Sport in Scotland - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

plays a central role in Scottish culture. The temperate

Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...

, oceanic climate

Oceanic climate

An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...

has played a key part in the evolution of sport in Scotland, with all-weather sports like association football, rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

and golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

dominating the national sporting consciousness. However, many other sports are played in the country, with popularity varying between sports and between regions.

Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

has its own sporting competitions and governing bodies

Sport governing body

A sport governing body is a sports organization that has a regulatory or sanctioning function. Sport governing bodies come in various forms, and have a variety of regulatory functions. Examples of this can include disciplinary action for rule infractions and deciding on rule changes in the sport...

, such as the Camanachd Association

Camanachd Association

The Camanachd Association is the World governing body of the Scottish sport of shinty. The body is based in Inverness, Highland, and is in charge of the rules of the game...

, Scottish Football Association

Scottish Football Association

The Scottish Football Association is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA include clubs in Scotland, affiliated national associations as well as local associations...

, the Scottish Rugby Union

Scottish Rugby Union

The Scottish Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. It is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873, as the Scottish Football Union.-History:...

, Cricket Scotland

Cricket Scotland

Cricket Scotland, formerly known as the Scottish Cricket Union, is the governing body of the sport of cricket in Scotland. The body is based at the National Cricket Academy, Edinburgh....

, and the Scottish Cyclists' Union. The country has independent representation at many international sporting events, for example the Football World Cup and the Cricket World Cup

Cricket World Cup

The ICC Cricket World Cup is the premier international championship of men's One Day International cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council , with preliminary qualification rounds leading up to a finals tournament which is held every four years...

, as well as the Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....

; although notably not the Olympic Games

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

.

Scots, and Scottish emigrants, have made several key contributions to the history of sport

History of sport

The history of sports probably extends as far back as the existence of people as purposive sportive and active beings. Sport has been a useful way for people to increase their mastery of nature and the environment. The history of sport can teach us a great deal about social changes and about the...

, with important innovations and developments in:
golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, curling

Curling

Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...

, football, rugby union

Rugby union

(the invention of rugby sevens

Rugby sevens

Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...

, first international, and first league system), Highland games

Highland games

Highland games are events held throughout the &Highland games are events held throughout the &Highland games are events held throughout the &(-è_çà in Scotland and other countries as a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture and heritage, especially that of the Scottish Highlands. Certain...

(which have contributed to the evolution of modern athletics

Athletics (track and field)

Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...

events), shinty

Shinty

Shinty is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands, and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread, being once competitively played on a widespread basis in England and other areas in the...

(the predecessor of both ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

and bandy

Bandy

Bandy is a team winter sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal.The rules of the game have many similarities to those of association football: the game is played on a rectangle of ice the same size as a football field. Each team has 11 players,...

), cycling

Cycling

Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...

(Kirkpatrick Macmillan

Kirkpatrick Macmillan

Kirkpatrick Macmillan was a Scottish blacksmith generally credited with inventing the rear-wheel driven bicycle.-Invention of pedal driven bicycle?:...

invented the pedal bicycle), and basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

.

Highland games, the largest and most widespread multi-sport festivals of the 19th century, are claimed to have influenced Baron Pierre de Coubertin when he was planning the revival of the Olympic Games. De Coubertin saw a display of Highland games at the Paris Exhibition of 1889.

Football codes

Ever since the 19th century, the two main football codes in Scotland are association football (which is more commonly referred to as just "football" or "fitba") and rugby union, though the former being significantly dominant since World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Some others are also played. For Gaelic Football, please see under Gaelic Athletic Association, further down.

Traditional football

There is a long tradition of football games stretching back a number of centuries. However, it should be noted that while these game were referred to as "football" (and numerous variants), that many of these games were actually very different to modern football, and involved carrying the ball. One of these so called games was outlawed in 1424. The history of football in Scotland includes various traditional ball games, for example the Ba game

Ba game

Ba game is a version of medieval football played in Scotland, perhaps most notably in Orkney and the Scottish Borders, around Christmas and New Year....

; some of these early games probably involved the kicking of a ball. Uncertainty about the specific nature of these games is because prior to 1863, the term "football" implied almost any ball game that was played on ones feet and not played on horseback. Some of these local games were probably played as far back as the Middle Ages

Scotland in the High Middle Ages

The High Middle Ages of Scotland encompass Scotland in the era between the death of Domnall II in 900 AD and the death of king Alexander III in 1286...

, although the earliest contemporary accounts (as opposed to decrees simply banning "football") come in the eighteenth century. Many of these accounts refer to the violence of traditional Scottish football and as a result many games were abolished or modified. Several burgh

Burgh

A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...

s retain an annual Ba game, with the Kirkwall Ba Game

Kirkwall Ba game

The Kirkwall Ba Game is one of the main annual events held in the town of Kirkwall, in Orkney, Scotland. It is one of a number of Ba Games played in the streets of towns around Scotland; these are examples of traditional football games which are still played in towns in the United Kingdom and...

in Orkney being probably the most famous form of traditional football in Scotland. Elsewhere in Scotland, the greatest evidence for a tradition of football games comes from southern Scotland, in particular the Scottish Borders

Scottish Borders

The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...

Association Football

Association football (soccer) is the national sport

National sport

A national sport or national pastime is a sport or game that is considered to be an intrinsic part of the culture of a nation. Some sports are de facto national sports, as baseball is in the U.S., while others are de jure as lacrosse and ice hockey are in Canada.-De jure national sports:-De facto...

, both in terms of participation and numbers of spectators.

The world's first official international association football match was held in 1872 and was the idea of C. W. Alcock

C. W. Alcock

Charles William Alcock was an influential English sportsman and administrator. He was a major instigator in the development of both international football and cricket, as well as being the creator of the FA Cup....

of the Football Association

The Football Association

The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...

which was seeking to promote Association Football in Scotland. The match took place at the West of Scotland Cricket Club

West of Scotland Cricket Club

The West of Scotland Cricket Club is a large cricket club based in Glasgow, Scotland. Their ground is Hamilton Crescent located in the Partick area of Glasgow's West End...

's Hamilton Crescent

Hamilton Crescent

Hamilton Crescent is a cricket ground located in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club.Hamilton Crescent is famous for holding the first ever international football match, played between Scotland and England...

ground in the Partick

Partick

Partick is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch. Partick was a Police burgh from 1852 until 1912 when it was incorporated into the city.-History:...

area of Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

. The match was between Scotland

Scotland national football team

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

and England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

and resulted in a 0–0 draw. Following this, the newly developed football became the most popular sport in Scotland. The Scottish Cup

Scottish Cup

The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,, commonly known as the Scottish Cup or the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship purposes, is the main national cup competition in Scottish football. It is a knockout cup competition run by and named after the Scottish Football Association.The...

is the world's oldest national trophy, first contested in 1873 (although the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

is an older competition, its original trophy is no longer in existence). Queen's Park F.C.

Queen's Park F.C.

Queen's Park Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. The club are currently the only amateur club in the Scottish League; their amateur status is reflected by their motto, Ludere Causa Ludendi – to play for the sake of playing.Queen's Park are the oldest...

, in Glasgow, is probably the oldest association football club in the world outside England.

The Scottish Football Association

Scottish Football Association

(SFA), the second-oldest national football association in the world, is the main governing body

Sport governing body

for Scottish association football, and a founding member of the International Football Association Board

International Football Association Board

The International Football Association Board is the body that determines the Laws of the Game of association football.-Operations:...

(IFAB) which governs the Laws of the Game. As a result of this key role in the development of the sport Scotland is one of only four countries to have a permanent representative on the IFAB; the other four representatives being appointed for set periods by FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

. The SFA also has responsibility for the Scotland national football team

Scotland national football team

.

The national stadium is Hampden Park

Hampden Park

Hampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The 52,063 capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland...

in Glasgow. Supporters of the national team are nickname

Nickname

A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

d the Tartan Army

Tartan Army

The Tartan Army is a name given to fans of the Scotland national football team. They have won awards from several organisations for their friendly behaviour and charitable work...

, or the "Sporran Legion". As of September 2009, Scotland are ranked as the 30th best national football team in the FIFA World Rankings

FIFA World Rankings

The FIFA World Rankings is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, currently led by Spain. The teams of the member nations of FIFA , football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest...

. They have improved steadily after Walter Smith took over as manager, beating 2006 World Cup

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

finalists France in a European Championship

UEFA European Football Championship

The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

qualifier. The national team last attended the World Cup

FIFA World Cup

in France in 1998

1998 FIFA World Cup

The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...

, but finished last in their group stage after defeats to runners-up Brazil

Brazil national football team

The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...

and Morocco

Morocco national football team

The Morocco national football team , nicknamed أسود الأطلس , is the national team of Morocco and is managed by Eric Gerets. Winners of the African Nations Cup in 1976, they were the first African team to win a group at the World Cup, which they did in 1986, finishing ahead of Portugal, Poland, and...

. They won a single point after a one-all draw with Norway

Norway national football team

The Norway national football team represents Norway in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Norway, the governing body for football in Norway. Norway's home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and their head coach is Egil Olsen...

.

Elite club association football in Scotland is split between the Scottish Premier League

Scottish Premier League

The Scottish Premier League , also known as the SPL , is a professional league competition for association football clubs in Scotland...

and the Scottish Football League

Scottish Football League

The Scottish Football League is a league of football teams in Scotland, comprising theScottish First Division, Scottish Second Division and Scottish Third Division. From the league's foundation in 1890 until the breakaway Scottish Premier League was formed in 1998, the Scottish Football League...

.

Scotland's association football clubs have had a relatively high degree of success internationally . In terms of European competitions, Rangers

Rangers F.C.

Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...

, Celtic

Celtic F.C.

Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...

and Aberdeen

Aberdeen F.C.

Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...

have all won European competitions. Rangers were the first British team to reach a European final, the 1961 Cup Winners Cup. However, Celtic are the only team to have won the European Cup

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

(now the Champions League), Europe's premier competition. Celtic won this cup in 1967 becoming the first British team to do so. Their victory is an important one in football history with the competition being won with a team comprising no players born more than thirty miles (48 km) from the home of the club, Celtic Park.

The most successful teams over the years have been the Old Firm

Old Firm

The Old Firm is a common collective name for the association football clubs Celtic and Rangers, both based in Glasgow, Scotland.The origin of the term is unclear. One theory has it that the expression derives from Celtic's first game in 1888, which was played against Rangers. However, author,...

: Rangers and Celtic. With Rangers having won more major trophies than any other team in professional football. Glasgow is therefore home to three major football stadia. With Celtic Park

Celtic Park

Celtic Park is a football stadium in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which is the home ground of Celtic FC. Celtic Park, an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 60,832, is the largest football stadium in Scotland and the sixth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom, after Murrayfield, Old Trafford,...

(60,832 seats), Ibrox Park (50,411 seats) and Hampden Park (52,670 seats).

Rugby union

in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union

Scottish Rugby Union

The Scottish Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. It is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873, as the Scottish Football Union.-History:...

. Murrayfield Stadium

Murrayfield Stadium

Murrayfield Stadium is a sports stadium located in the west end of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Its all-seater capacity was recently reduced from 67,800 to 67,130 to incorporate the largest permanent "big screen" in the country though it still remains the largest stadium in Scotland and one...

, in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, is the home of the Scotland national rugby union team

Scotland national rugby union team

The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...

. Scotland are ranked 9th, in the IRB world rankings. They annually take part in the Six Nations

Six Nations Championship

The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....

and participate in the Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup

The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....

, which takes place every four years. Scottish players are also eligible for selection for the British and Irish Lions

British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...

, a composite team that tours the Southern hemisphere every 4 years.

The roots of Scottish rugby go back a long way. Many ball games played in Scotland, and referred to as "football" were frequently as similar to rugby as they were to soccer.

The Scottish Football Union (SFU) was founded in 1873 and was a founding member of the International Rugby Board

International Rugby Board

The International Rugby Board is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. It was founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board by the unions of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England refused to join until 1890. The International Rugby Football Board changed its name to the...

in 1886 with Ireland

Irish Rugby Football Union

The Irish Rugby Football Union is the body managing rugby union in Ireland. The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where Irish rugby union international matches are played...

and Wales

Welsh Rugby Union

The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board.The union's patron is Queen Elizabeth II, and her grandson Prince William of Wales became the Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union as of February 2007.-History:The roots of the...

. (England refused to join until 1890). In 1924 the SFU changed its name to become the Scottish Rugby Union

Scottish Rugby Union

The Scottish Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. It is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873, as the Scottish Football Union.-History:...

.

The world's oldest continual rugby fixture was first played in 1858 between Merchiston Castle School

Merchiston Castle School

Merchiston Castle School is an independent school for boys in the village of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has about 480 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 8 and 18 as either boarders or day pupils; day pupils make up 35% of the school....

and the former pupils of The Edinburgh Academy

Edinburgh Academy

The Edinburgh Academy is an independent school which was opened in 1824. The original building, in Henderson Row on the northern fringe of the New Town of Edinburgh, Scotland, is now part of the Senior School...

. The Edinburgh Academy was also involved in the first ever international rugby union game when a side representing England

England national rugby union team

The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

met the Scottish national side on the cricket field of the Academy at Raeburn Place

Raeburn Place

Raeburn Place is the main street of Stockbridge, Edinburgh, and the name of the playing fields there.-Rugby:The first international rugby football game was played on the playing fields at Raeburn Place on 27 March 1871 between England and Scotland. It was won by Scotland, though England got revenge...

, Edinburgh on 27 March 1871, which Scotland won. The national side today competes in the annual Six Nations Championship

Six Nations Championship

The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....

and has appeared at every Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup

The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....

. Scotland have two professional sides that compete in the Magners League

Celtic League (rugby union)

The Celtic League is an annual rugby union competition involving professional sides from Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....

and the Heineken Cup

Heineken Cup

The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...

- Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors

Glasgow Warriors

The Glasgow Warriors, formerly Glasgow Rugby, are one of two professional rugby union teams in Scotland, Edinburgh being the other. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12 and their home ground is Firhill Stadium, also the home of Partick Thistle Football Club.-History:Glasgow Rugby were created to...

. Until 2007 there was a third side, Border Reivers

Border Reivers (Rugby)

Border Reivers, originally known as 'Scottish Borders Rugby' and also known as 'The Borders' were one of four professional rugby union teams in Scotland, alongside Edinburgh, Caledonia Reds and Glasgow Warriors....

, but the side were disbanded due to funding problems in the SRU. The Scottish League Championship exists for amateur and semi-pro clubs. Even the top professional sides struggle to attract crowds comparable to that of English or Welsh clubs but the national side regularly fill Murrayfield for Six Nations fixtures.

Rugby union is most popular in the Borders region

Scottish Borders

, where it is played widely, and this is probably the only area of Scotland where rugby is the most popular sport, although it has a strong presence in Aberdeen

Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....

, Cupar

Cupar

Cupar is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland. The town is situated between Dundee and the New Town of Glenrothes.According to a recent population estimate , Cupar had a population around 8,980 making the town the ninth largest settlement in Fife.-History:The town is believed to have...

, Edinburgh

Edinburgh

, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Stirling

Stirling

Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...

, Ayrshire

Ayrshire

Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...

and Perthshire

Perthshire

Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...

Rugby sevens

Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby union, which was initially conceived by Ned Haig

Ned Haig

Ned Haig was a butcher and rugby union player notable for founding the sport of rugby sevens. He moved to Melrose when he was young. There he took up rugby and joined Melrose Rugby Football Club in 1880...

, a butcher from Melrose, Scotland

Melrose, Scotland

Melrose is a small town and civil parish in the Scottish Borders, historically in Roxburghshire. It is in the Eildon committee area.-Etymology:...

as a fundraising event for his local club, Melrose RFC

Melrose RFC

Melrose Rugby Football Club, located in the town of Melrose in the Scottish Borders, is one of the oldest rugby clubs in the world.-History:The club was formed in 1877 and was elected to full membership of the Scottish Rugby Union in 1880...

, in 1883. The first ever sevens match was played at the Greenyards, where it was well received. The first ever officially sanctioned international tournament occurred at Murrayfield

Murrayfield Stadium

as part of the "Scottish Rugby Union

Scottish Rugby Union

The Scottish Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. It is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873, as the Scottish Football Union.-History:...

's celebration of rugby" centenary celebrations in 1973. Due to the success of the format, the ongoing Hong Kong Sevens

Hong Kong Sevens

The Hong Kong Sevens is considered the premier tournament on the IRB Sevens World Series in rugby sevens—a variant of rugby union....

was launched three years later, and numerous other international competitions followed. In 1993, the Rugby World Cup Sevens

Rugby World Cup Sevens

The Rugby World Cup Sevens is the premier international Rugby sevens competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board , and is contested by the men's national sevens teams every four years. The inaugural tournament was held in 1993 in Scotland, the...

, in which the Melrose Cup is contested, was launched, which is named after its town of origin. In the meantime, the Melrose Sevens

Melrose Sevens

Melrose Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Melrose Rugby Club, in Melrose, Scotland. It is the oldest rugby sevens competition dating from 1883, when the tournament was suggested by former Melrose player Ned Haig....

continue to be popular http://www.melrose7s.com/ and there is a healthy Borders Sevens Circuit

Borders Sevens Circuit

The Borders Sevens Circuit is the name given to rugby union sevens tournaments that are held annually in the Scottish Borders. It is the oldest Sevens Circuit in the world, with most sevens dating from the 19th century.-Kings of the Sevens:...

. Starting in 2007

2006-07 IRB Sevens World Series

2006–07 IRB Sevens World Series was the eighth of an annual series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999-2000.New Zealand won the 2006-07 series by winning the final tournament in Edinburgh...

, the annual IRB Sevens World Series

IRB Sevens World Series

The IRB Sevens World Series, known officially as the HSBC Sevens World Series as of the 2010-11 season, through sponsorship from banking group HSBC, and also sometimes called the World Sevens Series, is a series of international rugby union sevens tournaments organised for the first time in the...

, featuring international sides from around the world, has ended with the Edinburgh Sevens

Edinburgh Sevens

The Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens, also known as the Edinburgh 7s and Scotland Sevens, is a rugby union sevens tournament, part of the IRB Sevens World Series, held at Murrayfield in Edinburgh, Scotland. It will have the honour of being the last event in each season's IRB Sevens...

at Murrayfield.

American Football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

has been played in Scotland since the 1980s.

It is played on an amateur basis throughout Scotland in the same way as the rest of the United Kingdom. There are 14 under 18 teams ranging from Inverness Blitz in the North, Inverclyde Hawks in the West through to Edinburgh

Edinburgh Wolves

The Edinburgh Wolves are a Scottish American football team based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Their home ground is Meadowbank Stadium. They play in Division Two North of the BAFA Community Leagues .-History:...

in the East.

7 teams currently play in the BAFA Community Leagues

BAFA Community Leagues

The BAFA National Leagues are the primary American football competition in England, Scotland and Wales. They were formed by the British American Football Association in 2010 to coordinate contact football and flag football across all age ranges...

with Glasgow Tigers, Clyde Valley Blackhawks, Dundee Hurricanes

Dundee Hurricanes

The Dundee Hurricanes are an American football team based in Dundee, Scotland. They are members of Division 1 North of the BAFA Community Leagues after winning promotion through the 2007 BAFL Division 2 playoffs...

, Highland Wildcats

Highland Wildcats

The Highland Wildcats are an American Football team based in Inverness, Scotland. The Highland Wildcats are the performance level teams of the Inverness Blitz Academy of American Football. Currently there are currently 4 Wildcat teams in Inverness, 2 Junior Flag Football teams, a Junior kitted...

, Edinburgh Wolves

Edinburgh Wolves

and West Coast Trojans

West Coast Trojans

The West Coast Trojans) are a fantastic, world class American Football Team based in Renfrew, Scotland. The Trojans play their home games at Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow and are a member of the BAFA Community Leagues, where they compete in Division 2 North.The team posted a number of high profile...

playing in Division 2, and the East Kilbride Pirates playing in Division 1.

A professional team (the Scottish Claymores

Scottish Claymores

The Scottish Claymores were an American football team from Scotland. The franchise played in the World League of American Football between 1995 and 2004, initially playing all home games at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh and latterly sharing home games with Hampden Park, Glasgow...

) played in NFL Europe

NFL Europe

NFL Europe was an American football league which operated in Europe from 1991 until 2007. Backed by the National Football League , the largest professional American football league in the United States, it was founded as the World League of American Football to serve as a type of spring league...

between 1995 and 2004 based in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Lawrence Tynes

Lawrence Tynes

Lawrence James Henry Tynes is an American football placekicker for the New York Giants. He was originally signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2001.-Early years:...

, Joe Andruzzi

Joe Andruzzi

Joseph Dominick Andruzzi is a former American football offensive guard. In May 2007 he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.-College career:...

and Dante Hall

Dante Hall

Damieon Dante Hall is a former American football Return specialist, and wide receiver in the National Football League. He is considered one of the greatest return specialists in NFL History...

all played for the team and went on to have success in the NFL.

Australian Rules Football

Aussie Rules

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

has never had a high profile in Scotland, but Scots played an important role in setting up some of the clubs in Australia. Scots living in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

and Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

in the mid-19th century were greatly involved in the formation of the rules of the game, as well as the formation of a number of early clubs, including the still-existing Essendon Bombers in the Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

.

There are currently four teams in SARFL, most established in the early 2000s. There was an abortive attempt during the 1990s to set up the Caledonia Sharks. Until recently, Scottish Aussie Rules tended to be subsumed to the British leagues, but this is less the case now.

Notable Aussie Rules players with strong links to Scotland are Sean Wight

Sean Wight

John Phillip "Sean" Wight was a Scottish-Australian Australian rules footballer in the VFL/AFL.He is a member of the Melbourne Football Club Hall of Fame and was named as one of the 150 Heroes of the club during the club's 150th celebrations.The 185 cm tall, 85 kg Wight played for the...

, Alec Boswell Timms

Alec Boswell Timms

Alec Boswell Timms was an Australian-born international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Edinburgh Wanderers and Edinburgh University. Timms played international rugby for Scotland and was selected for the British Isles team on its 1899 tour of Australia.-Personal history:Timms was...

and Thomas Leather

Thomas Leather

Thomas William Leather was an Australian first-class cricketer who represented Victoria. He also played Australian rules football with North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League ....

Rugby League

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

is administered by Scotland Rugby League

Scotland Rugby League

The Scottish Rugby Football League is the governing body for rugby league football in Scotland. It administers the Scotland national rugby league teams jointly with the Rugby Football League....

. The main international team

Scotland national rugby league team

The Scotland national rugby league team represent Scotland in international rugby league football tournaments. The team is run under the auspices of the Scotland Rugby League, and are nicknamed The Bravehearts. Scotland are not regarded as a test nation...

has been playing since 1909 although their first proper international wasn't until 1996 when they beat Ireland in Dublin 6-26. In the 2000 Rugby League World Cup

2000 Rugby League World Cup

The 2000 Rugby League World Cup was the twelfth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and was held during October and November of that year in Great Britain, Ireland and France...

, Scotland finished last in their group, although only narrowly lost to Ireland, Samoa and New Zealand. The latter two matches were played in Edinburgh and Glasgow respectively.

A major boost to rugby league in Scotland came when the Rugby League Challenge Cup

Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....

Final was brought to Murrayfield

Murrayfield Stadium

, Edinburgh

Edinburgh

. On both occasions over 60,000 watched the final. This was coupled with a fantastic 42-20 win over France in July 2001, possibly one of Scotland's best wins in their short history.

The domestic game in Scotland drastically changed in 2003 when a new league was formed incorporating six teams into the Rugby League Conference

Rugby League Conference

The Rugby League Conference , was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, Scotland and Wales.The RLC was founded as the 10-team Southern Conference League in 1997, with teams from the southern midlands and the...

umbrella. There are now several teams, Easterhouse Panthers

Easterhouse Panthers

Easterhouse Panthers are an amateur rugby league team based in Easterhouse in the East End of Glasgow. They play in the Scotland Division of the Rugby League Conference.-History:...

, Jordanhill Phoenix and Paisley Hurricanes

Paisley Hurricanes

The Paisley Hurricanes are an amateur rugby league team. They play in the Scotland Division of the Rugby League Conference. The club is currently based at the in Paisley, home of Paisley Rugby Union Club....

from Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Edinburgh Eagles

Edinburgh Eagles

The Edinburgh Eagles are a semi-professional rugby league team based in Edinburgh, Scotland. They play in the Scotland Division of the Rugby League Conference.-History:...

from Edinburgh

Edinburgh

, Moray Eels from Lossiemouth

Lossiemouth

Lossiemouth is a town in Moray, Scotland. Originally the port belonging to Elgin, it became an important fishing town. Although there has been over a 1,000 years of settlement in the area, the present day town was formed over the past 250 years and consists of four separate communities that...

, Fife Lions

Fife Lions

Fife Lions ARLFC are a rugby league club located in the east of Scotland. They play in the Scotland Division of the Rugby League Conference.The Fife Lions in recent years have been one of the dominant teams in the SRLC...

from Dunfermline

Dunfermline

Dunfermline is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to a 2008 estimate, Dunfermline has a population of 46,430, making it the second-biggest settlement in Fife. Part of the town's name comes from the Gaelic word...

and Carluke Tigers

Carluke Tigers

Carluke Tigers are an amateur rugby league team. They play in the Scotland Division of the Rugby League Conference. The team is the only premier rugby league side in Lanarkshire...

from Carluke

Carluke

The town of Carluke lies in the heart of the Lanarkshire countryside in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, 5.4 miles northwest of Lanark and 4 miles southeast of Wishaw....

. Fife Lions and Edinburgh Eagles have been the most successful teams, both having won the league recently. There are plans to expand the league and possibly have another team in Glasgow, as well as one from the Borders.

In 2007 Scotland qualified for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup

2008 Rugby League World Cup

The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since the inauguration of the tournament in 1954, and the first since the 2000 event...

after beating Wales 21-14 at Bridgend, before losing 18-16 in Glasgow. The points advantage allowed them through and they will play in Group B against France and Fiji in Australia in November 2008.

Scotland also have another team, labelled 'The Bravehearts'. This is a team made up of players entirely from the eight Scottish Conference teams.

Futsal, indoor football and five-a-side

Futsal

Futsal is a variant of association football that is played on a smaller pitch and mainly played indoors. Its name is a portmanteau of the Portuguese futebol de salão and the Spanish fútbol de salón , which can be translated as "hall football" or "indoor football"...

is a Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian form of football, similar to, but not the same as indoor football

Indoor soccer

Indoor soccer or arena soccer, or six-a-side football in the United Kingdom, is a game derived from association football adapted for play in an indoor arena such as a turf-covered hockey arena or skating rink. The most important difference in play is that the indoor field is surrounded by a wall...

, which is more closely related to standard football.

Five-a-side (not to be confused with fives

Fives

Fives is a British sport believed to derive from the same origins as many racquet sports. In fives, a ball is propelled against the walls of a special court using gloved or bare hands as though they were a racquet.-Background:...

) is popular in Scotland, with many casual leagues.

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

has a much lower profile in Scotland

Scotland

than it has south of the border in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Scotland is not one of the ten leading cricketing nations which play Test matches

Test cricket

Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

, but the Scottish national team

Scottish cricket team

The Scotland national cricket team represents Scotland in the game of cricket. They compete in the Clydesdale Bank 40 as the Scottish Saltires...

is now allowed to play full One Day Internationals, and takes part in the Cricket World Cup

Cricket World Cup

, in which Scotland reached the final tournament in 2007

2007 Cricket World Cup

The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007, using the sport's One Day International format...

. Scotland has a well established recreational cricket structure. Scotland has co-hosted the 1999 Cricket World Cup

1999 Cricket World Cup

-England:-Outside England:-Group A:-Results:-------------------------------------------------------------Group B:-Results:------------------------------------------------------------...

along with England, Ireland and Netherlands.

The governing body for Scottish cricket is Cricket Scotland

Cricket Scotland

Cricket Scotland, formerly known as the Scottish Cricket Union, is the governing body of the sport of cricket in Scotland. The body is based at the National Cricket Academy, Edinburgh....

, which administers women's cricket and junior cricket as well as the men's game.

Cricket has an image as an "English" sport in Scotland, with many top players competing for the England national side

English cricket team

The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...

, such as Jon Croft, and indeed, the national side competes as one of the English counties.

Freuchie

Freuchie

Freuchie is a village in Fife, Scotland, at the foot of the Lomond Hills, and near Falkland. The nearest major town is Glenrothes located 4 miles to the south.The name derives from the Scottish Gaelic, fraoch, meaning heather....

in Fife

Fife

Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

has also won the Village Championship in the past.

It is widely played in Scottish private schools, and has some presence in the major cities.

Golf

Scotland is the "Home of Golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

", and is well-known for its many links

Links (golf)

A links is the oldest style of golf course, first developed in Scotland. The word "links" comes from the Scots language and refers to an area of coastal sand dunes and sometimes to open parkland. It also retains this more general meaning in the Scottish English dialect...

courses, including the Old Course

Old Course at St Andrews

The Old Course at St Andrews is the oldest golf course in the world. The Old Course is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and is held in trust by The St Andrews Links Trust under an act of Parliament...

at St Andrews

St Andrews

St Andrews is a university town and former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife in Scotland. The town is named after Saint Andrew the Apostle.St Andrews has a population of 16,680, making this the fifth largest settlement in Fife....

, Carnoustie

Carnoustie Golf Links

The Carnoustie Golf Links are in Carnoustie, Angus, Scotland. Its historic championship golf course is one of the venues in the Open Championship rotation.-History:...

, Muirfield

Muirfield (Scotland)

Muirfield is a privately owned links which is the home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Located in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland, overlooking the Firth of Forth, Muirfield is one of the golf courses used in rotation for The Open Championship.Muirfield has hosted The Open...

and Royal Troon. The first record of golf being played was at Leith Links

Leith

-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....

in 1457.

Scotland is at the forefront of international golf, with some of the world's premier courses being located there. The most famous courses, such as St Andrews tend to be on the east coast's dunelands, which are known in Lowland Scots

Scots language

Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...

as "links" - this word has passed over into golf terminology as meaning a course. There are also major courses at Gleneagles

Gleneagles

Gleneagles may refer to the following:*Gleneagles, Scotland**The July 2005 G8 Summit held at Gleneagles, Scotland*Gleneagles Agreement*Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder*Gleneagles Hotel, Torquay, the inspiration for Fawlty Towers....

, Ayrshire

Ayrshire

, East Lothian

East Lothian

East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....

and Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch, lying on the Highland Boundary Fault. It is the largest lake in Great Britain by surface area. The lake contains many islands, including Inchmurrin, the largest fresh-water island in the British Isles, although the lake itself is smaller than many Irish...

While there is considerable disagreement as to where in Scotland golf was invented - St Andrews, Leith or Bruntsfield - or even if it was invented within Scotland - both Holland and China have staked claims - the modern game was codified in Scotland. Much of golf terminology has its roots in Lowland Scots

Scots language

, e.g. caddy, links, tee etc.

Shinty

or camanachd is the traditional game of the Scottish Highlands

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

, although historically it hade a wider range. It is still played widely across the area today, with clubs also based in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Fife and Perth, and in most universities. Its governing body is the Camanachd Association

Camanachd Association

The Camanachd Association is the World governing body of the Scottish sport of shinty. The body is based in Inverness, Highland, and is in charge of the rules of the game...

(in Scottish Gaelic, Comunn na Camanachd) who are based in Fort William.

The sport's premier prize is the Scottish Cup, more popularly known as the Camanachd Cup

Camanachd Cup

The Camanachd Association Challenge Cup AKA the Camanachd Cup or Scottish Cup is the premier prize in the sport of shinty...

. Shinty also has the honour of having provided, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the world's most successful sporting team, Kingussie Camanachd

Kingussie Camanachd

Kingussie Camanachd is a shinty team from Kingussie, Scotland and according to the Guinness Book of Records 2005, is World sport's most successful sporting team of all time, winning 20 consecutive leagues and going 4 years unbeaten at one stage in the early 1990s. The second team plays in North...

. Shinty was formerly played through the Winter but has recently become a primarily Summer game. It has common roots with the Irish sport

Sport in Ireland

In Ireland many sports, such as boxing, hockey, rowing, cricket, rugby union, Gaelic football and hurling, are organised in an all-island basis, with a single team representing the whole of Ireland in international competitions...

of Hurling

Hurling

Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...

Baseball

Baseball has existed in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

since the 1930s when it was played at US air bases at Kirknewton

Kirknewton

-Places:England*Kirknewton, NorthumberlandScotland*Kirknewton, West Lothian*RAF Kirknewton, a Royal Air Force station in West Lothian...

and East Fortune

East Fortune

East Fortune is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, located 2 miles north west of East Linton. The area is known for its airfield which was constructed in 1915 to help protect Britain from attack by German Zeppelin airships during the First World War. The RNAS airship station also included an...

. The British Baseball Federation

British Baseball Federation

The British Baseball Federation is the national governing body of baseball within the United Kingdom, founded in .BBF is a federated member of both the Confederation of European Baseball and the International Baseball Federation...

has a Scotland Division http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/gen_insert.php?from_level3=Articles&db_story=1620&this_page=baseballnews comprising the Edinburgh Diamond Devils

Edinburgh Diamond Devils

The Edinburgh Diamond Devils are a baseball club that was formed in Edinburgh, Scotland.-History:Baseball has existed in the Edinburgh since the 1930s when it was played at United States air bases at Kirknewton and East Fortune...

, the Glasgow Baseball Association, and the Strathclyde Falcons. As of 2007, the Glasgow Baseball Association formed a senior team for those players who wanted to play baseball at the club beyond the age of 16, they won their first game against the Manchester A's. There have been 8 Scottish baseball players to play in the Major leagues, the last being Tom Waddell

Tom Waddell

Dr. Tom Waddell was the gay American sportsman who founded the international sporting event called the Gay Games, which was named such after the United States Olympic Committee sued Dr. Waddell for using the word "Olympic" in the original name "Gay Olympics". The Gay Games are held every four...

in 1987. Baseball is a minority sport in Scotland and is only played at an amateur level. However, baseball is expanding in the country, and in June 2007, a youth baseball team in Fife was founded.

Croquet

The Scottish Croquet Association, formed in 1974, has responsibility for croquet

Croquet

Croquet is a lawn game, played both as a recreational pastime and as a competitive sport. It involves hitting plastic or wooden balls with a mallet through hoops embedded into the grass playing court.-History:...

in Scotland.

Notable Scottish croquet players include Compton Mackenzie

Compton Mackenzie

Sir Compton Mackenzie, OBE was a writer and a Scottish nationalist.-Background:Compton Mackenzie was born in West Hartlepool, England, into a theatrical family of Mackenzies, but many of whose members used Compton as their stage surname, starting with his grandfather Henry Compton, a well-known...

Elephant polo

Elephant polo is a variant of polo played whilst riding elephants. It is played in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Rajasthan , and Thailand. Equipment consists of a standard polo ball and six to nine foot cane sticks with a polo mallet head on the end. The pitch is three-quarters of the length of a standard...

is not in fact played in Scotland, although it came to wide attention when a team of Scottish Ex-Pats representing Scotland has won a couple of tournaments in South India.

Field hockey

Field hockey is mainly played in the Lowlands, where it displaced shinty

Shinty

. It is played in various private schools.

Ice Hockey

Scotland has a very long successful history of ice hockey

Ice hockey

. Scotland are host to the oldest ice hockey team in Britain which are the Fife Flyers

Fife Flyers

The Fife Flyers, established in 1938, are the oldest ice hockey team in Scotland, and also in the United Kingdom, beating the Nottingham Panthers by 8 years...

. At the moment there are four Scottish teams competing in the UK-wide Elite Ice Hockey League

Elite Ice Hockey League

Several competitions fall under the jurisdiction of the Elite League. In 2006–07, the EIHL ran a total of four competitions: the league, playoffs, Challenge Cup and Knockout Cup. The league consists of a single division, each team playing three home games and three away games against the other...

. Edinburgh Capitals

Edinburgh Capitals

The Edinburgh Capitals are a Scottish ice hockey club, playing in the UK-wide Elite Ice Hockey League.They are based in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh...

have been in the Elite Ice Hockey League

Elite Ice Hockey League

since it was formed and in 2010 they were joined by the Dundee Stars and the newly formed Braehead Clan

Braehead Clan

Braehead Clan are a Scottish professional ice hockey team. They were formed in 2010 as the UK Elite Ice Hockey League expanded into the Glasgow and West of Scotland market, and are based at the 4,000 capacity Braehead Arena in Renfrewshire, around two miles outside the Glasgow City limits...

and in 2011 the Fife Flyers

Fife Flyers

The Fife Flyers, established in 1938, are the oldest ice hockey team in Scotland, and also in the United Kingdom, beating the Nottingham Panthers by 8 years...

were admitted as both their previous league and the Newcastle Vipers went bust creating an opening. Scotland has produced 3 of the top British Players of all time in Colin Shields

Colin Shields

Colin Shields is a Scottish ice hockey player currently playing for Pingouins de Morzine-Avoriaz of the Ligue Magnus in France.-Early career:...

, Tony Hand

Tony Hand

Tony Hand MBE is a Scottish ice hockey player who became the first British-raised player to be drafted by an NHL team when he was picked by the Edmonton Oilers in 1986. He is currently player-coach of the Manchester Phoenix...

and Stephen Murphy

Stephen Murphy

Stephen Murphy is an American comic book writer best known for his work on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series.-Biography:Murphy revamped the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures title for Archie Comics beginning with issue number five and created the characters Jagwar, Nova Posse,...

and at the moment there is a plan in action to make Scotland

Scotland

a hotbed of Ice Hockey talent.

Lacrosse

Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...

has a minor presence, tending to be played by girls at private schools, although there have been some male university teams as well.

Field lacrosse

Field lacrosse

Field lacrosse, sometimes referred to as the "fastest sport on two feet," is a full contact outdoor men's sport played with ten players on each team. The sport originated among Native Americans, and the modern rules of field lacrosse were initially codified by Canadian William George Beers in 1867....

is the main sport, but box lacrosse

Box lacrosse

Box lacrosse, also known as indoor lacrosse and sometimes shortened to boxla, LAX or simply box, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada, where it is the most popular version of the game played in contrast to the traditional field lacrosse game...

is also played. It is always at amateur level. However, lacrosse in Scotland goes back to 1890 at St Leonards School

St Leonards School

St Leonards School, formerly St Leonards School for Girls, is an independent school, founded by the University of St Andrews in the nineteenth century....

, Fife

Fife

Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

, where women's lacrosse had been introduced by Louisa Lumsden

Louisa Lumsden

Dame Louisa Innes Lumsden, born into a wealthy family in Aberdeen, Scotland DBE was a lecturer in classics at Girton College and the first Headmistress of St Leonards, Fife. She is credited with introducing lacrosse to St...

. Lumsden brought the game to Scotland after watching a men's lacrosse game between the Canghuwaya Indians and the Montreal Lacrosse Club

Montreal Lacrosse Club

The Montreal Lacrosse Club was a lacrosse club in the Canadian city of Montreal, Quebec. The Club is notable in the history of lacrosse as it was responsible for establishing the first set of written rules of the game....

.

Scotland fields three national teams - men's

Scotland national men's lacrosse team

The Scotland Men's National Lacrosse Team represents Scotland at lacrosse. It is governed by Lacrosse Scotland.-History:Prior to the Lockerbie air disaster in December 1988, the men's game had not been represented in Scotland since the turn of the 20th century...

, women's

Scotland national women's lacrosse team

The Scotland national women's lacrosse team represents Scotland at women's lacrosse. It is governed by Lacrosse Scotland-1982:* 1st United States* 2nd Australia* 3rd Canada* 4th Scotland* 5th England* 6th Wales-1986:* 1st Australia...

and an indoor side

Scotland national indoor lacrosse team

The Scotland national indoor lacrosse team represents Scotland at box lacrosse. It is governed by Lacrosse Scotland.-World Indoor Lacrosse Championship:...

Rock-It-Ball

Rock-It-Ball is a rapidly growing and fast-moving ball sport which hails from the UK, the rules and competition structure of which is governed by the International Rock-It-Ball Federation...

has a minor presence, tending to be played in the Central Belt but is spreading throughout Scotland. The Scottish team won the World Cup in 2007. It is a relatively new sport having being created in the 21st century.

Basketball

basketballscotland is the governing body of basketball in Scotland.

Basketball itself was originally invented by James Naismith

James Naismith

The first game of "Basket Ball" was played in December 1891. In a handwritten report, Naismith described the circumstances of the inaugural match; in contrast to modern basketball, the players played nine versus nine, handled a soccer ball, not a basketball, and instead of shooting at two hoops,...

, a Canadian of recent Scottish family origins, when he was in the USA.

Netball

Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...

is played mostly by girls from the age of ten to fifteen, and is popular in private schools.

Pool

Pool tables are commonly to be found in Scottish pubs and social clubs.

Snooker

Scotland has produced many great snooker

Snooker

Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...

players over the years. Many of which have gone on to win the World Championship. Walter Donaldson

Walter Donaldson (snooker player)

Walter Donaldson was a Scottish professional snooker player.He turned professional at age 16, in 1923. He contested many world championships, finally achieving victory in 1947 after Joe Davis had retired from the tournament, and again in 1950...

was the first Scotsman to be crowned World Champion, winning in 1947 and again in 1950.

In the modern snooker era the most successful Scottish snooker player is Stephen Hendry

Stephen Hendry

Stephen Gordon Hendry, MBE is a Scottish professional snooker player. In 1990, he was the youngest-ever snooker World Champion, at the age of 21. He has won the World Championship a record seven times and was snooker's world number one for eight consecutive years between 1990 and 1998, and again...

. He has won the World Snooker Championship

World Snooker Championship

The World Snooker Championship is the leading professional snooker tournament in terms of both prize money and ranking points. The first championship was held in 1927; since 1977, it has been played at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England...

a record 7 times, winning it 5 years in a row from 1992 onwards and holds the record as being the youngest ever winner, beating Englishman Jimmy White

Jimmy White

James Warren "Jimmy" White MBE is an English professional snooker player. Nicknamed the "Whirlwind" and popularly referred to as the "People's Champion", White is a multiple World Championship finalist renowned for losing each of the six finals he contested.White's extensive list of achievements,...

18 frames to 12 in 1990 aged just 21 years.

Since the emergence of Stephen Hendry in 1990 a Scottish player has featured in almost every World Snooker Championship Final 1991, 2000, 2003 and 2005 being the only years since 1990 when a Scottish player hasn't made it to the final and Scots have won 10 of the 17 championships contested in this time. Scottish winners besides Hendry include John Higgins and Graeme Dott

Graeme Dott

Graeme Dott is a Scottish professional snooker player from Larkhall in Scotland. He won the 2006 World Championship, which was his first ranking title after four previous runner-up spots...

. Stephen Maguire

Stephen Maguire

Stephen Maguire is a Scottish professional snooker player.-Early career:Maguire almost qualified for the 2000 World Championships, leading eventual semi-finalist Joe Swail 9–6 in the final qualifying round before losing 9–10, but first served notice of his true potential by knocking out Stephen...

is also an emerging talent in sport with a number of event wins on the tour.

Scotland also sent a team to the Snooker World Cup

Badminton

BADMINTONscotland is the national governing body for the sport of badminton

Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...

in Scotland.

There are two major tournaments - the Scottish National Badminton Championships

Scottish National Badminton Championships

The Scottish National Badminton Championships is a tournament organized to crown the best badminton players in Scotland.The tournament started in 1908 playing only mixed doubles and men's doubles.-Past winners:-References:**...

and the Scottish Open

Scottish Open (badminton)

The Scottish Open in badminton is an open international championships held in Scotland since 1907 and is thereby one of the oldest badminton tournaments in the world. The tournament was halted during the two World Wars.-21st century:...

Racquets

There are several former raquets courts in Scotland: Eglinton Castle

Eglinton Castle

Eglinton Castle was a large Gothic castellated mansion in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland.-The castle :The ancient seat of the Earls of Eglinton, it is located just south of the town of Kilwinning...

, Fyvie Castle

Fyvie Castle

Fyvie Castle is a castle in the village of Fyvie, near Turriff in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.The earliest parts of Fyvie Castle date from the 13th century - some sources claim it was built in 1211 by William the Lion. Fyvie was the site of an open-air court held by Robert the Bruce, and Charles I...

, Kinloch Castle

Kinloch Castle

Kinloch Castle is a late Victorian mansion located on the Isle of Rùm, one of the Small Isles off the west coast of Scotland. It was built as a private residence for Sir George Bullough, a textile tycoon from Lancashire whose father bought Rùm as his summer residence and shooting estate....

(Isle of Rum). However, the game is not much played anymore.

Squash

Squash is played in most major urban centres.

A notable player of squash, is Peter Nicol

Peter Nicol

Peter Nicol, MBE , is a former professional squash player from the United Kingdom, who represented first Scotland and then England in international squash. In 1998, while still competing for Scotland, he became the first player from the UK to hold the World No. 1 ranking...

. After initially representing Scotland in international squash, Nicol switched his representation to England in 2001, claiming that he felt he was not receiving sufficient support from Scottish Squash, the national governing body

Sport governing body

Tennis

Scotland competes as Great Britain in tennis, however its contribution to the pool of British players has been traditionally been very poor in the modern era with almost all notable players being English. However, this has taken an about turn in recent years with emergence of Andy Murray

Andrew Murray (tennis player)

Andrew "Andy" Murray is a Scottish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked No.4 in the world, and was ranked No. 2 from 17 to 31 August 2009. Murray achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on 16 April 2007...

and his brother Jamie

Jamie Murray

Jamie Robert Murray is a British tennis player from Scotland who specialises in doubles and is Britain's number 1 doubles player. He is the older brother of Andy Murray. He won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title in 2007 with Jelena Janković. Murray had an early career partnership with Eric Butorac,...

. Andy Murray is by some distance the best player currently representing Britain and is the UK number 1 and comfortably inside the world top 10. Brother Jamie is a doubles specialist and won the mixed doubles along with Serbian Jelena Janković

Jelena Janković

Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...

at Wimbledon in 2007, the first time any British player has won a major title at Wimbledon in 20 years. There are no official ATP tournaments in Scotland however, with all major events in Britain being contested in England.

The Aberdeen Cup

Aberdeen Cup

The Aberdeen Cup was an annual tennis tournament held between national teams representing England and Scotland. It was hosted in Aberdeen, in north-eastern Scotland. The tournament has not been played since 2006 and there has been no indication that the tournament will be played again.The...

, established in 2005, is an annual competition between the Scotland and England tennis teams.

Royal Tennis

While this is an extremely minor game in Scotland there is an outstanding example of a Royal Tennis court at Falkland Palace

Falkland Palace

Falkland Palace in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a former royal palace of the Scottish Kings. Today it is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland, and serves as a tourist attraction.-Early years:...

. It is traditionally known as "caitch" or "cache" in Scotland, and is an ancestor of the better known form of tennis.

Martial arts

A wide range of martial arts are practiced in Scotland, but are usually administered at UK level.

Fencing

Scotland has produced some Olympic Standard fencers, and there is a small presence in the universities and big cities. Most Scottish fencing tends to be with the foil.

Judo

Scots have been very prominent on the podium at the Judo events at the Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....

Athletics

scottishathletics

Scottishathletics

Scottishathletics is the national governing body for the sport of athletics in Scotland. Established as a limited company on 1 April 2001, it succeeded the Scottish Athletics Federation . scottishathletics is a member of the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland.The organisation is built up of 22...

is the governing body for athletics in Scotland. It replaced the Scottish Athletics Federation in April 2001.

Marathon

There are four marathon

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

s in Scotland: Edinburgh Marathon

Edinburgh Marathon

The is a marathon race that has been held each year in Edinburgh, Scotland since 2003, usually in May. It is run over the traditional distance of .The principal charity partner for the 2011 marathon is...

, Loch Ness Marathon

Loch Ness Marathon

The Loch Ness Marathon is an annual marathon race in Scotland, held along the famous loch, Loch Ness, ending in Inverness. The event is part of the Festival of Running, held annually at the beginning of October. This also includes a 10K race and a 5K fun run, and attracts over 8,000 participants...

, Lochaber Marathon and the Moray Marathon

Moray Marathon

The oldest running marathon in Scotland, the first Moray Marathon was held in 1982 and since then it has developed into a 3 in 1 running event incorporating the Marathon, Half Marathon and 10K Road Races through the picturesque landscape of Moray....

Angling

Scotland has long been popular with anglers, both coarse and fly fishers. Many of its major rivers such as the Spey

Spey River

Spey River may refer to:* River Spey, Scotland, important for the scotch whisky distilleries along its banks* Spey River * Spey River in New Zealand* Spey River in New Zealand...

and Tay

River Tay

The River Tay is the longest river in Scotland and the seventh-longest in the United Kingdom. The Tay originates in western Scotland on the slopes of Ben Lui , then flows easterly across the Highlands, through Loch Dochhart, Loch Lubhair and Loch Tay, then continues east through Strathtay , in...

have famous fishing beats.

Bowls

Lawn bowls is played in many parts of Scotland. Ten pin bowling arcades can be seen in a few places too.

Boxing

Boxing is less popular in Scotland than it used to be.

Notable Scottish boxers include world champions Benny Lynch

Benny Lynch

Benny Lynch was a Scottish professional boxer who fought in the flyweight division. He is considered by some to be one of the finest boxers below the lightweight division in his era and Ring Magazine has described him as the greatest fighter that Scotland has ever produced...

, Walter McGowan

Walter McGowan

Walter McGowan, MBE , is a retired Scottish boxer. He is renowned for having been WBC world flyweight champion.He was the son of Thomas McGowan, who had boxed under the name of 'Joe Gans'....

and Ken Buchanan

Ken Buchanan

Ken Buchanan is a former boxing undisputed world lightweight champion. Many consider Buchanan to be the best boxer ever to come out of Scotland.- Early career :...

; Lord David Douglas-Hamilton

Lord David Douglas-Hamilton

Squadron Leader Lord David Douglas-Hamilton was a Scottish nobleman, pilot, and boxer.The youngest son of Lt...

(who went on to become a Conservative politician); and Mark McManus

Mark McManus

Mark McManus was a Scottish actor best known for his portrayal of Detective Chief Inspector Jim Taggart in the long-running ITV television series Taggart for eleven years until his death.-Career:...

(who would later play Taggart

Taggart

Taggart is a Scottish detective television programme, created by Glenn Chandler, who has written many of the episodes, and made by STV Productions for the ITV network...

)

Climbing and mountaineering

Climbing is popular in some parts of Scotland. Notable climbers include Harold Raeburn

Harold Raeburn

Harold Andrew Raeburn was a Scottish mountaineer.-Life:Raeburn was born in 1865 at 12 Grange Loan, Edinburgh. His father William Raeburn, a brewer, married Jessie Ramsay in 1849...

Cycling

Cycling is a popular amateur sport, with 99 clubs throughout the country, from the Shetland Wheelers to the Stewartry

Stewartry

Stewartry 1975-dateStewartry is a committee area in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.It was formerly one of four local government districts in the Dumfries and Galloway Region of Scotland....

Wheelers. At the elite level, Scots have been more successful at track cycling

Track cycling

Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using track bicycles....

rather than road racing

Road racing

Road racing is a general term for most forms of motor racing held on paved, purpose-built race tracks , as opposed to oval tracks and off-road racing...

, although Scotland has a long history of time-trialing on the road. The lack of road races within the country, with not a single UCI

Union Cycliste Internationale

Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland....

-ranked event, is largely to do with the refusal of Scottish local authorities to close public roads to allow road races to take place safely. Scotland has one velodrome

Velodrome

A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights...

, at Meadowbank Stadium

Meadowbank Stadium

Meadowbank Stadium is a multi-purpose sports facility located at Meadowbank, in Edinburgh, Scotland. It hosted the Commonwealth Games of 1970 and 1986.-Layout:...

, in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

. Another

National Indoor Sports Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome

The National Indoor Sports Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome is an indoor arena and velodrome currently under construction in Parkhead, Glasgow, Scotland. Built for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, these venues will host the Badminton and Track cycling events...

is under construction in Glasgow for 2014 Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....

. The governing body is the Scottish Cyclists' Union.

In recent years mountain biking

Mountain biking

Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...

has become very popular, with Scottish geography being ideal for training and racing. The Fort William World Cup event has become the highlight of the series.

Scotland has produced several world-class cyclists. Probably the most renowned champion out of Scotland is the great Robert Millar

Robert Millar

Robert Millar is a former Scottish professional cyclist who won the “King of the Mountains” competition in the 1984 Tour de France and finished fourth overall – sharing the highest Tour position for a British cyclist with Bradley Wiggins, and the first time a Briton had won a major Tour...

, a King of the Mountains

King of the Mountains

The King of the Mountains is the title given to the best climber in a cycling road race; usually and officially known as the Mountains classification...

, and fourth-place overall, at the 1984 Tour de France

1984 Tour de France

The 1984 Tour de France was the 71st Tour de France, run over 4020.9 km in 23 stages and a prologue, from 29 June to 22 July 1984.French rider Laurent Fignon won his second consecutive Tour, beating former teammate Bernard Hinault by over 10 minutes. Hinault was pursuing his fifth Tour...

; and very nearly a winner of the 1985 Vuelta a España

Vuelta a España

The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...

(where the strange manner of his defeat to Pedro Delgado

Pedro Delgado

Pedro Delgado Robledo , also known as Perico, is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 1988 Tour de France, as well as the Vuelta a España in 1985 and 1989....

is still a matter of some controversy). He came second in the 1987 Giro d'Italia

Giro d'Italia

The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...

and second twice in the Vuelta: 1985 and 1986. Indeed Millar is widely considered to be the best cyclist to have ever come out of the UK (although many would also argue the merits of the Englishman Tom Simpson

Tom Simpson

Tom Simpson was the most successful English road racing cyclist of the post-war years. He infamously died of exhaustion on the slopes of Mont Ventoux during the 13th stage of the Tour de France in 1967...

).

In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Chris Hoy

Chris Hoy

Sir Christopher Andrew "Chris" Hoy, MBE is a Scottish track cyclist representing Great Britain and Scotland. He is a multiple world champion and Olympic Games gold medal winner...

became the most successful British Olympian in over 100 years when he cycled to 3 golds in the velodrome in sprint events (Sprint, team sprint and keirin). His achievements earned him the honor of carrying the nation's flag in the closing ceremony and a knighthood in 2008.

Graeme Obree

Graeme Obree

Graeme Obree is a Scottish racing cyclist who twice broke the world hour record, in July 1993 and April 1994, and was the individual pursuit world champion in 1993 and 1995. He was known for his unusual riding positions and for the "Old Faithful" bicycle he built which included parts from a...

, and David Millar

David Millar

David Millar is a British road racing cyclist riding for . He has won three stages of the Tour de France, two of the Vuelta a España and one Stage of the Giro d'Italia. He was the British national road champion and the national time trial champion, both in 2007...

(no relation) have also reached the very peak of their respective events.

Curling

Scotland is the home of curling

Curling

(2002 Olympic champions, women) which, although not as popular today as in Canada, remains more popular in Scotland than anywhere else in Europe. Scotland are the current (2006) men's World curling champions, and have won World championship gold on three previous occasions.

Darts

Darts is popular in Scotland, with many pubs having their own teams. Former world champions from Scotland include Jocky Wilson

Jocky Wilson

John Thomas Wilson known as "Jocky" Wilson, is a former Scottish darts champion. He retired from the game in 1995.Wilson was twice World professional Darts Champion in 1982 and 1989...

and Les Wallace

Les Wallace

Les Wallace is a Scottish, former World Champion darts player. He currently lives in Midanbury Broadway, Southampton, England. He adopted the nickname McDanger - coming out for his matches dressed in a traditional kilt...

Gaelic Athletic Association

The Gaelic Athletic Association

Gaelic Athletic Association

The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

(GAA) has had a long history in Scotland, thanks to Scotland's substantial Irish population. The base of the GAA in Scotland is at Cambuslang

Cambuslang

Cambuslang is a suburban town on the south-eastern outskirts of Glasgow, Scotland. It is within the local authority area of South Lanarkshire. Historically, it was a large rural Parish incorporating nearby hamlets of Newton, Flemington, and Halfway. It is known as "the largest village in...

, and GAA sports tend to be most popular in Greater Glasgow, although there is also a presence in various Scottish universities.

Scotland GAA

Scotland GAA

The Scotland Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Scotland GAA is one of the county boards of the GAA outside Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in Scotland. The county board is also responsible for the Scottish inter-county teams...

is the GAA

Gaelic Athletic Association

board that is responsible for Gaelic Games

Gaelic games

Gaelic games are sports played in Ireland under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The two main games are Gaelic football and hurling...

in Scotland. Scotland is treated as a "County" by the GAA.

Gaelic Football

Gaelic football

Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...

is also played in Scotland, and the games are shown in some of the country's "Irish pubs". University teams have had great success, especially those of Heriot-Watt

Heriot-Watt University

Heriot-Watt University is a university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The name commemorates George Heriot, the 16th century financier to King James, and James Watt, the great 18th century inventor and engineer....

and Napier.

The "Gaelic" part of the name refers to Ireland, rather than Scotland.

Hurling

is a close relative of the indigenous Scottish sport of shinty

Shinty

, and there is an annual international between Scotland's shinty players and Ireland's hurlers, using composite rules. The traditional forms of hurling played in Antrim

County Antrim

County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...

and Donegal

Donegal

Donegal or Donegal Town is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. Its name, which was historically written in English as Dunnagall or Dunagall, translates from Irish as "stronghold of the foreigners" ....

, where many of Scotland's Irish immigrants originate from, were closest to Scottish shinty, and were at one point almost indistinguishable.

The Ireland hurling plays an annual international against a Scottish shinty

Shinty

side under composite rules

Composite rules shinty-hurling

Composite rules shinty-hurling , sometimes known simply as shinty-hurling) is a hybrid sport which was developed to facilitate international matches between shinty players and hurling players....

.

Camogie

Camogie

Camogie is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women; it is almost identical to the game of hurling played by men. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and world wide, largely among Irish communities....

is also played to a low level.

Handball

Horseracing

Scotland has several professional racecourses, but the sport received a massive blow in the 1990s when Lanark shut down.

The main meeting held is the Scottish Grand National

Scottish Grand National

The Scottish Grand National is a Grade 3 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Ayr, Scotland, over a distance of approximately 4 miles and 110 yards and 27 fences...

, held in Ayr

Ayr

Ayr is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. With a population of around 46,000, Ayr is the largest settlement in Ayrshire, of which it is the county town, and has held royal burgh status since 1205...

each April.

Rowing

Rowing is popular in Scottish Universities.

Skiing

The Scottish Highlands

Scottish Highlands

are one of the few parts of the United Kingdom to have a number of ski resorts.

Aviemore

Aviemore

Aviemore is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is popular for skiing and other winter sports, and for hill-walking in the Cairngorm...

is a centre for the sport in the Cairngorms

Cairngorms

The Cairngorms are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain of the same name - Cairn Gorm.-Name:...

. There are also other resorts such as Aonach Mòr

Aonach Mòr

Aonach Mòr is a mountain in the Highlands of Scotland. It is located about 2 miles/ 3 km north east of Ben Nevis on the south side of Glen Spean, near the town of Fort William...

, and slopes at Glencoe Ski area

Glencoe Ski area

Glencoe Ski area , near Glencoe, Highland, is the oldest ski area in Scotland...

and Glenshee Ski Centre

Glenshee Ski Centre

Glenshee Ski Centre is the largest ski resort in Scotland and is sometimes referred to as the Scottish three valleys. It is located in Aberdeenshire and to the north of Spittal of Glenshee, on the A93 road between Blairgowrie and Braemar in the southern Highlands of Scotland...

. The Midlothian Snowsports Centre near Edinburgh, known locally as "Hillend", is the largest dry ski slope in Europe.

Speedway

Scotland currently has two Motorcycle Speedway teams racing in the UK Premier League, Glasgow Tigers

Glasgow Tigers (speedway)

The Glasgow Tigers are a motorcycle speedway team from Glasgow, Scotland. Formed in 1928, the club adopted the Tigers nickname in 1946 and compete in the British Premier League...

and Edinburgh Monarchs.

Swimming

The governing body is the Scottish Amateur Swimming Association. Most major urban centres and medium sized towns have a swimming pool. Sea swimming does take place, but the low water temperature around Scotland tends to mean it is not particularly popular anymore.

Fives

is a minor sport, with courts scattered across the country, and a limited presence in a handful of private schools.

Water polo

Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...

has a minor presence in Scotland, but the country has supplied several Olympic competitors.

Blood sports

All forms of animal fighting e.g. cock fighting, dog fighting, badger baiting etc. are banned, and have been for a long time. Fox hunting

Fox hunting

Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in its current...

and hare coursing

Hare coursing

Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight and not by scent. It is a competitive sport, in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn a hare, rather than a form of hunting aiming at the capture of game. It has a...

have been banned much more recently, and the former has never had a major presence in Scotland.

Folk sports

Aside from the Highland Games

Highland games

, a few localities have preserved traditional sports from before the standardisation of games. These include the ba game

Ba game

Ba game is a version of medieval football played in Scotland, perhaps most notably in Orkney and the Scottish Borders, around Christmas and New Year....

s of Jedburgh

Jedburgh

Jedburgh is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and historically in Roxburghshire.-Location:Jedburgh lies on the Jed Water, a tributary of the River Teviot, it is only ten miles from the border with England and is dominated by the substantial ruins of Jedburgh Abbey...

and Kirkwall

Kirkwall

Kirkwall is the biggest town and capital of Orkney, off the coast of northern mainland Scotland. The town is first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046 when it is recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty...

, and various forms of folk shinty

Shinty

, known as knottie or hummie, which use improvised materials.

Highland games

The Highland Games

Highland games

are a distinctive feature of the national sporting culture. There are numerous annual games hosted in the Highlands

Scottish Highlands

including Braemar

Braemar

Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee sitting at an altitude of ....

and Dunoon

Dunoon

Dunoon is a resort town situated on the Cowal Peninsula in Argyll, Scotland. It sits on the Firth of Clyde to the south of Holy Loch and to the west of Gourock.-Waterfront:...

. They are also popular in various parts of the world, where large numbers of Scottish emigrants have settled.

Events at the Highland Games often test physical strength, such as the weight over the bar

Weight over the bar

The Weight Over the Bar competition is a test of strength featured at Scottish Highland games. The weight is a steel or lead weight attached to a metal circular handle. The weight is thrown one-handed over a bar set at increasing heights above the thrower. The thrower has three attempts for each...

and sheaf toss

Sheaf toss

The sheaf toss is a traditional Scottish agricultural sport event originally contested at country fairs. A pitchfork is used to hurl a burlap bag stuffed with straw over a horizontal bar above the competitor's head. Typical weight for the bag is 16 pounds . Three chances are given to each...

, and novelty events of recent origin such as haggis hurling

Haggis hurling

Haggis hurling is a Scottish sport involving the hurling of a haggis as far as possible for distance and accuracy from atop a platform . The Haggis must be edible.-Background:...

Island Games

Scotland sends three teams to the Island Games

Island Games

The Island Games are an international multi-sports event organized by the International Island Games Association.- History :The Island Games began in 1985 as the Inter-Island Games, as part of the Isle of Man International Year of Sport, and were intended to be a one-off sporting celebration only...

tournament: one for the Orkney Islands

Orkney Islands

Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...

, Shetland, and Outer Hebrides

Outer Hebrides

The Outer Hebrides also known as the Western Isles and the Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. The islands are geographically contiguous with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland...

.

The 2005 Island Games

2005 Island Games

The 2005 Island Games were the 11th Island Games, and were held in Shetland, Scotland, from July 9 to July 15, 2005.-Medal table:-Sports:The 14 sports chosen for the games were:* Archery* Athletics* Badminton* Cycling* Football* Golf* Gymnastics...

were hosted by Shetland.

Olympic Games

Scottish athletes have competed at every Olympic Games

Olympic Games

, since the inaugural modern Games, as part of the Great Britain and Ireland

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

team (prior to Irish independence

Irish independence

Irish independence may refer to:* Irish War of Independence – a guerrilla war fought between the Irish Republican Army, under the Irish Republic, and the United Kingdom* Anglo-Irish Treaty – the treaty that brought the Irish War of Independence to a close...

) and then the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team. A Scot, Launceston Elliot

Launceston Elliot

Launceston Elliot was a Scottish weightlifter. He was the first British Olympic champion.Launceston Elliot was born in India. His family was an established part of the Scottish aristocracy with Lord Minto being head of the family which had strong connections with India. The 4th Earl Minto served...

, won Great Britain and Ireland's very first Olympic gold medal, in 1896 in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

. Some of the most notable Scots athletes are Eric Liddell

Eric Liddell

Eric Henry Liddell was a Scottish athlete, rugby union international player, and missionary.Liddell was the winner of the men's 400 metres at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris...

, (whose story is featured in the film Chariots of Fire

Chariots of Fire

Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....

), Alan Wells

Alan Wells

Alan Peter Wells is an English cricketer. He played for Sussex from 1981 to 1996, where he was captain from 1992 to 1996. He then played for Kent from 1997 to 2000...

, the Olympic 100m winner in 1980, and Chris Hoy

Chris Hoy

Sir Christopher Andrew "Chris" Hoy, MBE is a Scottish track cyclist representing Great Britain and Scotland. He is a multiple world champion and Olympic Games gold medal winner...

, winner of four cycling gold medals in 2004 and 2008.

Scotland have only ever won one Olympic medal as Scotland, when the men's field hockey team won a bronze medal at the 1908 Summer Games. This was also the only occasion when either England (gold) or Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

(bronze) have won a medal in their own right; and was Ireland's only medal (silver) prior to independence. The curling

Curling

gold medal in Chamonix

Chamonix

Chamonix-Mont-Blanc or, more commonly, Chamonix is a commune in the Haute-Savoie département in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It was the site of the 1924 Winter Olympics, the first Winter Olympics...

in 1924 was won by the Royal Caledonian Curling Club

Royal Caledonian Curling Club

The Royal Caledonian Curling Club is the mother club of the sport of curling, and the governing body of curling in Scotland. The RCCC was founded on 25 July 1838 in Edinburgh, and granted its royal charter by Queen Victoria in 1843, after she had witnessed a demonstration of the sport played on...

team, the Scottish national team, and the women's curling gold in Salt Lake City in 2002 was won by the top Scottish team at the time, skipped by Rhona Martin

Rhona Martin

Rhona Martin MBE is a Scottish curler who has skipped the Scotland women's team at both the European and World Championships, but is most famous as the skip of the Great Britain team that claimed the gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games in 2002.-Early career:For a long time best known in...

. There is a long-running Campaign for a Scottish Olympic Team

Campaign for a Scottish Olympic Team

Campaign for a Scottish Olympic Team is a pressure group in Scotland, established in 2005, which aims to persuade politicians to establish a team to represent Scotland at the Olympic Games....

In 2009, two sports of Scottish origin, golf and rugby sevens were accepted into the Olympics. Curling

Curling

has been an event at the Winter Olympics for many years.

For a list of Scottish Olympic medal winners, see Scottish Olympic medallists

Scottish Olympic medallists

This is a list of Scottish medal winners at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.-1896 Athens:*Launceston Elliot, Gold, weightlifting, one-handed*Launceston Elliot, Silver, weightlifting, two-handed -1900 Paris:*Walter Rutherford, Silver, Golf...

Motorsport

Scotland has been successful in all forms of motor racing especially since its growth in popularity since World War II. Several Scottish drivers have had illustrious careers at the top level and success has come in many different championships including Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

, The World Rally Championship

World Rally Championship

The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...

, Le Mans 24 hours, CART

Champ Car

Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...

, and the British Touring Car Championship

British Touring Car Championship

The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s...

Formula One

Scotland has had several Formula One drivers over the years since the championship commenced in 1950. A full list of these drivers can be found at :Category:Scottish Formula One drivers. Of these drivers the best known are Jim Clark

Jim Clark

James "Jim" Clark, Jr OBE was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965....

, who won 2 World Championships before his untimely death, Jackie Stewart

Jackie Stewart

Sir John Young Stewart, OBE , better known as Jackie Stewart, and nicknamed The Flying Scotsman, is a Scottish former racing driver and team owner. He competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships. He also competed in Can-Am...

who managed to gain 3 World Championships and David Coulthard

David Coulthard

David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...

who raced from 1994-2008 with McLaren F1

McLaren F1

The McLaren F1 is a supercar designed and manufactured by McLaren Automotive. Originally a concept conceived by Gordon Murray, he convinced Ron Dennis to back the project and engaged Peter Stevens to design the exterior of the car...

, Williams F1 and Red Bull F1. Coulthard has been Scotland's most successful driver in recent memory finishing runner up in the World Drivers Championships in 2001 and is the front running British Driver in the all-time list in seventh position. No round of F1 has however been held in Scotland making the country one of the most successful countries without hosting a race.

Rallying

The McRae family are Scotland's best known rally drivers, in particular Colin McRae

Colin McRae

Colin Steele McRae, MBE was a Scottish rally driver born in Lanark.The son of five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and brother of rally driver Alister McRae, Colin McRae was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion and, in 1995, became the first British person and the youngest to win the...

who won the WRC in 1995. He also managed to affirm his popularity by adding his name to a series of successful rally games. Louise Aitken-Walker

Louise Aitken-Walker

Louise Aitken-Walker MBE is a British rally and saloon car racing driver. Aitken-Walker entered competition in 1979 and finished 19th in her first Rally GB two years later...

made significant inroads into the male-dominated sport. Scotland also hosts a number of minor rally events and has hosted the British round of the WRC however this now takes place almost exclusively in Wales

Wales

Le Mans

Allan McNish

Allan McNish is a Scottish racing driver. He is a two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, most recently in 2008, and two-time American Le Mans Series champion.- Early life :...

has competed in both F1 in 2002 for Toyota and in German Touring cars Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters

The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is a touring car racing series based in Germany, but also with rounds elsewhere in Europe....

(DTM), but is best known for his 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans

24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...

victory with the Porsche

Porsche

Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....

team. Peter Dumbreck

Peter Dumbreck

Peter Dumbreck is a racing driver from Scotland.In 1994 he dominated the British Formula Vauxhall Junior championship and followed this in 1996 with a similarly strong performance when he won ten races to take the full Formula Vauxhall Championship.After finishing third in British Formula 3 in...

has also competed in the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans

1999 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 67th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 12 and 13, 1999.-Pre-race:1999 saw another increase in manufacturers involvement. Although Porsche did not send a team to contest, Toyota retained their three updated GT-Ones, now moved to the LMGTP class due...

, and is better known for his infamous accident in the 1999 event where his Mercedes-Benz CLR

Mercedes-Benz CLR

The Mercedes-Benz CLR was a Le Mans Prototype built by Mercedes-Benz for the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans. It became infamous for spectacular crashes during its only competitive outing.-Racing history:...

car suffered aerodynamic problems and took off, somersaulting through the air.

BTCC

In British Touring Car Championship Scotland has had a had a double champion in John Cleland

John Cleland (racing driver)

John Cleland . is a retired Scottish auto racing driver. He raced autocross and hillclimb in the 1970s, before achieving success in British Production Car and Thundersaloon championships, before joining Vauxhall for the 1989 British Touring Car Championship...

. A number of drivers have raced successfully in recent years including Anthony Reid, David Leslie and Gordon Shedden. One round of the championship is annually held in Scotland.

American Race Series

Some Scottish drivers have had success in the American series of mainly oval racing. Currently Dario Franchitti

Dario Franchitti

George Dario Marino Franchitti is a Scottish racing driver. He formerly competed in the CART series before switching to the IndyCar Series where he was 2007 champion, and won the rain-shortened 2007 Indianapolis 500. Franchitti is also a former NASCAR driver for Chip Ganassi Racing, competing...

from Bathgate

Bathgate

Bathgate is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, on the M8 motorway west of Livingston. Nearby towns are Blackburn, Armadale, Whitburn, Livingston, and Linlithgow. Edinburgh Airport is away...

, competes in the Indycar Series

IndyCar Series

The IZOD IndyCar Series is the premier level of American open wheel racing. The current championship, founded by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George, began in 1996 as a competitor to CART known as the Indy Racing League . Citing CART's increasing reliance on expensive machinery and...

, having won the 2007 series and the 2007 Indianapolis 500

2007 Indianapolis 500

The 91st Indianapolis 500 ran on Sunday, May 27, 2007 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was the 12th Indy 500 sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, and marked the fifth race of the 2007 IndyCar Series season just after the 2007 Kansas Lottery Indy 300 and just before the 2007 ABC Supply...

. Allan McNish

Allan McNish

Allan McNish is a Scottish racing driver. He is a two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, most recently in 2008, and two-time American Le Mans Series champion.- Early life :...

currently competes in the American Le Mans ALMS

Alms

Alms or almsgiving is a religious rite which, in general, involves giving materially to another as an act of religious virtue.It exists in a number of religions. In Philippine Regions, alms are given as charity to benefit the poor. In Buddhism, alms are given by lay people to monks and nuns to...

series where he made history by driving the first diesel powered race-car in the series to victory.

Superleague Formula

Rangers F.C.

Rangers F.C. (Superleague Formula team)

Rangers F.C. Superleague Formula team is the racing team of Rangers F.C., a football team that competes in Scotland in the Scottish Premier League. The Rangers racing team competes in the Superleague Formula. It has been operated by Alan Docking Racing for all seasons, although Team West-Tec...

currently enter a car into the Superleague Formula

Superleague Formula

Superleague Formula is an open wheel single seater motor racing formula, which started in 2008, at Donington Park in the United Kingdom. The league introduced team sponsorship by association football clubs. It goes by the saying 'The Beautiful Race: Football at 300 km/h'. By 2011 the link with...

series. The team is operated by Alan Docking Racing

Alan Docking Racing

Alan Docking Racing is motor racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom. The team was formed in 1975 by Australian Alan Docking....

. Rangers F.C have 1 win and 3 podiums.

Scottish circuits

Which there are a number of smaller circuits for private use in Scotland and a number of rally stages, the only circuit to host top level circuit motor racing in Scotland is Knockhill

Knockhill Racing Circuit

Knockhill Racing Circuit in Fife is Scotland's national Motorsport centre. The circuit is located in the Fife countryside about north of Dunfermline. The track, initially opened in 1974, is long and 10 metres wide and was created by joining service roads to a nearby disused mineral railway,...

in Fife

Fife

Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

Sports media

Scotland has a distinct set of media products, especially when it comes to sports coverage. The main Scottish daily newspapers, the Daily Record
Daily Record (Scotland)
The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 . It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in...

, The Herald and The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....

, have extensive coverage of Scottish and international sport; and coverage of Scottish sport is one of the key tools used by Scottish editions of English newspapers, most successfully employed by The Scottish Sun. However, there is a tendency for the majority of coverage to be of association football.

There is also a variety of magazine titles. Titles include The Celtic View
The Celtic View
The Celtic View is the official weekly magazine of Celtic Football Club in Glasgow, Scotland.Launched in 1965 as a four page newspaper, it is the oldest football club magazine in the United Kingdom. Its first editor was Jack McGinn, later chairman of the club...

, Rangers News, Bunkered, Scottish Club Golfer and Rally Action.

The main sports television shows on the largest two channels are Scotsport
Scotsport
Scotsport was a Scottish sports television programme, broadcast on STV in northern and central Scotland, as well as on Border Television in southern Scotland. It was recognised as the world's longest-running sports television magazine....

on STV and ITV1 Border Scotland (which is recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's longest running sports television programme) and Sportscene
Sportscene
Sportscene is the name of a range of Scottish sports television programmes produced by BBC Scotland. Its main anchors are Dougie Donnelly, David Currie, Rob MacLean and Dougie Vipond, with Alison Walker and Richard Gordon acting as relief presenters...

on BBC Scotland

BBC Scotland

BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...

. BBC Radio Scotland

BBC Radio Scotland

BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle...

's main sports show is Sportsound
Sportsound
Sportsound is BBC Radio Scotland's main radio sports show. It provides coverage to listeners on medium wave, FM, DAB Digital Radio and via the internet. It is best known for its exclusive live commentary of Scottish Premier League football games. It is broadcast 7 days a week, and on on-match days...

, and it has other sports output, for example the comedy show Off the Ball
Off the ball
Off the ball is a term used in football in the UK, usually associated with a players movement when not in possession of the football...

. All the main independent radio stations

Independent Local Radio

Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. The same name is used for Independent Local Radio in Ireland.-Development of ILR:...

report on local sport, and often cover football matches live (although not the SPL, to which the BBC hold exclusive radio rights).

BBC Alba's Spòrs

Spòrs

BBC Alba has the rights to various sporting events, which it covers in the medium of Scottish Gaelic and under the umbrella of its Spòrs sports television programme....

shows one full SPL match.

External links

Executive urged to target future swimming success, Sunday Herald
Sunday Herald
The Sunday Herald is a Scottish Sunday newspaper launched on 7 February 1999. The ABC audited circulation in April 2011 showed sales of 31,123.From the start it has combined a centre-left stance with support for Scottish devolution...
PDF - Scottish Summer Olympic Medal Winners, compiled by sportscotland
Sportscotland
Sportscotland , formerly the Scottish Sports Council, is the national agency for sport in Scotland. Their stated aim is to help everyone in Scotland enjoy sport's many benefits....
Association for Physical Education Association for Physical Education
Association for Physical Education
The Association for Physical Education is committed to being the UK representative organisation of choice for people and agencies delivering or supporting the delivery of physical education in schools and in the wider community....

afPE Official website

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Football codes

Traditional football

Association Football

Rugby union

Rugby sevens

American Football

Australian Rules Football

Rugby League

Futsal, indoor football and five-a-side

Cricket

Golf

Shinty

Baseball

Croquet

Elephant polo

Field hockey

Ice Hockey

Lacrosse

Rock-It-Ball

Basketball

Netball

Pool

Snooker

Badminton

Racquets

Squash

Tennis

Royal Tennis

Martial arts

Fencing

Judo

Athletics

Marathon

Angling

Bowls

Boxing

Climbing and mountaineering

Cycling

Curling

Darts

Gaelic Athletic Association

Gaelic Football

Hurling

Handball

Horseracing

Rowing

Skiing

Speedway

Swimming

Fives

Water polo

Blood sports

Folk sports

Highland games

Island Games

Olympic Games

Motorsport

Formula One

Rallying

Le Mans

BTCC

American Race Series

Superleague Formula

Scottish circuits

Sports media

See also

External links