History and Importance Scotland's national game is football (AKA soccer). Football was first played in England centuries ago but was quickly taken up by Scots. The matches against England played and integeral part in maintaining Scotland's national identity. The importance of football in the lives of Scotsmen is indicated by the number who turn to the sportspages of newspapers before they have even read the headlines on the front pages. Different accounts of the 16th century refer to some of the first games of football between Scotland and England. One source refers to "games between wardens from both sides of the border"... where "an English observer commented favourably on the superior skills of the Scots"!. In 1599 an England v Scotland football match took place in Cumbria. The final score is unknown and there was no governing body in charge of football so the rules would have been virtually non-existent. The violent nature of the match resulted in a number of Englishmen being taken prisoner and one man was disembowelled.

Footballing Rivalry with England In 1872 Scotland drew 0-0 against England in a match at the West of Scotland Cricket Ground in Glasgow. This is the first recorded Official international football fixture. Football took off in Scotland when the Scottish Football Association (SFA) was formed in 1873. There may have been political Union with England since 1707 but the SFA maintained a separate identity from the Football Association in England. Football was the workingclass game - played and watched by thousands from a workingclass background. Supporters of Scotland's National team are fiercly patriotic and the annual matches against England in particular attracted large crowds. When Hampden Park was opened in 1903 it was the biggest stadium in the world and when it hosted its first clash between Scotland and the "auld enemy" the National football stadium was packed with 102,000 spectators. Hampden Park began to create more records as it grew with the addition of more terracing and a North Stand. The attendance of the Scotland game versus England in April 1937 was officially recorded as 149,415. It is believed that as many as ten thousand more may have seen the game. It has to be remembered that Scotland's population was under 5 million people so the attendence at these matches at these games show the popularity of football within the country.

	LEFT: Scotland's patriotic football fans - the "Tartan Army", including SNP Leader Alex Salmond (wearing the tartan top hat), at the France '98 World Cup.

Scotland's Identity Maintained on the World Stage Up until this stage, most of Scotland's games were in the Home Nations Championship a tournament between Scotland, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. In the next few decades the capacity of Hampden Park was reduced for safety reasons. The Scottish National team did relatively well in qualifying for 5 successive World Cup tournaments between 1970 and 1990. Scotland also qualified of the European Championships of 1992 and 1996. Scotland returned to the World stage when they played Brazil in the opening game to begin World Cup '98 in France. After years decay, millions of pounds were spent on the redevelopment Hampden Park which was reopened in May 1999. It holds just over 50,000 people and its main stand contains the offices of the Scottish Football Association, Scottish Football League and Scottish Premier League. Hampden Park has been chosen by UEFA to host the 2002 European Cup Final.