The Scottish Football League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League (SFL). Soon after the creation of the SFL in 1890, there was a desire on the part of its officials to test its strength against its older counterpart (English) Football League.[1] A match between the Scottish League and The Football League XI was first played in April 1892 at Pike's Lane, Bolton and ended in a 2–2 draw.[1] The Scottish League also played representative matches against the Irish League XI,[2] League of Ireland XI,[3] a Welsh League XI,[4] a Danish Combination and the Italian league. They had also played four fundraising matches during World War I and six unofficial trial matches against Scotland between 1958 and 1964 – players involved in those matches are recorded separately.
A Scottish League team last played in 1990, to mark the league's centenary, in a match against the Scotland national team.[5][6] The Scottish Football League ceased to exist in 2013, when it merged with the Scottish Premier League to form the Scottish Professional Football League.
Bobby Evans holds the record for Scottish League XI appearances, having played 25 times between 1948 and 1960.[7] George Young attained 22 caps, and is the only other player to have won at least 20.[7] Seventeen other players achieved at least 10 caps.[7] Willie Bauld scored the most goals for the Scottish League XI, with his 15 goals coming in 13 appearances between 1949 and 1958.[8] Lawrie Reilly scored 14 goals in as many games.[8] As well as being the third highest scorer, Barney Battles, Jr. is also the most prolific, with his 13 goals coming from only five games (averaging 2.6 goals per game).[8] Bobby Collins (12) and William Reid (10) also scored at least 10 goals for the team.[8]