Scotland national semi-professional football team

Scotland Semi-ProAssociation| Scottish Football Association

|

The Scotland national semi-professional football team was a football team that represented Scotland. The Scotland semi-professional team competed in the Four Nations Tournament and was organised by the Scottish Football Association (SFA).[1] The team was disbanded in 2008, when the SFA board decided to stop providing the finance needed for the team to operate.[1] At the time the team was disbanded, players in the three senior non-leagues, the East of Scotland Football League, Highland Football League and South of Scotland Football League, were eligible for selection.[1][2]

## History[edit]

The semi-pro team was first formed in the late 1970s. The first incarnation of the team was originally made of players from Scottish Football League clubs outside the Premier Division. The most recent incarnation of the team (1990s and 2000s) was made of players selected from the two of the three former senior non leagues in Scotland; the Highland League and the East of Scotland League. The third senior non league was the South of Scotland League, which had not had a select side for long time, hampering scouting and selection, which coupled with friction over travel issues effectively saw what few players of calibre they had excluded.[3][4]

The semi-pro team regularly played friendlies against a Highland League Select. They also regularly played preparation games against Scottish Football League clubs prior to international tournaments in the 1980s.[3] The team was disbanded by the Scottish FA in November 2008. The Scottish FA decided to withdraw funding for the semi-professional side in order to save money, more than £20,000 worth of funding was pulled.[1]

### Four Nations Tournament[edit]

There was no officially sanctioned competition by either UEFA or FIFA for national teams at non-league level, but Scotland competed in the annual Four Nations Semi-Pro Tournament between 1979 and 2008. The competition was abandoned from 1988 to 2001, while no competition took place in 1986.[5] The first eight editions of the tournament (1979–1987) saw Scotland compete against England Semi-Pro, Netherlands Amateurs and Italy Serie C U-21s. The later reinstatement of the competition saw the semi-pro teams of Scotland, England, Wales and Republic of Ireland compete from 2002 to 2008. The Gibraltar national team replaced Ireland in the last edition.[5] Scotland last hosted the Four Nations Tournament in 2007, when matches were played in Dingwall, Inverness and Brora.[2][5] Scotland withdrew from the competition after 2008.

* 1979 Third-Place[5]
* 1980 Winners[5]
* 1981 Third-Place[5]
* 1982 Winners[5]
* 1983 Runners-Up[5]
* 1984 Fourth-Place[5]
* 1985 Winners[5]
* 1986 no competition
* 1987 Third-Place[5]
* 1988-2001 no competition
* 2002 Fourth-Place[5]
* 2003 Runners-Up[5]
* 2004 Runners-Up[5]
* 2005 Runners-Up[5]
* 2006 Third-Place[5]
* 2007 Third-Place[5]
* 2008 Third-Place[5]

### Tournament Managers[edit]

Year  | Manager  | Ref

|
|

1979  |  |
1980  |  |
1981  | Pat Stanton of Dunfermline Athletic | [6]
1982
1983  |  |
1984  | Peter Cormack of Partick Thistle | [7]
1985  | Terry Christie of Meadowbank Thistle | [8]
1987  | Ross Mathie | [9]

## Other matches[edit]

#  | Date  | Venue  | Att.  | Score  | Scotland goalscorers  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | 11 May 1981 | Kingsmill Park (A)  | Highland League XI  |  3–1  | Morris (48, 88),
Morton (51)  | [10][11]
2  | 19 May 1982 | East End Park (A)  | Fife FA XI  |  0–1  |  | [12]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d "SFA pulls the plug on Scots semi-pro team". The Scotsman. Johnston Publishing. 7 November 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
2. ^ a b "Six of the best of the East in Scots squad". The Scotsman. Johnston Publishing. 1 May 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
3. ^ a b Scotland Semi-Pro Internationals scottishleague.net. 25-04-2009. Retrieved 20-10-2013.
4. ^ Since 2013-14 season there are only two senior non-leagues the Highland League and Lowland League (was a merger of East of Scotland and South of Scotland Leagues.)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Garin, Erik (18 October 2012). "Four Nations Semi-professional Tournament". RSSSF. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
6. ^ "into be Scots boss for Aberdeen tournament". Evening Express. 24 April 1982. Retrieved 18 May 2022 - via British Newspaper Archive.
7. ^ "Cormack's Worries". Press and Journal. 9 June 1984. Retrieved 18 May 2022 - via British Newspaper Archive.
8. ^ "Injury worries for Scots". Press and Journal. 15 June 1985. Retrieved 18 May 2022 - via British Newspaper Archive.
9. ^ "Ray Charles in for Scots". Press and Journal. 22 May 1987. Retrieved 18 May 2022 - via British Newspaper Archive.
10. ^ "Scotland XI, B, U23, B Division Select, Edinburgh Select". SFAQs. 15 March 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
11. ^ "Select go down bravely". Press and Journal. 12 May 1981. Retrieved 18 May 2022 - via British Newspaper Archive.
12. ^ "Fife FA Centenary 1982". SFAQs. 25 September 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2021.

* v
* t
* e

Scotland national football teams

General|

* Scottish Football Association
* History
* Managers
* Captains

Venues|

* Home venues
* Hampden Park
* Attendances

Statistics|

* Records and Statistics
* Hat-tricks
* Goals record

Results|

| Men|

* 1872–1914
* 1920–39
* 1940–59
* 1960–79
* 1980–99
* 2000–19
* 2020–present
* Unofficial
* Matches v Home Nations

|

Women|

* 1972–99
* 2000–09
* 2010–19
* 2020–present

Players|

| Men|

* Roll of Honour (50+ caps)
* 10+ caps
* 4–9 caps
* 2–3 caps
* 1 cap
* Wartime
* Born outside Scotland
* SFWA award

|

Women|

* Roll of Honour (50+ caps)
* Players
* SFWA award

Goals|

| Men|

* Kenny Dalglish
* Denis Law

|

Women|

* Julie Fleeting

World Finals|

| Men|

* Summary
* 1954
* 1958
* 1974
* 1978
* 1982
* 1986
* 1990
* 1998

|

Women|

* Summary
* 2019

European Finals|

| Men|

* Summary
* 1992
* 1996
* 2020
* 2024

|

Women|

* 2017

Other tournaments|

| Men|

* British Home Championship (1884–1984)
* Rous Cup (1985–1989)
* Brazil Independence Cup (1972)
* Kirin Cup (1995, 2006)
* Reunification Cup (2002)
* Nations Cup (2011)

|

Women|

* European Competition (1979)
* Albena Cup (1992–2000)
* Cyprus Cup (2008–2017)
* Algarve Cup (2002, 2019)
* Brazil Tournament (2013)
* Pinatar Cup (2020, 2022–2023)

Culture|

* Auld Enemy
* Home Scots v Anglo-Scots (trials)
* Songs
* Tartan Army
* Unofficial World Champions

Matches|

* First men's international match (1872)
* First Ibrox disaster (1902)
* Wembley Wizards (1928)
* First women's international match (1972)
* Death of Jock Stein (1985)
* 1986 World Cup qualification playoff (1985)
* One team in Tallinn (1996)

SFA teams|

| Men|

* National team
* B
* Amateur (defunct)
* Under 21s
* Under 20s
* Under 19s
* Under 18s
* Under 17s
* Under 16s
* Semi-Pro (defunct)
* Futsal
* Cerebral palsy

|

Women|

* National team
* Under 23s
* Under 19s
* Under 17s

* v
* t
* e

Men's football in Scotland

* SFA
* PFA Scotland

Overview|

* League system
* Clubs
* Venues
* Relocations
* Champions
* Second-tier winners
* Third-tier winners
* Fourth-tier winners
* Honours won
* Managers

National teams|

* Scotland
* B
* U-21
* U-20
* U-19
* U-18
* U-17
* U-16
* Scottish League
* Semi-Pro

League system|

* SPFL
* Premiership
* Championship
* League One
* League Two
* Reserve
* Highland
* Lowland
* East of Scotland
* Midlands
* North Caledonian
* North Region
* South of Scotland
* West of Scotland

Cup competitions|

* Scottish Cup (finals)
* League Cup (finals)
* Challenge Cup
* Highland League Cup
* South Region Challenge Cup
* Youth Cup

Junior football|

* SJFA
* Junior Cup
* East Region
* North Region
* National select team

Amateur football|

* SAFA
* Amateur Cup
* Highland Amateur Cup
* Aberdeenshire
* Ayrshire
* Border
* Caithness
* Caledonian
* Central
* Fife
* Inverness & District
* Lewis & Harris
* Lothian & Edinburgh
* Midlands
* Orkney
* Perthshire
* Scottish
* Shetland
* Stirling & District
* Strathclyde
* Uist & Barra
* Representative teams:
* Orkney
* Shetland
* Western Isles

Welfare football|

* SWFA
* Forth & Endrick
* Moray
* North East
* Ross-shire
* Strathspey & Badenoch

* History
* Records
* appearances
* attendances
* clubs in Europe
* goals
* Timeline
* Hall of Fame
* Referees
* Media
* Seasons

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template