History of the SFA (Scottish Football Association)
The SFA or the Scottish Football Association is the most important organization of the football club in Scotland. This association is eventually responsible for the organization and development of the game of football in the region of Scotland. The SFA was initially established in the year 1873 and is the world’s second oldest National Football Association. The Scottish Football Association is one of the members of UEFA and FIFA. At present the SFA is handling all the responsibilities of the Scotland National Football Team.
Since the formation of the Scotland’s First National Football Club in the year 1860, the game of football experienced a quick development. However, there were matches arranged in an irregular and chaotic fashion with no official formation of the game. The rules of the football game at that time weren’t very standardized and had no initial arrangements in case of any violence during the course of the game. There were several attempts made by the Kings, Mayors, Clerics and Sheriffs. Nevertheless, the game of football kept on flourishing in Scotland. As time passed by the game of soccer became a widely accepted sport all over again. It was initially played at Universities and schools but later was been played at different venues.
As the popularity of soccer increased and was accepted world wide, the world’s first international soccer match was organized between Scotland and England on 30th November 1872. Two thousand spectators were eagerly waiting to watch the first international soccer match being played between the host Scotland and England. The Scottish team launched a new aspect to the game on that day, a team based approach of passing and utilizing. Till that day, the game of soccer was played to muscle the ball similarly like in the game of Rugby. However, the new present day style of soccer was born as the English team adapted the playing style as that of the Scottish soccer team.
Since then this sport started flourishing in all the areas of Scotland as football became the most popular spectator sport of Scotland. In the year 1886, along with the Irish Football Association and the Football Association of Wales the Scottish Football Association formed the International Football Association Board. This board was set up to control the laws and regulations of the game. In the year 1913, FIFA was the new member of the IFAB. In the year 1910, The Scottish Football Association became the member of FIFA and in 1954 it founded the UEFA.
With the formation of the Football Association in Scotland it was possible to establish tournaments, leagues and also to set up a professional National Team of Scotland. The Scottish Football Association arranges three competitions in the country such as the Scottish Cup, the Scottish Youth Cup and the Scottish Qualifying Cup. They also assign referees to officiate the leagues like the Scottish Football League and the Scottish Premier League. With the forty two different professional teams over two different leagues, it is reasonable that Scotland has some of the most dedicated Soccer fans in the world. At present, the Scottish Football Team is ranked as 13th in the world in the Mens category.
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