Football League
Representative Matches

Ayresome Park hosted four representative matches between the Football League and the Scottish League. Details of the matches are listed below:

Date: 17th February 1912

Teams

Football League: Willaimson (Middlesbrough), Crompton (Blackburn Rovers), Pennington (West Bromwich Albion), Duckworth (Manchester United), Boyle (Burnley), Fay (Bolton Wanderers), Wallace (Aston Villa), Buchan (Sunderland), Freeman (Burnley), Holley (Sunderland), Mordue (Sunderland)

Scottish League: Brownlie (Third Lanark), Blair (Clyde), McNair (Celtic), Galt (Rangers), McAndrew (Clyde), Mercer (Hearts), Brown (Celtic), Cunningham (Kilmarnock), Quinn (Celtic), McMenemy (Celtic), Bennett (Rangers)

Report

Boro's Tim Williamson was in goal for the Football League in this highly anticipated match between the cream of English and Scottish football. A very exciting but even first half failed to produce a goal but provided the crowd with excellent entertainment. The second half belonged to the Football League as Freeman opened the scoring, however, the English had to wait until the dying minutes before they made the game safe, when Holley made it 2-0.

Date: 22nd March 1950

Teams

Football League: Williams (Wolverhampton Wanderers(, Ramsey (Tottenham Hotspur), Aston (Manchester United), Wright (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Franklin (Stoke City), Dickinson (Portsmouth), Hancocks (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Mannion (Middlesbrough), Mortenson (Blackpool), Baily (Tottenham Hotspur), Langton (Blackburn Rovers)

Scottish League: Brown (Rangers), Cox (Rangers), Young (Rangers), Hewitt (Partick Thistle), Woodburn (Rangers), Egans (Celtic), Reilly (Hibernian), Brown (East Fife), Bauld (Hearts), Mason (Hibernian), Smith (Hibernian)

Scorer: Young (pen)

Report

A sell-out crowd of nearly 40,000 came to see the best of English football just months before England jetted off to the World Cup in Brazil. The late withdrawal of Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews didn't disappoint the locals as Boro hero Wilf Mannion was given the opportunity to put in a man-of-the-match performance. Mannion had a hand in all three goals as the Football League cruised to a 2-0 advantage by the break, both goals coming from Stan Mortenson. A third midway through the second half from Bailey confirmed the English' dominance before Young converted a dubious penalty for the Scottish League.

Date: 20th March 1968

Teams

Football League: Stepney (Manchester United, Newton (Blackburn Rovers), Knowles (Tottenham Hotspur), Stiles (Manchester United), Labone (Everton), Moore (West Ham United), Ball (Everton), Hunt (Liverpool), Charlton (Manchester United), Hurst (West Ham United), Peters (West Ham United)

Scottish League: McCloy (Motherwell), Callaghan (Dunfermline), Gemmell (Celtic), Greig (Rangers), McKinnon (Rangers), Smith D (Rangers), Johnstone (Celtic), Murdoch (Celtic), Stein (Rangers), Lennox (Celtic), Smith J (Aberdeen)

Report

Another well supported match at Ayresome Park saw the Scots dominate the opening half hour, with Alex Stepney much the busier of the two keepers. Then against the run of play the Football League struck through Roger Hunt. A slip from the Scottish keeper at the start of the second half allowed a 35 yard screamer from Keith Newton to seal victory for the English. However, the score did not tell the whole story and the Scots were disappointed not to get anything from the game.

Date: 15th March 1972

Teams

Football League: Clemence (Liverpool), Lawler (Liverpool), Nish (Leicester City), Doyle (Manchester City), Blockley (Arsenal), Moore (West Ham United), Hughes (Liverpool), Macdonald (Newcastle United), Currie (Sheffield United), Hurst (West Ham United), Wagstaffe (Wolverhampton Wanderers)

Scottish League: Hunter (Kilmarnock), Brownlie (Hibernian), Forsyth (Partick Thistle), Jardine (Rangers), Connelly (Celtic), Blackley (Hibernian), McQuade (Partick Thistle), Phillips (Dundee), Setin (Rangers), Hay (Celtic), Ford (Hearts)

Scorers: McQuade, Stein

Report

FA Cup replay commitments meant that the Football League fielded a makeshift side against their Scottish counterparts. The English were two goals to the good, from Tony Currie and Mike Doyle, within half an hour and but for the linesman flag would have been three up before the break. The disallowed goal brought great joy to the Teesside public as the potential scorer was Newcastle striker Malcolm MacDonald. Tony Currie grabbed his second sandwiched between the two Scottish League goals from McQuade and Stein. The contest was never as close as the score suggests but the Football League maintained their 100% record over the Scottish League at Ayresome Park.