Scottish Football League XI
For a long period the annual fixture between the English and Scottish leagues was only second in importance to the matches between the two national teams.
The fixture declined in importance after regular European club competition was instituted in the 1950s; matches in the 1960s and 1970s were played irregularly and poorly attended.
[1] An Anglo-Scottish league match was first played in April 1892 at Pike's Lane,[note 1] Bolton and ended in a 2–2 draw.
[1][2] The first Football League team contained Scottish players (Harry Gardiner, Donald Gow, Willie Groves and Tom McInnes).
[10] The league itself continued during the conflict, unlike others in the UK, and three end-of-season fundraising friendly matches were played between the select team and Celtic, the Scottish champions in each of the seasons.
[11][12][13] At the end of the war, the Scottish Football League was badly affected by the decline of heavy industry in the country, which meant that only the Old Firm clubs and Motherwell were able to retain a high standard of player.
[10] To improve the standard of the Scottish League team, two notable English-born players were selected, Bob Ferrier of Motherwell and J.
[3] Even in the early years of the fixture, steps were taken to improve attendance, such as moving it around Scotland and picking local players.
[17] Only one inter-league match (a fundraiser for the Royal Air Force) was played during the Second World War, a 3–2 defeat against the Football League at Blackpool in October 1941.
[19] The first match, a 3–1 defeat to a Football League XI inspired by Stanley Matthews and Wilf Mannion, attracted 84,000 to Hampden Park on a snowy day in March 1947.
[20] The Scottish League picked only a few players of genuine international quality and lost 3–0, with Ivor Allchurch scoring twice for the Welsh side.
[20] The Scottish League XI played opposition from outside the British Isles for the first time in 1955, when a Danish Combination was beaten 4–0 in Copenhagen.
[23] Fixture congestion, caused by increased domestic and European commitments, meant that it was very difficult to arrange dates when strong teams could be assembled.
[23][30] Any remaining credibility of the inter-league matches was finally destroyed by a 5–0 defeat against the Football League at Maine Road in 1974.
[36] The Scottish League select won 1–0, with the only goal scored from a penalty kick by Dutch player Hans Gillhaus.
[50][51] Until the fixture declined in importance in the late 1960s, matches against the Football League would regularly attract crowds in excess of 40,000, peaking at 90,000 in 1949.
