Scotland national under-21 football team


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. 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.
Scotland under-21s have reached the last four of the European tournament three times, while appearing in the quarter finals on three other occasions. 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. 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 and Iceland respectively.

European Championships

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided by a penalty shootout.
YearCompetitionResultGPWD*LGSGARef
1977Toulon TournamentSixth Place411267
1991Toulon TournamentThird Place321053
1992Toulon TournamentEighth Place300307
1993Toulon TournamentThird Place420232
1994Toulon TournamentSixth Place311133
1995Toulon TournamentFourth Place420247
1997Toulon TournamentNinth Place403124
2000Three Nations TournamentWinners211021
2017Toulon TournamentThird Place530287
2018Toulon TournamentFourth Place522155

Head coaches

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. Stark resigned from the position in November 2014.
TenureHead Coach/Manager
1975–1982Andy Roxburgh
1982–1986Walter Smith
1986–1993Craig Brown
1993–1998Tommy Craig
1998–2002Alex Smith
2002–2005Rainer Bonhof
2005–2006Maurice Malpas
2006–2007Archie Knox
2007–2008Maurice Malpas
2008–2014Billy Stark
2014-2015Ricky Sbragia
2015Danny Lennon
2015-2016Ricky Sbragia
2016-presentScot Gemmill

Players

Leading appearances

RankPlayerClubPeriodU-21 Caps
1Christian DaillyDundee United1990-199635
2Steven PressleyRangers, Coventry City, Dundee United1993-199627
3Paul HanlonHibernian2009-201223
=4Craig EastonDundee United1997-200122
=4Gary NaysmithHeart of Midlothian1996-199922
6Shaun MaloneyCeltic2001-200521
=7Allan CampbellMotherwell2017-20
=7Stuart ArmstrongDundee United2010-201420
=7Jamie McCunnieDundee United, Ross County, Dunfermline Athletic2001-200520
=7Jordan McGheeHeart of Midlothian2013-201720

Note: Club 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

RankPlayerClubPeriodU-21 Goals
=1Scott BoothAberdeen1990-19938
=1Jordan RhodesHuddersfield Town2011-20128
=3Jamie MurphyMotherwell2008-20106
=3Chris MaguireAberdeen2008-20106
=3Jim HamiltonDundee, Heart of Midlothian1995-19976
=3Mark BurchillCeltic1998-20016
=3Fraser HornbyEverton2018-6
=8Gerry CreaneyCeltic1990-19925
=8Christian DaillyDundee United1990-19965
=8Steven FletcherHibernian2006-20085
=8Simon LynchCeltic2002-20035
=8Shaun MaloneyCeltic2001-20055
=8Steven NaismithKilmarnock, Rangers2005-20085
=8Steven ThompsonDundee United1997-19995
=8Tony WattCeltic2012-20135

Note: Club 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. As each tournament normally takes two years to complete, players can continue to play for the under-21 team after their 22nd birthday. 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. It is now also possible to play for one country at youth level and another country at senior level. For instance, Nigel Quashie played for England under-21s and Scotland. Until the late 1980s, teams were allowed to select some over-age players in the under-21 team, similar to the present arrangement in football at the Summer Olympics.

Current squad

The following players were selected for Euro 2021 qualification matches with Croatia and Greece in March 2020.

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Scotland under-21 squad within the last year and remain eligible .

Past squads