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The England and Scotland football rivalry is a long-standing and highly-competitive sports rivalry that exists between the national teams of the two countries, and their respective sets of fans. The close proximity of the neighbouring countries and their joint status as members of the United Kingdom has led to much rivalry between the nations in many forms, and the social and cultural effects of centuries of antagonism and conflict between the two has contributed to the intense nature of the sporting contests. Scottish nationalism has also been a factor in the Scots' desire to defeat England above all other rivals, with the Scots referring to the English as the "Auld Enemy".

The game is the oldest international match in football, and the rivalry is one of the oldest in any sport, the first match between the two having been played in 1872. From 1883 until 1984 matches were regularly held as part of the annual British Home Championship; after this was discontinued the games carried on for the rest of the 1980s under the Rous Cup banner, but growing concerns about crowd trouble at the fixture led to it ending as a regular contest in 1989. Since then, the two teams have met on only three occasions; in a first round match at the finals of the 1996 European Championship, and in a two-legged qualifying play-off in 1999, for the right to compete at the 2000 European Championship. The high profile and great public interest generated by these later fixtures has at times led to calls for the British Home Championship, or alternatively just the England–Scotland game, to be resurrected as a regular event, but no developments have come of this.

The BBC website has commented that the games "have represented all that is good and all that is bad about football since the fixture began," while The Guardian newspaper once reported that "for millions across both sides of the border the encounter represents a chance for the ultimate victory over the enemy." As of September 2007, the teams have played 110 matches; England have won 45, Scotland 41, and there have been 24 draws.

Background and early years
The rules of association football had been formalised and set down by The Football Association in England in 1863. By the early 1870s, there had been discussions for some time about initiating an England versus Scotland game in the sport, and the pattern had been set by the first rugby union fixture between teams from the two countries, which had been played in early 1871. An unofficial football match between representative teams from England and London-based Scottish players had been played on March 5 1870 at the The Oval cricket ground in London; the 1–1 draw was the first of a series of five games between the teams played there over two days, with three wins for England and two draws.

The popularity of these unofficial matches led to the Scots suggesting the playing of an official game, to help increase the popularity of the sport in Scotland. This first official match was held on November 30 1872, on Scotland's national saint's day, St Andrew's Day, and took place at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club. The Scotland team was made up entirely of players from Queen's Park, the most successful Scottish club of the period. The game ended a 0–0 draw, watched by a crowd of 4000 who had payed a shilling each for admission.

The first goal between the two sides was scored by England's Alexander Bosnor in the next game at The Oval, the first official match between the two in England, which the English won 4–2 on March 8 1873. Following this, the game became an annual event, being held in England or Scotland in alternate years. Scotland took their first win in the fixture in the 1874 game, again played at Hamilton Crescent, where they defeated England 2–1. Later in the 1870s Scotland won the fixture three times in a row, including a 7–2 victory in the 1878 game.

Heavy Scottish defeats
1955, 1961, etc.

"Unofficial World Champions"
1967 and all that.

The 1970s
The start of the crowd trouble; Dalglish through the legs; Wembley crossbar, etc.

End of the Home Internationals
Called off in 1981, ended in 1984.

The Rous Cup
Details, crowd trouble, increased fixture list, etc.

Euro 96
In December 1995, despite media rumours that UEFA would deliberately keep the two apart in the draw, England and Scotland were both drawn in the same group for the forthcoming European Championships, to be hosted by England in the summer of 1996. This draw excited much comment and anticipation in the build-up to the championships, especially as it would be the first meeting between the two sides for seven years, and tickets for the game sold out within two days of the draw being made. The match assumed even greater significance for both teams when both England and Scotland drew their opening fixtures, against Switzerland and the Netherlands respectively, meaning both were even more in need of a win to further their chances of progressing in the tournament.

The match was played at Wembley Stadium on Saturday June 15 1996, and the first half was closely-fought, ending 0–0, although Scotland had the better of the chances. The introduction of Jamie Redknapp into the England team as a substitute for the second half helped to turn the match in England's favour, and they took the lead through a headed goal by Alan Shearer. Scotland were awarded a penalty kick in the 76th minute after a foul by Tony Adams on Gordon Durie, but Gary McAllister's kick was saved by the England goalkeeper David Seaman. Shortly afterwards, Paul Gascoigne, who played in Scotland for the Glasgow club Rangers, scored a second goal for England, after chipping the ball over Scottish defender Colin Hendry. In 2006, the year before he became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Scotsman Gordon Brown drew criticism in Scotland when he stated that Gascoigne's goal was one of his favourite moments in football.

Scotland eventually went out of the championships on goal difference, but would have proceeded beyond the first round of a tournament for the first time in their history had England not conceded a late goal in their 4–1 defeat of the Netherlands in their next game. It has been joked that England fans were happy their team had conceded the goal as it meant that the Scots were eliminated from the competition.

Euro 2000 qualifying
The England–Scotland game had encouraged some to call for the resumption of regular matches between the two, but this did not eventually happen. The teams did not meet again until three years later, in 1999, when they were again drawn together in the European Championships; this time in a qualifying play-off for the 2000 tournament, after both teams had finished as runners-up in their respective qualifying groups.

The tie took place over two legs, the first in Scotland at Hampden Park on Saturday November 13 1999, with the return leg at Wembley four days later. This was the first time the match had taken place in Scotland for ten years, but England won the first game 2–0, with two goals from Paul Scholes. There was crowd trouble following the game, and 51 people were arrested in the centre Glasgow after battles between fans. Scotland had the better of the second match, winning 1–0 with a goal from Don Hutchison and coming close to a second goal, but England narrowly progressed to the finals of the tournament, winning 2–1 on aggregate.

This was the final occasion upon which the two have played, and there have been no matches so far in the 21st century. There was some speculation that Scotland would be invited to be the first opponents when Wembley Stadium was re-opened following its rebuilding in 2007, but this did not eventually happen, and further suggestions that the fixture might be made regular again have similarly passed without action.