Scotland national under-21 football team

Scotland under-21

Association	Scottish Football Association
Head coach	Scot Gemmill[1]
Most caps	Christian Dailly (35)[2]
Top scorer	Scott Booth (8)[2] Jordan Rhodes (8)[2]
First colours Second colours
First international
Czechoslovakia 0 – 0 Scotland 12 October 1976
Biggest win
Scotland 5 – 0 Finland 6 September 1995[3]
Biggest defeat
England 6 – 0 Scotland 13 August 2013
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	6 (first in 1980)
Best result	Semi-finalists (1982, 1992, 1996)

The Scotland national under-21 football team, controlled by the Scottish Football Association, is Scotland's national under 21 football team and is considered to be a feeder team for the Scotland national football team.

As a European under-21 team, Scotland compete in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, which is usually held every other year. The team has qualified for the final stages of these Championships on six occasions, although not since 1996. There is no global tournament for under-21 national teams. Performance in the European Championship determines qualification for football at the Summer Olympics, which Scotland is unable to compete in.

History

Scotland played under-23 international matches, mainly friendlies against England and Wales, from 1955 until 1975.^[4] Scotland first entered the UEFA competition for under-23 national teams in 1975–76. Scotland reached the quarter-finals, but were eliminated on a penalty shootout by the Netherlands. An under-21 team then came into existence, replacing the under-23 team, when UEFA reduced the age limit.^[5]

Scotland under-21s have reached the last four of the European tournament three times (1982, 1992 and 1996), while appearing in the quarter finals on three other occasions (1980, 1984 and 1988). The team qualified for the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1996 Summer Olympics, but were unable to compete due to Scotland not being independently represented in the International Olympic Committee.^[6] Similar to the full national side, however, the under-21 team has not qualified for a finals tournament since the late 1990s. The under-21 team reached the playoff round for the 2004 and 2011 tournaments, but lost to Croatia^[7] and Iceland^[8] respectively.

Results summary

Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1976	Quarter Final[note 1]	6	5	0	1	13	4
1978	Did not qualify	4	2	1	1	5	4
1980	Quarter Final	7	3	3	1	14	7
1982	Semi Final	8	3	3	2	9	6
1984	Quarter Final	8	5	2	1	14	10
1986	Did not qualify	4	1	1	2	1	4
1988	Quarter Final	6	3	1	2	7	4
1990	Did not qualify	6	1	1	4	7	13
1992	Semi Final	10	6	2	2	18	10
1994	Did not qualify	8	2	2	4	8	11
1996	Fourth place	12	8	0	4	21	10
1998	Did not qualify	10	2	1	7	10	20
2000		10	4	2	4	18	12
2002		6	2	2	2	6	6
2004		8	5	1	2	11	8
2006		10	1	3	6	6	17
2007		2	0	0	2	1	4
2009		8	5	1	2	17	6
2011		10	5	2	3	18	11
2013		8	3	4	1	16	9
2015		8	3	2	3	12	15
2017		10	2	2	6	8	17

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided by a penalty shootout.

• Bronze background color indicates third or fourth-place finish (some competitions did not have a third place playoff match).

Head coaches

Billy Stark, head coach of the team from 2008 to 2014.

Archie Knox left his post as Scotland's National Youth Teams Coach on 30 August 2007 to take up a full-time with Bolton Wanderers as coaching co-ordinator, Maurice Malpas took temporary charge. In January 2008 the SFA appointed a new full-time coach in Billy Stark, who left his job as manager of Second Division side Queen's Park to take the position.^[9] Stark resigned from the position in November 2014.^[10]

Tenure	Head Coach/Manager
1975–1986	Andy Roxburgh
1986–1993	Craig Brown
1993–1998	Tommy Craig[11]
1998–2002	Alex Smith[11][12]
2002–2005	Rainer Bonhof[12][13]
2005–2006	Maurice Malpas (caretaker)[14]
2006–2007	Archie Knox[15]
2007–2008	Maurice Malpas (caretaker)[16]
2008–2014	Billy Stark[9][10]
2014–2015	Ricky Sbragia (caretaker)[10]
2015	Danny Lennon (caretaker)[17]
2015–2016	Ricky Sbragia[18]
2016–present	Scot Gemmill[1]

Players

Leading appearances

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Period	U-21 Caps
1	Christian Dailly	Dundee United	1990–1996	35
2	Steven Pressley	Rangers, Coventry City, Dundee United	1993–1996	27
3	Paul Hanlon	Hibernian	2009–2012	23
=4	Craig Easton	Dundee United	1997–2001	22
=4	Gary Naysmith	Heart of Midlothian	1996–1999	22
6	Shaun Maloney	Celtic	2001–2005	21
=7	Stuart Armstrong	Dundee United	2010–2014	20
=7	Jamie McCunnie	Dundee United, Ross County, Dunfermline Athletic	2001–2005	20
=9	Stevie Crawford	Raith Rovers	1994–1996	19
=9	Ryan Jack	Aberdeen	2011–2014	19
=9	Mark Wilson	Dundee United, Celtic	2004–2006	19

Note: Club(s) represents the permanent clubs during the player's time in the Under-21 team. Those players in bold are still eligible to play for the team at the moment.

Leading goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Period	U-21 Goals
=1	Scott Booth	Aberdeen	1990–1993	8
=1	Jordan Rhodes	Huddersfield Town	2011–2012	8
=3	Jamie Murphy	Motherwell	2008–2010	6
=3	Chris Maguire	Aberdeen	2008–2010	6
=3	Jim Hamilton	Dundee, Heart of Midlothian	1995–1997	6
=3	Mark Burchill	Celtic	1998–2001	6
=7	Gerry Creaney	Celtic	1990–1992	5
=7	Christian Dailly	Dundee United	1990–1996	5
=7	Steven Fletcher	Hibernian	2006–2008	5
=7	Simon Lynch	Celtic	2002–2003	5
=7	Shaun Maloney	Celtic	2001–2005	5
=7	Steven Naismith	Kilmarnock, Rangers	2005–2008	5
=7	Steven Thompson	Dundee United	1997–1999	5
=7	Tony Watt	Celtic	2012–2013	5

Note: Club(s) represents the permanent clubs during the player's time in the Under-21s. Those players in bold are still eligible to play for the team at the moment.

Eligibility

The team is for players born in the year 21 years before the starting year of each tournament.^[19] As each tournament normally takes two years to complete, players can continue to play for the under-21 team after their 22nd birthday.^[19] For example, Theo Walcott (born March 1989) was eligible to play for England under-21s in the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.^[19] As long as they are eligible, players can play at any level, making it possible to play for the under-21s, senior side and then return to the under-21 side.^[19] It is now also possible to play for one country at youth level and another country at senior level (providing the player is eligible).^[5] For instance, Nigel Quashie played for England under-21s and Scotland.^[5] Until the late 1980s, teams were allowed to select some over-age players in the under-21 team,^[20][21][22] similar to the present arrangement in football at the Summer Olympics.^[23]

Current squad

The following players were selected to play Slovakia in November 2016.^[24]

As of 3 October 2016

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	GK	Ross Doohan		0	0	Celtic
	GK	Ryan Fulton	23 May 1996	1	0	Chesterfield (on loan from Liverpool)
	GK	Robbie Mutch		0	0	Arbroath (on loan from Aberdeen)
	DF	Kyle Cameron	15 January 1997	1	0	Newport County (on loan from Newcastle United)
	DF	Alex Iacovitti	2 September 1997	1	0	Mansfield Town (on loan from Nottingham Forest)
	DF	Zak Jules	17 February 1997	1	0	Reading
	DF	Calum MacDonald		0	0	Derby County
	DF	Jake Sheppard	30 May 1997	0	0	Reading
	DF	Liam Smith	10 April 1996	1	0	Heart of Midlothian
	DF	John Souttar	25 September 1996	6	0	Heart of Midlothian
	MF	Chris Cadden	19 September 1996	1	0	Motherwell
	MF	Greg Docherty	10 September 1996	1	0	Hamilton Academical
	MF	Alan Forrest	9 September 1996	0	0	Ayr United
	MF	Liam Henderson	25 April 1996	6	0	Celtic
	MF	James Jones	13 February 1996	1	0	Crewe Alexandra
	MF	Aidan Nesbitt	5 February 1997	1	0	Greenock Morton (on loan from Celtic)
	MF	Ruben Sammut	26 September 1997	1	0	Chelsea
	FW	Eamonn Brophy	10 March 1996	0	0	Hamilton Academical
	FW	Ryan Hardie	17 March 1997	1	0	St Mirren (on loan from Rangers)
	FW	Jai Quitongo	14 September 1997	0	0	Greenock Morton

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Scotland under-21 squad and remain eligible (current clubs shown).

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Mark Hurst	21 October 1995	0	0	St Johnstone	Iceland, 5 October 2016
GK	Liam Kelly	23 January 1996	2	0	Livingston (on loan from Rangers)	Ukraine, 6 September 2016
DF	Jordan McGhee	24 July 1996	20	0	Middlesbrough (on loan from Heart of Midlothian)	Iceland, 5 October 2016
MF	Liam Burt	1 February 1999	1	0	Rangers	Iceland, 5 October 2016
MF	Craig Storie	13 January 1996	1	0	Aberdeen	Iceland, 5 October 2016
MF	Stephen Mallan	25 March 1996	0	0	St. Mirren	Ukraine, 13 November 2015
FW	Oliver McBurnie	4 June 1996	6	1	Swansea City	Iceland, 5 October 2016
FW	Craig Wighton	27 July 1997	1	0	Dundee	Iceland, 5 October 2016
FW	Harry Cardwell	28 October 1996	1	0	Reading	Switzerland, 18 November 2014

Past squads

• 1996 European Championship squad

Notes

1. Under-23 competition.

References

1. "Scotland U21: Coach Ricky Sbragia makes way for Scot Gemmill". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
2. "Alltime Player Records". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
3. "Alltime Club Records". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
4. "Results List". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
5. Abrahall, Csaba (January 2007). "Age of ascent". When Saturday Comes. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
6. Gibbons, Glenn (5 February 2009). "Craig Brown battles to preserve Scottish football rights by opposing Team GB". The Scotsman. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
7. "Bonhof hails defeated Scots". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 November 2003. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
8. "Coach Billy Stark proud of Scotland U21s development". BBC Sport. BBC. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
9. "Billy Stark". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
10. "Scotland: Billy Stark 'steps down' as under-21 coach". BBC Sport. BBC. 4 November 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
11. "Football: Smith protects his youngsters". The Independent. 14 October 1998. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
12. "Bonhof for Scotland job". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 July 2002. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
13. "Bonhof chose to leave Scots U-21s". BBC Sport. BBC. 26 November 2005. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
14. "Malpas is the new Motherwell boss". BBC Sport. BBC. 17 May 2006. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
15. "Knox lands Scotland under-21 role". BBC Sport. BBC. 3 July 2006. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
16. "Malpas considering career change". BBC Sport. BBC. 3 January 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
17. "Danny Lennon in temporary charge of Scotland under-21s". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
18. "Ricky Sbragia is new Scotland Under-21 head coach". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
19. Samuel, Martin (28 March 2011). "England must take on clubs and ensure young Lions are in it to win it". Daily Mail. Associated Newspapers. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
20. Paul, Ian (20 January 1984). "Scotland to warm up against France". The Herald. Herald & Times Group. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
21. Reynolds, Jim (6 February 1980). "Archibald is only over-age player in Stein's squad". The Herald. Herald & Times Group. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
22. Traynor, Jim (7 March 1989). "Young ones take on French mantle". The Herald. Herald & Times Group. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
23. "UEFA defends decision to keep over-age stars out of Olympics". The Argus Press. 3 February 1996. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
24. "Scotland Under-21s: Morton winger Jai Quitongo given first call-up". BBC Sport. BBC. 31 October 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.

External links

• SFA (under 21s)
• Uefa Under-21 website Contains full results archive
• Complete U21 results at FitbaStats