-21 squad and remain eligible (current clubs shown).
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Past squads
- 1996 European Championship squad
Notes
- ↑ Under-23 competition.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Alltime Player Records". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ↑ "Alltime Club Records". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ↑ "Results List". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Abrahall, Csaba (January 2007). "Age of ascent". When Saturday Comes. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ↑ Gibbons, Glenn (5 February 2009). "Craig Brown battles to preserve Scottish football rights by opposing Team GB". The Scotsman. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
- ↑ "Bonhof hails defeated Scots". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 November 2003. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ↑ "Coach Billy Stark proud of Scotland U21s development". BBC Sport. BBC. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Billy Stark". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Scotland: Billy Stark 'steps down' as under-21 coach". BBC Sport. BBC. 4 November 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Football: Smith protects his youngsters". The Independent. 14 October 1998. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Bonhof for Scotland job". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 July 2002. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
- ↑ "Bonhof chose to leave Scots U-21s". BBC Sport. BBC. 26 November 2005. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
- ↑ "Malpas is the new Motherwell boss". BBC Sport. BBC. 17 May 2006. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
- ↑ "Knox lands Scotland under-21 role". BBC Sport. BBC. 3 July 2006. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
- ↑ "Malpas considering career change". BBC Sport. BBC. 3 January 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
- ↑ "Danny Lennon in temporary charge of Scotland under-21s". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Samuel, Martin (28 March 2011). "England must take on clubs and ensure young Lions are in it to win it". Daily Mail (Associated Newspapers). Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ↑ Paul, Ian (20 January 1984). "Scotland to warm up against France". The Herald (Herald & Times Group). Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ↑ Reynolds, Jim (6 February 1980). "Archibald is only over-age player in Stein's squad". The Herald (Herald & Times Group). Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ↑ Traynor, Jim (7 March 1989). "Young ones take on French mantle". The Herald (Herald & Times Group). Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ↑ "UEFA defends decision to keep over-age stars out of Olympics". The Argus Press. 3 February 1996. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ↑ Scotland Under-21s: Danny Lennon names six new faces, BBC Sport
External links
- SFA (under 21s)
- Uefa Under-21 website Contains full results archive
- Complete U21 results at FitbaStats
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