Brian McGinlay (born 24 August 1945) is a retired football referee from Scotland, who officiated in 98 European club competition and international matches.
At the domestic level McGinlay has refereed 21 Old Firm derbies, during which he never sent off a player, but he considers his most nerve-racking match to be the Rangers–Aberdeen title decider match at the climax of the 1990–91 season. In European club football he judged his most exciting match to be the Real Madrid–Borussia Mönchengladbach third-round second-leg UEFA Cup match. In international football he has taken charge of matches at the 1980 European Championships, [1] the Home Championship [2] and the 1984 Summer Olympics. [3] He was placed on the referees' list for the 1986 World Cup [4] but was later removed after being struck off the SFA list [5] for personal reasons. [6]
In 1991 McGinlay was banned from driving for a year and fined £250 for failing to provide a sample when stopped on his way home from the Scottish Cup Final. [7]
Since retirement as a referee McGinlay has been a director of Stenhousemuir Football Club, an after-dinner speaker, [8] and a columnist for the Daily Mirror , [9] the Daily Record [10] and the Sunday Mail .
Hampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football team. Hampden Park is owned by the Scottish Football Association (SFA), and regularly hosts the latter stages of the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup. The largest stadium by capacity when opened in 1903, an accolade the stadium held until 1950, Hampden Park is the 50th largest football stadium in Europe, the 11th largest in the United Kingdom, and the second largest football stadium in Scotland. The stadium retains all attendance records recorded in European football.
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. They compete in three major professional tournaments: the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Nations League, and the UEFA European Championship. Scotland, as a country of the United Kingdom, are not a member of the International Olympic Committee, and therefore the national team does not compete in the Olympic Games. The majority of Scotland's home matches are played at the national stadium, Hampden Park.
Craig William Levein is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone.
John McGinlay is a Scottish football manager, scout, and former professional player who is the club ambassador of Bolton Wanderers.
William "Sandy" Pullar Jardine was a Scottish professional footballer who played for Rangers, Hearts and represented Scotland. He played over 1000 professional games and twice won the Scottish Football Writers Association Player of the Year award. He won several honours with Rangers, including two domestic trebles in 1976 and 1978, and was part of the Rangers team that won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1972. He won 38 caps for Scotland and played in the 1974 and 1978 World Cups. Jardine was also co-manager of Hearts with Alex MacDonald and later worked for Rangers.
Douglas McDonald is a former FIFA International soccer referee and Scottish Category 1 referee.
Julie Stewart MBE is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward. She spent nine years at English club Arsenal and was the first Scot to play as a full-time professional in the WUSA playing for San Diego Spirit. She won the Scottish Women's League title with Ayr and seventeen major trophies with Arsenal.
Hugh Dallas MBE is a Scottish former football referee. He officiated at two FIFA World Cup tournaments, in 1998 and 2002; he was appointed fourth official for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final. Dallas also officiated at the 1996 Olympic Games, the 1999 UEFA Cup Final and several UEFA Champions League matches.
The Scotland women's national football team represents Scotland in international women's football competitions. Since 1998, the team has been governed by the Scottish Football Association (SFA). Scotland qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time in 2019, and for their first UEFA Women's Championship in 2017. As of June 2023, the team was placed 23rd in the FIFA Women's World Rankings. Although most national football teams represent a sovereign state, as a member of the United Kingdom's Home Nations, Scotland is permitted by FIFA statutes to maintain its own national side that competes in all major tournaments, with the exception of the Women's Olympic Football Tournament.
Craig Alexander Thomson is a Scottish former football referee, who was a match official between 1988 and 2019. Thomson originates from Paisley, Renfrewshire.
Scotland was one of the earliest modern footballing nations, with Glasgow club Queen's Park early pioneers of the game throughout the UK. More clubs formed in Scotland, resulting in the commencement of the first major competition in 1873, the Scottish Cup, then the founding of the Scottish Football League in 1890. With the official sanctioning of professionalism, the Old Firm of Celtic and Rangers became dominant in Scotland, and remain so, although other clubs have enjoyed brief periods of success too.
Paul McBride QC was a Scottish criminal lawyer based in Edinburgh. He was a board member of the Scottish Legal Aid Board, and a former vice chairman of the Faculty of Advocates Criminal Bar Association. He died suddenly on a trip to Pakistan.
The Scottish football referee strike refers to the unprecedented withdrawal of services by top level referees in Scottish football, following a dispute between the Scottish Senior Football Referees' Association and the Scottish Football Association. It affected 20 matches scheduled for the weekend of 27/28 November 2010 in the Scottish Premier League, the Scottish Football League, the Scottish Cup, as well as the 2010 Scottish Challenge Cup Final. When combined with significant weather disruption, the effect of the strike was that only four games went ahead, all in the SPL on 27 November, using replacement referees drawn from Israel, Luxembourg and Malta. It was the first time since 1905 that a domestic Scottish match had been refereed by someone from outside Scotland.
Kenneth Shiels is a Northern Irish football manager and former player who is currently manager of NIFL Premier Intermediate side Moyola Park.
Steven McLean is a Scottish football referee. He became a FIFA referee in 2010 and was selected to officiate at the 2011 UEFA U17 European Championship.
The 2012 Scottish Cup Final was the 127th final of the Scottish Cup. The match took place at Hampden Park on 19 May 2012 and was contested by the Edinburgh derby rivals, Hibernian (Hibs) and Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). It was Hibs' 12th Scottish Cup Final and Hearts' 14th. It was also the first time the clubs had met in a Scottish Cup Final since 1896.
Women's association football in Scotland has an organised history including the first international women's match in 1881, the president of the British Ladies' Football Club in 1895, Lady Florence Dixie, the Edinburgh–Preston "World Championship" in 1937 and 1939, and the Scottish Women's Cup founded in 1970. The sport is jointly overseen by Scottish Women's Football, the Scottish Football Association, and Scottish Professional Football League.
The role of a Scotland national football team manager was first established in May 1954, when Andy Beattie was appointed. Beattie took charge of six matches before and during the 1954 FIFA World Cup, when Scotland competed at their first major tournament. Twenty-four men have occupied the post since its inception, with Beattie, Jock Stein and Alex McLeish occupying it in two spells. Six of those managers were in caretaker or interim roles. Craig Brown held the position for the longest to date; a tenure of 9 years, comprising two major tournaments and a total of 71 matches.
The 2014 Scottish Challenge Cup final, also known as the Ramsdens Cup final for sponsorship reasons, was a football match that took place at Easter Road on 6 April 2014, between Raith Rovers and Rangers. The match was televised by BBC ALBA. It was the 23rd final of the Scottish Challenge Cup since it was first organised in 1990 to celebrate the centenary of the now defunct Scottish Football League, it was the first Challenge Cup final since the formation of the SPFL. Both teams progressed through four elimination rounds to reach the final. The match was both clubs' first appearance in the final of the competition, whilst it was Raith Rovers' first cup final in 20 years since winning the League Cup in 1994.
From 1870 to the present day, the Scotland national football team have played various matches that are not accorded the status of official (FIFA) internationals by the governing body, the Scottish Football Association. These include early matches against England prior to the first-ever official international in 1872, wartime fixtures between 1914–1919 and 1939–1946 when official competitions were suspended, overseas tour matches played by a Scotland XI of varying strength and status, and others as specified.