List of Scotland national football team captains

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Kenny Miller, playing for Scotland in a friendly against Brazil in March 2011. The yellow armband signifies that Miller was team captain.

This article lists all the captains of the men’s Scotland national football team. As of 16 November 2023, Scotland have played 825 officially recognised international matches and have had 156 different team captains. George Young captained Scotland most often, with 48.[1] Four other players (Billy Bremner, Darren Fletcher, Gary McAllister and Andrew Robertson) have captained the team at least 30 times.[1]

The first captain of the Scotland team was Robert Gardner, who led the team in the first ever international match, against England on 30 November 1872. He went on to captain Scotland on just one further occasion, the second international match, on 8 March 1873, against the same opposition.

List of captains[edit]

Key
* Still active for the national team
Caps as captain Appearances made while captain
Total caps Total number of appearances made
As of Scotland v Northern Ireland, 26 March 2024
Andrew Watson (top centre) captained Scotland twice in his three appearances for the national team.
James Cowan captained Scotland just once, in April 1898. This was a common occurrence in his era, as Scotland only played three matches (in the British Home Championship) each season until 1928–29.
Scotland captain Billy Bremner (left) and Netherlands captain Johan Cruyff exchange pennants before an international match in 1971.
Roy Aitken captained Scotland 27 times, which included the 1990 FIFA World Cup campaign.
Christian Dailly captained Scotland in a match against the Hong Kong League XI on 20 May 2002.[2] Although the match is included by the Scottish Football Association in its statistical totals, it was not recognised as a full international by FIFA.[2][3]
Darren Fletcher became the youngest player to captain Scotland in over a century when he first led the team, in a friendly against Estonia in May 2004.[4]
Player Scotland career Caps as captain Total caps First captaincy Last captaincy
Robert Gardner 1872–1878 2 5 30 November 1872 8 March 1873
James J. Thomson 1872–1874 1 3 7 March 1874 7 March 1874
Joseph Taylor 1872–1876 2 6 6 March 1875 4 March 1876
Charles Campbell 1874–1886 8 13 25 March 1876 21 March 1885
Robert W. Neill 1876–1880 2 5 23 March 1878 13 March 1880
John McDougall 1877–1879 1 5 7 April 1879 7 April 1879
David Davidson 1878–1881 1 5 27 March 1880 27 March 1880
Andrew Watson 1881–1882 2 3 12 March 1881 14 March 1881
Archie Rowan 1880–1882 1 2 25 March 1882 25 March 1882
Andrew Holm 1882–1883 2 3 10 March 1883 12 March 1883
Walter Arnott 1883–1893 3 14 26 January 1884 4 April 1891
Michael Paton 1883–1886 2 5 29 March 1884 23 March 1885
John McPherson 1879–1885 1 8 14 March 1885 14 March 1885
William Semple 1886 1 1 10 April 1886 10 April 1886
John Lambie 1887–1888 1 2 19 February 1887[5] 19 February 1887
James McAulay 1882–1887 2 9 19 March 1887 21 March 1887
Bob Smellie 1887–1893 2 6 10 March 1888 13 April 1889
Donald Gow 1888 1 1 17 March 1888 17 March 1888
Duncan Stewart 1888 1 1 24 March 1888 24 March 1888
Thomas Robertson 1889–1892 3 4 9 March 1889 19 March 1892
Andrew Thomson 1889 1 2 15 April 1889 15 April 1889
George Gillespie 1880–1891 2 7 22 March 1890 28 March 1891
John McLeod 1888–1893 1 5 29 March 1890 29 March 1890
James McLaren 1888–1890 1 3 5 April 1890 5 April 1890
John Hill 1891–1892 1 2 26 March 1892 26 March 1892
William Sellar 1885–1893 1 9 2 April 1892 2 April 1892
Donald Sillars 1891–1895 2 5 18 March 1893 23 March 1895
James Kelly 1888–1896 4 8 25 March 1893 28 March 1896
Robert Marshall 1892–1894 1 2 31 March 1894 31 March 1894
Dan Doyle 1892–1898 1 8 7 April 1894 7 April 1894
Jock Drummond 1892–1903 4 14 30 March 1895 21 March 1903
Jimmy Oswald 1889–1897 1 3 6 April 1895 6 April 1895
John Gillespie 1896 1 1 21 March 1896 21 March 1896
John L. Ritchie 1897 1 1 20 March 1897 20 March 1897
William Lambie 1892–1897 1 9 3 April 1897 3 April 1897
Matthew Scott 1898 1 1 19 March 1898 19 March 1898
Bob Kelso 1885–1898 1 7 26 March 1898 26 March 1898
James Cowan 1896–1898 1 3 2 April 1898 2 April 1898
Nicol Smith 1897–1902 2 12 18 March 1899 8 April 1899
David Storrier 1899 1 3 25 March 1899 25 March 1899
Robert Hamilton 1899–1911 2 11 3 February 1900 23 February 1901
Henry Marshall 1899–1900 1 2 3 March 1900 3 March 1900
John Tait Robertson 1898–1905 5 16 7 April 1900 9 April 1904
Albert Buick 1902 1 2 1 March 1902 1 March 1902
John Campbell 1893–1903 1 12 15 March 1902 15 March 1902
Andy Aitken 1901–1911 2 14 3 May 1902 18 March 1911
Alex Raisbeck 1900–1907 4 8 9 March 1903 6 April 1907
Jimmy Sharp 1904–1909 1 5 12 March 1904 12 March 1904
Tom Jackson 1904–1907 1 6 6 March 1905 6 March 1905
Neilly Gibson 1895–1905 1 14 18 March 1905 18 March 1905
Charles Bellany Thomson 1904–1914 13 21 1 April 1905 5 April 1913
James Stark 1909 2 2 15 March 1909 3 April 1909
Jimmy Hay 1905–1914 3 11 5 March 1910 1 April 1911
Peter McWilliam 1905–1911 1 8 6 March 1911 6 March 1911
Alec McNair 1906–1920 5 15 16 March 1912 10 April 1920
Donald Colman 1911–1913 1 4 15 March 1913 15 March 1913
Peter Nellies 1913–1914 1 2 28 February 1914 28 February 1914
Jimmy Gordon 1912–1920 1 10 4 April 1914 4 April 1914
William Cringan 1920–1923 3 5 26 February 1920 14 April 1923
Kenny Campbell 1920–1922 1 8 12 February 1921 12 February 1921
Andrew Wilson 1920–1923 1 12 26 February 1921 26 February 1921
Jack Marshall[note 1] 1921–1924 2 7 9 April 1921 4 February 1922
Andy Cunningham 1920–1927 1 12 4 March 1922 4 March 1922
Jimmy Blair 1920–1924 3 8 8 April 1922 16 February 1924
Jock Hutton 1923–1928 1 10 1 March 1924 1 March 1924
Jimmy McMullan 1920–1929 6 16 12 April 1924 13 April 1929
David Morris 1923–1925 3 6 14 February 1925 4 April 1925
Tom Townsley 1925 1 1 31 October 1925 31 October 1925
Willie McStay 1921–1928 5 13 27 February 1926 2 April 1927
Tommy Muirhead 1922–1929 1 8 25 February 1928 25 February 1928
Tully Craig 1927–1930 4 8 26 May 1929 26 October 1929
David Meiklejohn 1922–1933 6 15 22 February 1930 29 November 1933
Jimmy Crapnell 1929–1932 4 9 18 May 1930 17 September 1932
Robert Gillespie 1926–1933 3 4 25 October 1930 1 April 1933
Alan Morton 1920–1932 1 31 21 February 1931 21 February 1931
Danny Blair 1928–1932 1 8 16 May 1931 16 May 1931
Jimmy McDougall 1931 1 2 20 May 1931 20 May 1931
John Johnstone 1929–1932 1 3 26 October 1932 26 October 1932
Peter McGonagle 1933–1934 1 6 16 September 1933 16 September 1933
Andrew Anderson 1933–1938 4 23 4 October 1933 7 December 1938
Alex Massie 1931–1937 2 18 14 April 1934 20 October 1934
Jimmy Simpson 1934–1937 13 14 21 November 1934 10 November 1937
George Brown 1930–1938 2 19 9 April 1938 21 May 1938
Jimmy Carabine 1938–1939 1 3 8 October 1938 8 October 1938
Jimmy Dougal 1939 1 1 15 April 1939 15 April 1939
Jock Shaw 1946–1947 6 6 23 January 1946 4 October 1947
Jimmy Stephen 1946–1947 1 2 19 October 1946 19 October 1946
Davie Shaw 1946–1948 1 9 27 November 1946 27 November 1946
Willie Woodburn 1947–1952 1 24 12 November 1947 12 November 1947
George Young 1946–1957 48 54 10 April 1948 19 May 1957
Sammy Cox 1948–1954 1 25 3 April 1954 3 April 1954
Tommy Docherty 1951–1959 8 25 5 May 1954 19 April 1958
Willie Cunningham 1954–1955 5 8 25 May 1954 2 April 1955
Gordon Smith 1946–1957 2 19 19 May 1955 29 May 1955
Tommy Younger 1955–1958 4 24 7 May 1958 11 June 1958
Bobby Evans 1948–1960 12 48 15 June 1958 8 June 1960
Dave Mackay 1957–1965 7 22 18 October 1958 20 November 1963
Eric Caldow 1957–1963 15 40 22 October 1960 6 April 1963
Denis Law 1958–1974 5 55 9 June 1963 26 April 1972
Billy McNeill 1961–1972 8 29 11 April 1964 13 October 1965
Jim Baxter 1960–1967 4 34 25 November 1964 10 May 1967
John Greig 1964–1975 15 44 7 December 1965 29 October 1975
Ian Ure[6][7][8] 1961–1967 1 12 16 May 1967 16 May 1967
Doug Fraser[7][8] 1967–1968 4 7 28 May 1967 13 June 1967
Billy Bremner 1965–1975 39 54 16 October 1968 3 September 1975
Frank McLintock 1963–1971 1 9 18 April 1970 18 April 1970
Bobby Moncur 1968–1972 7 16 11 November 1970 9 June 1971
Pat Stanton 1966–1974 3 16 14 June 1971 16 May 1973
David Hay 1970–1974 2 27 17 October 1973 27 March 1974
Sandy Jardine 1970–1979 9 38 30 October 1974 19 December 1979
Gordon McQueen 1974–1981 1 30 1 June 1975 1 June 1975
Martin Buchan 1971–1978 2 34 17 December 1975 18 June 1977
Tom Forsyth 1971–1978 1 22 7 April 1976 7 April 1976
Archie Gemmill 1971–1981 23 43 6 May 1976 25 March 1981
Kenny Dalglish 1971–1986 6 102 27 April 1977 26 March 1986
Bruce Rioch 1975–1978 10 24 28 May 1977 11 June 1978
Don Masson 1976–1978 2 17 7 September 1977 12 October 1977
Danny McGrain 1973–1982 10 62 28 May 1980 15 June 1982
Asa Hartford 1972–1982 3 50 16 May 1981 18 November 1981
Graeme Souness 1974–1986 27 54 24 May 1982 8 June 1986
Paul Hegarty 1979–1983 1 8 24 May 1983 24 May 1983
Willie Miller 1975–1989 11 65 12 June 1983 19 October 1988
Roy Aitken 1979–1991 27 57 15 October 1986 20 June 1990
Alex McLeish 1980–1993 8 77 2 December 1987 17 February 1993
Jim Leighton 1982–1998 4 91 30 May 1989 7 June 1995
Paul McStay 1983–1997 7 76 12 September 1990 12 October 1994
Maurice Malpas 1984–1992 2 55 14 November 1990 3 June 1992
Richard Gough 1983–1993 8 61 6 February 1991 28 April 1993
Gordon Strachan 1980–1992 5 50 1 May 1991 25 March 1992
Craig Levein 1990–1994 1 16 24 March 1993 24 March 1993
Gary McAllister 1990–1999 32 57 8 September 1993 31 March 1999
Ally McCoist 1986–1998 1 61 27 March 1996 27 March 1996
Colin Hendry 1993–2001 22 51 26 May 1996 28 March 2001
Tom Boyd 1990–2001 6 72 12 November 1997 25 April 2001
Paul Lambert 1995–2003 17 40 9 October 1999 10 September 2003
Kevin Gallacher 1988–2001 1 53 7 October 2000 7 October 2000
Craig Burley 1995–2003 1 46 6 October 2001 6 October 2001
Christian Dailly 1997–2008 12 66 16 May 2002 12 November 2005
Barry Ferguson 1998–2009 28 45 6 September 2003 28 March 2009
Darren Fletcher 2004–2017 34 80 27 May 2004 8 October 2017
Steven Pressley 2000–2006 1 32 30 May 2004 30 May 2004
Jackie McNamara 1996–2005 1 33 17 November 2004 17 November 2004
David Weir 1997–2010 4 68 11 May 2006 6 September 2006
Stephen McManus 2006–2010 8 26 26 March 2008 14 November 2009
Kenny Miller 2001–2013 5 67 9 February 2011 10 August 2011
Gary Caldwell 2002–2013 7 55 29 February 2012 26 March 2013
Scott Brown 2005–2017 25 55 6 February 2013 4 September 2017
James Morrison 2008–2017 1 46 7 June 2013 7 June 2013
Kieran Tierney* 2016– 1 43 9 November 2017 9 November 2017
Charlie Mulgrew 2012–2019 4 44 23 March 2018 11 June 2019
Scott McKenna* 2018– 1 33 2 June 2018 2 June 2018
Andrew Robertson* 2014– 47 69 7 September 2018 26 March 2024
Callum McGregor* 2017– 1 58 21 March 2019 21 March 2019
Steven Naismith 2007–2019 2 51 16 November 2019 19 November 2019
John McGinn* 2016– 9 64 14 October 2020 19 November 2022
Scott McTominay* 2018– 1 49 17 October 2023 17 October 2023

Statistics include official FIFA recognised matches, five matches from a 1967 overseas tour that were reclassified as full internationals in 2021,[8] and a match against a Hong Kong League XI played on 23 May 2002 that the Scottish Football Association includes in its statistical totals.[2][9]

Unofficial games[edit]

The above list considers captains selected for games officially recognised by FIFA and the Scottish Football Association. In addition to these, there have been a number of games played by Scotland teams on an unofficial basis, for example the "wartime internationals" during the Second World War. Some of the captains selected for these unofficial games are listed below.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Jack Marshall also represented the United States.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Scotland Captains by Total Games as Captain". www.londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "Hong Kong v Scotland". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  3. ^ Morrison, Neil (2 February 2005). "2002 INTERNATIONAL MATCHES". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  4. ^ Roberts, Chris (14 December 2011). "Darren Fletcher has the courage and strength to beat illness, says ex-Man Utd mate Henning Berg". Daily Record. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  5. ^ Brown, Alan; Tossani, Gabriele (4 November 2021). "Scotland - International Matches 1881-1890". RSSSF. Retrieved 25 November 2021. John Lambie was previously believed to be the youngest ever player to be capped by Scotland, making his debut aged 17 years and 92 days in this match. He was also credited with being captain of the team. New research by Andy Mitchell in 2020 has revealed that although he was selected to play he was replaced by James Kelly of Renton. The captain is not known.
  6. ^ Bell, Stephen; Zlotkowski, Andre (6 June 2008). "Scotland XI Tour of Asia and Oceania 1967". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Tour games in 1967 that the Aussies count and we don't". The Scotsman. Johnston Publishing. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  8. ^ a b c "Former Scotland players to be recognised with international caps including Sir Alex Ferguson". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Gordon Strachan". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  10. ^ "Scotland Unofficial Matches 1902-1919". RSSSF. 8 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  11. ^ Morrison, Neil (15 November 2012). "1921 TOUR OF CANADA AND USA BY "THIRD LANARK'S SCOTLAND XI"". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  12. ^ "Sat 18 Apr 1942 Scotland 5 England 4". www.londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  13. ^ "Sat 10 Oct 1942 England 0 Scotland 0". www.londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  14. ^ "Sat 17 Apr 1943 Scotland 0 England 4". www.londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  15. ^ "Sat 16 Oct 1943 England 8 Scotland 0". www.londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  16. ^ "Sat 02 Feb 1946 Northern Ireland 2 Scotland 3". www.londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  17. ^ Morrison, Neil (15 November 2012). "1949 TOUR OF CANADA AND USA BY THE SCOTTISH FA". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 September 2013.

External links[edit]

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