2019 was another busy year for the Scottish FA, with a plethora of milestone events for Scottish football. Below are some of the highlights of the year on social media.

January

In January, we shared the second part of our 'Football Saved My Life' series. Following in the footsteps of Paul McNeill’s inspirational tale in the inaugural video, Scottish para-footballer Rebecca Sellar told how amputee football had saved her life.

January also saw the launch of a set of video resources for players and coaches, designed to help individuals on their personal development journey. You can view the full set of resources here.

February

The Scottish FA's podcast slate expanded in February, with the addition of 'The Scottish Football Coaching Podcast'. These podcast episodes are designed to take you round the country when it comes to coaching in Scotland as well as keeping up to date with what is happening from the Scottish FA in regards to grassroots and coach development. You can listen to every episode of the Scottish Football Coaching Podcast here.

The small-sided game season got under way in February – and with it, a new campaign to encourage grassroots leaders and coaches to help players in the first steps of their footballing journey with a simple message: #LetThemPlay. 

2019 was a big year for women's football around the world, but especially in Scotland, as the National Team prepared for their first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup. Building towards this milestone, we heard from match official Vikki Allan, who spoke about her passion for refereeing. You can find out more about becoming a referee here.

February also saw a significant boost for the next generation of Scotland's female coaches, with the news that the Scottish FA was the beneficiaries of a flagship UEFA initiative: the UEFA Coach Development Project for Women. This provided a bespoke UEFA B Licence and C Licence course delivered exclusively for female coaches.

March

March saw the countdown begin to the UEFA Women's Under-19s European Championship Finals, which were to be hosted in Scotland for the first time ever, as the tournament was launched in Paisley.

As part of Scotland’s status as tournament host, a number of legacy projects were implemented; this included the ’20 Under 20’ programme, which aims to provide support and guidance to the next generation of Scotland’s female coaches.

April

It was an all-Glasgow final for the 2019 Scottish FA Youth Cup, as Celtic and Rangers went head-to-head at Hampden – and what a final it was.

Preparations for the UEFA Women's Under-19s European Championships stepped up a gear, as the qualifying teams' head coaches were welcomed to Scotland for the Finals draw.

May

Following on from Rebecca Sellar's video, Isla Buchanan shared her inspirational story in the third of the 'Football Saved My Life' series.

June

As the window for ticket applications opened in early June, interest in UEFA EURO 2020 was high with over 4.5 million tickets being requested by the end of the month. June also marked the ‘one year to go’ landmark in the build-up to the tournament.

The clock continued to tick down to the UEFA Women's Under-19s European Championships kicking off, as the official track for the tournament was revealed: Be Charlotte's 'Dreamers'.

An historic event in Scottish football took place as negotiations concluded for the Scottish FA to purchase Hampden Park.

June saw the chance to get a fascinating inside the Scottish FA JD Performance Schools, with this behind the scenes look.

July

The UEFA Women's Under-19s European Championships finally arrived in July as Scotland took to the European stage to demonstrate our hospitality as tournament hosts. An action-packed competition saw France emerge as 2-1 victors over Germany in the final in Paisley.

AUGUST

In August, the Scottish FA were honoured to play our part in the launch of the world's first Para-Football Affiliated National Association: Para-Football Scotland.

The Scottish FA JD Performance Schools also saw the latest intake of pupils, as they were inducted in a ceremony held at Hampden Park.

September

One of the highlights of September was UEFA's annual grassroots week, highlighting the footballing activities that go on week-in-week-out across Europe and celebrating the people that ensure football takes place. Take a look at some of the highlights as the Scottish FA celebrated UEFA Grassroots Week:

A standout night in the year is always the annual Scottish FA Grassroots Awards, presented by McDonald's and the Sunday Mail. Take a look at the highlights of a truly inspiring night:

In September, we were proud to host the 'More Than a Game – Football Including Refugees In Europe' conference at Hampden Park. One project that the Scottish FA work on alongside UEFA, the Jimmy Johnstone Academy, Freedom From Torture and Community InfoSource was highlighted as part of the conference.

September also saw us welcome the UEFA goalkeeping study group scheme to Oriam, as coaches from seven nations took a look at our goalkeeper coach course.

October

October saw the exciting announcement that BT had signed a multi-year partnership to become the exclusive Lead Partner of all of the Men, Women's, Youth and Para-Football international Scotland teams.

An important new agreement also began in October. Free sanitary products to tackle period dignity for fans became available in Hampden Park, as a result of a trial between the Scottish FA and social enterprise company Hey Girls. Find out more here.

NOVEMBER

November saw our fourth 'Football Saved My Life' video released, featuring Walking Football devotee Gary McLaughlin. For Gary, Walking Football quite literally saved his life.

The draw for UEFA EURO 2020 also took place in November, as we found out who we will be welcoming to Hampden Park, as one of the venues and Glasgow as one of the host cities. Should Scotland qualify through our play-off we would face Croatia and the Czech Republic at Hampden.

DECEMBER

Early December saw an elite Coach Education Continued Professional Development course take place at Oriam, with the 'Midfield Masterclass'. Guest presenters at this event included Michael Beale, Scott Brown, Darren Fletcher, Scot Gemmill and Paul Scholes.

2020

As 2019 winds to a close, 2020 looks set to be just as action-packed. If you are thinking about New Year’s resolutions already, then below is information on different ways to get involved in football.

Find out about getting involved in coaching.

Find out about getting involved in playing. 

Find out about getting involved in refereeing.