Comenius Project

In Scotland there are four leagues, the highest league is the Scottish Premier League (SPL) with 12 teams, the second is the First Division with 10 teams, then the Second and Third Divisions both with 10 teams in them.

In the First, Second and Third divisions the Team highest in the league at the end of the season gets promoted (put up) to the next league.

In The SPL, the First and the Second divisions the team in the lowest position in the league gets relegated (put down) into the league below.

For the last six weeks of a season the league table in the SPL is split into a top six and a bottom six and this is usually where teams fight for the best place they can get.

The 2007/2008 season league table is shown below:

There are two main rival clubs in the SPL. They are:

• Celtic and Rangers – both from Glasgow
• Hibernian and Heart Of Midlothian – Both from the Capital City; Edinburgh

In Scottish football there are three main trophies to win each season:

• The Scottish Cup
• The CIS Insurance Cup
• The League Winners Cup

There is also the European cup (UEFA Cup) available to win. Ways of getting into the UEFA cup are:

1. By becoming the SPL league winner
2. By getting into the final of the Scottish cup

Clubs who fail to qualify for the UEFA cup can apply to enter the Intertoto cup where if they win they are given an automatic place in the next UEFA cup.

The UEFA cup is the second most important international competition for European football clubs, after the UEFA Champions League. Clubs qualify for the UEFA Cup based on their performance in national leagues and cup competitions.

A Scottish team (Rangers) were recently Runners up in the competition in the 2007/2008 tournament.
Another Scottish team (Celtic) were runners up in the 2002/2003 tournament.

Cups Won This Year: 
- SPL League Winners Cup – Celtic
- Scottish Cup – Rangers
- CIS Insurance Cup - Rangers

In The UEFA Cup next season are; Queen Of The South (First Division) and Rangers.
In the Intertoto cup next season are Hibernian.

Scotlands International team are in group 9 of the World Cup Qualifiers and almost made it into the group stages of the Euro 2008 competition with a memorable 1-0 win against France but could not get second place in the table and came third.

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.
Some of Scotland's most famous results include defeating the World Cup holders England 3–2 at Wembley Stadium in 1967, and defeating tournament finalists the Netherlands 3–2 in the 1978 World Cup, with Archie Gemmill scoring a famous goal. In 2006 and 2007 Scotland enjoyed home and away victories against France, defeating the World Cup finalists 1–0 on both occasions.
Traditionally England have been Scotland's fiercest rivals, though in recent times senior level fixtures between the teams have become uncommon. The last match between the sides was the second leg of a Euro 2000 qualifying play-off at Wembley in 1999, which Scotland won 1-0.