Scotland national football team manager
Craig Brown held the position for the longest to date; a tenure of 9 years, comprising two major tournaments and a total of 71 matches.
Beattie (1954), Dawson Walker (1958), Willie Ormond (1974), Ally MacLeod (1978), Stein (1982), Alex Ferguson (1986), Andy Roxburgh (1990 and 1992), Brown (1996 and 1998) and Steve Clarke (2020) have all managed the team at major competitions.
German coach Berti Vogts became the first foreign manager of the team in 2002, but his time in charge was generally seen as a failure and the FIFA World Ranking declined to an all-time low of 88 in March 2005.
Walter Smith and Alex McLeish achieved better results, with the ranking improving to an all-time high of 13 in October 2007, but both were only briefly in charge before returning to club management.
Among other activities, this includes selecting the national team squad, the starting lineup, captain, tactics, substitutes and penalty-takers.
[4][5] In the period before a manager was appointed, the team was picked by the international selection committee of the Scottish Football Association (SFA).
The exception is Dawson Walker, who was placed in interim charge of the team while Matt Busby was recovering from injuries suffered in the Munich air disaster.
Berti Vogts, the only foreign manager to hold the post, earned 96 caps for West Germany and was part of their 1974 World Cup winning side.
[20] Stein was criticised by the Scottish press after the team conceded two late goals and lost 2–1 at home to Poland,[21] but they managed to beat Italy 1–0 at Hampden Park to raise some hope of qualification.
[22] Scotland suffered from several players withdrawing from the return match against Italy due to injury and a 3–0 defeat meant that they failed to qualify.
Brown was the first Scotland manager to be given full control of the team, as until then the SFA selection committee had continued to choose the players.
[25] Scotland achieved one of their most famous victories in his first game in charge, a 3–2 win against 1966 World Cup winners England at Wembley.
[30] Ormond suffered from player indiscipline during his tenure, which included an infamous incident where Jimmy Johnstone, after a night out drinking, sat in a rowing boat that was drifting out to sea.
[32] The supporters shared in this enthusiasm, as Hampden Park was packed for a farewell parade before the team flew to the tournament, hosted by Argentina.
[34] MacLeod made a number of contested selection decisions, preferring the out of form Don Masson and Bruce Rioch to Graeme Souness.
[36] Scotland qualified for the 1982 World Cup in Spain, but exited on goal difference after they drew 2–2 with the Soviet Union in a must-win game.
This left Scotland needing to secure at least a point from their final group match, against Wales in Cardiff, to qualify for a play-off against Australia.
[38] Stein was not helped by the fact that a number of his senior players, including Graeme Souness (his captain), Kenny Dalglish, Alan Hansen and Steve Archibald would all miss the game through injury or suspension.
[41] Scotland drew 1–1 thanks to a late penalty kick by Davie Cooper, but Stein suffered a fatal heart attack.
[40] Assistant manager Alex Ferguson took temporary charge of the team[42] until the 1986 World Cup, from which Scotland were eliminated in the group stage.
[51] Despite limited resources, Brown managed to lead Scotland to qualification for two major tournaments, UEFA Euro 1996 and the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
[52] During 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification, Brown continued to rely on a group of ageing players, including Colin Hendry and Tom Boyd.
[54] A number of players retired from international football after Craig Brown resigned, which meant that Vogts had to build a new squad.
[55] Scotland reached the UEFA Euro 2004 qualification play-offs and won the first leg at home against the Netherlands, but were then beaten 6–0 in the return match.
[55] By the time Walter Smith had been appointed manager, Scotland had dropped to a record low position in the FIFA World Rankings.
Levein was heavily criticised by the media for his decision to play without any strikers in a Euro 2012 qualifier against the Czech Republic, which Scotland lost 1–0.
[70] Strachan was credited with improving the fortunes of the team in his first year in charge, as Scotland achieved victories against Croatia (twice), Macedonia and Norway.
[70] In UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, Scotland appeared to have a better chance of qualification as the finals tournament was expanded from 16 teams to 24, but were drawn in a tough group with Germany, Poland and Republic of Ireland.
[72] Improved results in the later part of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification gave Scotland a chance of play-off place, but a 2–2 draw at Slovenia ended those hopes.
[83] The following table provides a summary of the complete record of each Scotland manager, including their progress in both the World Cup and the European Championship.
