Men’s A

The final part of 2014 was by far the busiest for Gordon Strachan’s side, with three crucial European Qualifiers as well as a friendly match against England at Celtic Park all happening within the space of a month. Overall, it proved to be a successful spell with two victories, a draw and a defeat to England that did not impact Scotland’s chances of qualification for France in 2016.



A 1-0 victory against Georgia at Ibrox  at the start of October secured Scotland’s first win in Group X, and three days  later the side travelled to Warsaw to face a Poland side who went into the match on the back of a 2-0 victory over Germany.  The hosts took the lead through Krzysztof Maczynski, but Scotland responded with goals from Shaun Maloney and Steven Naismith and nearly held on for the three points had it not been for a late equaliser from Arkadiusz Milik.



Scotland then faced two local rivals within the space of five days at Celtic Park in November, defeating the Republic of Ireland 1-0 with an outstanding Shaun Maloney goal in a European Qualifier before going down 3-1 to England. The victory of the Republic of Ireland ensured that Scotland finish 2014 on seven points, three points behind group leaders Poland and on the same points as Germany and the Republic of Ireland.



Women’s A

2014 ended disappointingly for Scotland as they failed to qualify for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. Following a fantastic performance in their group, Scotland were knocked-out in the play-offs semi-finals against the Netherlands, who went on to qualify for the finals by beating Italy to secure the final European berth.

Youth

Scotland Under-19s and Women’s Under-17s joined the Under-17s and Women’s Under-19s in the Elite Round of European Championship qualifying to ensure that all four of Scotland’s youth teams progressed out of their first qualifying rounds. Under Pauline Hammill Scotland Women’s Under-17s topped their group with a 100% record, including a brilliant goal from Lisa Cuthbert helping to defeat Sweden.



Ricky Sbragia’s Under-19s, who drew 1-1 against the Netherlands in a friendly at Falkirk, guaranteed their place in the elite round as the best third-placed side having remained unbeaten in their qualifying group against Lithuania, Finland and Norway. Robbie Muirhead’s wonder-strike in the match against Norway in that group went viral, with nearly 90,000 hits within two days.  



The Under-21s were also in action in November, drawing 1-1 away to Switzerland in Thun.

In other news…

Scotland played their first competitive futsal matches in November and December of 2014 in preparation for their UEFA Futsal EURO qualifiers against Sweden, Israel and Armenia in January 2015. Mark Potter’s side travelled south to face Manchester in their first ever matches, before hosting Middlesbrogh and Teesside in Perth for the first Scotland matches ever held on home soil.