Scotland
1947-1980
Scotland rejoined FIFA in 1946 along with the other Home Nations. During the post-war period the Scottish FA declined to take part in the 1950 World Cup Finals (even though they qualified) and the team were humiliated in the 1954 competition, played in Switzerland. For the Scottish FA and perhaps their supporters, beating England continued to be more important than participation in this or any other tournament. The British Championship was used as the qualifying competition for the World Cup throughout the 1950s, limiting opportunities to gain experience against the leading European and South American teams who were now rapidly overtaking the Scottish and England teams in every aspect of the modern game.
Sources:
- Glen Isherwood
- Toffs
- empics
- William Mackie
- Alan McCabe
1947-1953
1946-1950
1947-1951 Change
1950-1953
Designer:
When international football resumed in the Autumn of 1946 with the British Championship, Scotland wore their traditional navy shirts but introduced navy stockings with red turnovers - an iconic outfit that would remain largely unchanged until 1973. Lord Rosebery's colours made their final appearance in 1951 when Scotland beat France 1-0 at Hampden Park.
The British Championship became the qualifying tournament for the 1950 World Cup with both the champions and runners-up qualifying. The Chief Executive of the SFA, George Graham, declared that the Scottish team would only take part if Scotland were outright champions: when Scotland finished behind England, Scotland withdrew despite the protests of the Scottish players and the England captain.
1953-1960
1953-1955
1955 Change
Corroboration needed
1954 29 May v Hungary
1954 16 June v Austria (WC)
1956-1960
1957 19 May v Switzerland
1958 Change (WC)
Designer: Umbro
A new crest was introduced around 1953 to replace the old version.
Once again the British Championship acted as a qualifiying competition for the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland but this time, the Scottish FA accepted qualification as runners-up. This was, however, the limit of the SFA's commitment to the tournament. A playing squad of 13 (out of a maximum of 22) was vastly outnumbered by SFA officials and their wives. After a 0-1 defeat by Austria, Scotland's manager, Andy Beattie, resigned hours before his team faced reigning champions, Uruguay, who thrashed the Scottish team, 7-0.
The only time that a change kit would have been needed between 1953 and 1955 was when Scotland met Yugoslavia in Belgrade on 15 May but it has not been possible to corroborate this. White sleeves were worn in the friendly at Hampden against Hungary, presumably for the benefit of newsreel audiences, Hungary's dark red shirts otherwise being indistinguishable from Scotland's navy on black and white film.
When Scotland travelled to Berne in 1957 for a World Cup Qualifier against Switzerland, the team had to borrow a set of orange shorts so that viewers watching the game live on the rather primitive TVs of the time could tell the teams apart.
Scotland also qualified for the 1958 World Cup finals in Sweden, where they were eliminated in the group stage. They wore a change strip twice in this tournament against Yugoslavia and France.
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Scotland rejoined FIFA in 1946 along with the other Home Nations. During the post-war period the Scottish FA declined to take part in the 1950 World Cup Finals (even though they qualified) and the team were humiliated in the 1954 competition, played in Switzerland. For the Scottish FA and perhaps their supporters, beating England continued to be more important than participation in this or any other tournament. The British Championship was used as the qualifying competition for the World Cup throughout the 1950s, limiting opportunities to gain experience against the leading European and South American teams who were now rapidly overtaking the Scottish and England teams in every aspect of the modern game.