From free-scoring strikers to wizard-like wingers, Scotland has produced plenty of great attacking talent over the course of its footballing history.
Here, FourFourTwo works its way through the very best of them, including some of the biggest names the game has ever known.
Click on the arrow above to start the countdown!
32. Steven Fletcher
Voted SFWA (Scottish Football Writers’ Association) Young Player of the Year in 2007/08 and 2008/09, Steven Fletcher’s fine performances for Hibernian – where he won the Scottish League Cup – earned him a move to Premier League Burnley.
The 33-cap Scotland international – who scored 10 goals for his country – later had spells with, among others, Wolves and Sunderland – as well as a stint out on loan from the latter at French giants Marseille.
31. Duncan Ferguson
One of the most notorious hardmen of the Premier League era, Duncan Ferguson is a legend at Everton – where he had two spells either side of a stint at Newcastle.
Sent off no fewer than eight times in the English top flight – where he scored 68 goals. the most by a Scot in the competition – the towering target man had previously done prison time for headbutting Raith Rovers’ John McStay during his time at Rangers. You messed with ‘Big Dunc’ at your peril.
30. Kevin Gallacher
Another player who and spent the bulk of his career in England, Kevin Gallacher made more than 100 appearances for Coventry City and more than 150 for Blackburn Rovers.
The striker missed out on a 1994/95 Premier League winner’s medal with Blackburn after two broken legs limited him to one outing all season (in which he scored), but he enjoyed the best campaign of his career three years later, netting 16 times to finish just two short of the Prem Golden Boot.
29. Alan McInally
A familiar face to viewers of Soccer Saturday, Alan McInally’s playing career took him from hometown club Ayr United to European giants Bayern Munich – via Celtic and Aston Villa.
Part of Scotland’s 1990 World Cup squad after scoring 10 goals to help Bayern clinch the Bundesliga title, McInally was also a league champion with Celtic.
28. Robert McColl
A five-time British Home Championship winner with Scotland, Robert McColl scored 13 goals in 13 caps during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
At club level, the centre-forward played for Newcastle and Rangers in the middle of a career bookended by stints at Queen’s Park. After retiring, he founded newsagent chain RS McColl with his brother Tom – before serving as an army sergeant in the First World War.
27. Eric Black
Forced to retire at the age of just 27 due to a chronic back problem, Eric Black split his career almost equally between Aberdeen and French outfit Metz.
A Scottish double winner and Cup Winners’ Cup winner under Alex Ferguson at Aberdeen – opening the scoring against Real Madrid in the final of the latter competition – Black then lifted the Coupe de France with Metz.
26. Mark McGhee
Eric Black’s strike partner in Alex Ferguson’s legendary Aberdeen side, Mark McGhee scored 100 goals in 249 appearances for the club overall – including six to finish among the leading marksmen in the 1982/83 Cup Winners’ Cup.
Later a successful manager with the likes of Reading – where he finished his playing career – Millwall and Brighton, McGhee also turned out for Newcastle, Hamburg and Celtic in his prime.
25. Willie Johnston
A Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup winner with Rangers, Willie Johnston earned 22 caps for his country between 1965 and 1978.
The outside left scored 131 goals across two spells with the Gers and also spent seven years south of the border at West Brom. He later won the NASL title with the Vancouver Whitecaps.
24. Kenny Miller
Kenny Miller is one of a handful of players to have played for both Celtic and Rangers – and he actually had three spells with the latter.
A Scottish Premier League and Cup winner with both Old Firm rivals, Miller – who captained Scotland on five occasions – notched 268 goals over the course of a career which also saw him turn out for clubs in England, Turkey and Canada.
23. Jimmy Smith
Among Rangers’ all-time top scorers with 249 goals in 259 games, Jimmy Smith was nothing short of prolific, finish as leading marksman in the Scottish top flight in 1933/34 and 1934/35.
Somehow capped just twice by Scotland – scoring once – the centre-forward won nine league titles and six Scottish Cups with the Glasgow giants.
22. Bob McPhail
Another Rangers legend, Bob McPhail ranks second on the club’s list of all-time leading scorers with 261 goals in 408 games from 1927 to 1940.
A serial league champion and Scottish Cup winner, the inside left represented team on 17 occasions, finding the net seven times – including twice in a 3-1 victory over England in the 1936/37 British Home Championship.
21. John Hughes
Part of the Celtic squad that famously won the 1966/67 European Cup (although he missed the final through injury), John Hughes spent 12 glorious years with the Bhoys – who he also helped to six straight league titles from 1966 to 1971.
Capped eight times by Scotland, the man nicknamed ‘Yogi’ after Yogi Bear – so large was his build – also had spells in England with Crystal Palace and Sunderland.
20. Willie Reid
Right up there with the all-time top goalscorers in the Scottish top flight, Willie Reid scored 270 league goals in his homeland – the majority of them for Rangers, where he won four titles between 1911 and 1920.
A nine-time Scotland international – scoring four goals – Reid also turned out for Morton, Third Lanark, Motherwell, Portsmouth and Albion Rovers.
19. Colin Stein
A key figure in the legendary Rangers side who won the 1971/72 Cup Winners’ Cup, scoring in the final against Dynamo Moscow, Colin Stein – who also played for Hibernian, Coventry City and Kilmarnock – scored nine goals in 21 international caps.
Three of those nine goals came against Cyprus in 1969, and they would constitute the last hat-trick for the Scotland national team until Steven Fletcher repeated the feat against Gibraltar in 2015.
18. Gordon Smith
The only player to be crowned a champion of Scotland with three clubs – Hibernian, Hearts and Dundee – Gordon Smith racked up well over 300 goals for club and country.
Hibs’ all-time leading goalscorer, Smith starred in the Edinburgh outfit’s legendary ‘Famous Five’ attack and earned 19 caps for his country.
17. Ally McCoist
Everyone’s favourite co-commentator (you could say it’s a pleasure to listen to him), Ally McCoist was a pretty handy player during the 80s and 90s, racking up the goals for Rangers and Scotland.
Record scorer for the Gers by an absolute mile – finding the net 355 times overall – the 10-time Scottish champion – who top-scored in the 1987/88 European Cup – also notched 19 international goals, producing a fine long-range strike against Switzerland at Euro 96.
16. Steve Archibald
The first Scottish footballer to play in Spain, Steve Archibald was a popular figure at Barcelona during the 80s, scoring 15 goals to fire them to the 1984/85 LaLiga title under Terry Venables.
Before that, Archibald – who earned 27 Scotland caps – had regularly made the net ripple for Aberdeen and Tottenham, winning the Scottish title with the former, and two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup with the latter.
15. Mo Johnston
Among Scotland’s standout players of the late 80s and early 90s, Mo Johnston scored 14 goals in 38 caps, notably starring for Watford, Celtic, Nantes and Rangers at club level – his 1989 move to the latter angering both sides of the Old Firm divide as he became their first big-name Catholic signing in over a century.
Nonetheless, Johnston played a key role in back-to-back title triumphs for the Gers, adding to the one he’d previously enjoyed with Celtic. He ended his career by helping the Kansas City Wizards to MLS glory.
14. Charlie Nicholas
Free-scoring in two spells at Celtic – where he won the title and Scottish Cup – ‘Champagne’ Charlie Nicholas (so nicknamed for his playboy lifestyle) is also remembered for his successful five-year spell at Arsenal, during which he helped the Gunners to 1986/87 League Cup victory – bagging a brace in the final against Liverpool.
Later a Scottish Cup and League Cup winner with Aberdeen, the 1983 Scottish PFA Player of the Year and 1983/84 Arsenal Player of the Season was capped 20 times by his country, notching five goals.
13. Andy Gray
A league champion south of the border with Everton and north of it with Rangers, Andy Gray spent almost his entire career in England – where he earned legendary status at Aston Villa and Wolves.
Famous for his diving headers, the striker helped both West Midlands clubs to League Cup glory, scoring the winner for the latter in the 1980 final against Nottingham Forest. Capped 20 times by Scotland – bagging seven goals – Gray also lifted the FA Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup with Everton.
12. Bobby Johnstone
Having banged in the goals for Hibernian as one prong of the ‘Famous Five’ – winning back-to-back Scottish First Division titles in the early 50s – Bobby Johnstone headed south of the border to join Manchester City.
There, the 17-time Scotland international – who netted 10 times for his country – lifted the 1955/56 FA Cup, scoring in the final against Birmingham City, then returned to Hibs before another spell in North West England – this time with Oldham Athletic.
11. Willie Wallace
One of Celtic’s 1966/67 European Cup-winning ‘Lisbon Lions’ – and one of the 13 members of that squad born within 10 miles of Celtic Park – Willie Wallace partnered Stevie Chalmers up front as Jock Stein’s side came from behind to beat Inter Milan 2-1.
The versatile forward’s successful time with the Bhoys – who he also helped to 10 other trophies – came after a similarly prolific five-year association with Hearts – where he won the 1962/63 Scottish League Cup. He also spent time south of the border at Crystal Palace.
10. Lawrie Reilly
Striker Lawrie Reilly spent his whole career with hometown clubs Hibernian, amassing 238 goals for the Edinburgh outfit between 1946 and 1958.
Another member of the club’s iconic ‘Famous Five’ frontline, Reilly helped Hibs to three of their four Scottish titles and found the net 22 times in 38 international appearances.
9. Robert Hamilton
It rather goes without saying that Robert Hamilton’s record of 15 goals in 11 caps gives him one of the best goals-to-games ratios in the history of the Scotland national team.
One of the country’s top players of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the man who scored 184 goals in 209 outings for Rangers – where he won four league titles found the net four times in an 11-0 demolition of Northern Ireland in 1901.
8. Hughie Ferguson
How Hughie Ferguson was never capped by Scotland is a mystery: he was one of the most ruthless finishers the nation has ever seen, amassing 406 goals in 480 career appearances.
The vast majority of those goals came for Motherwell, but Ferguson also finished as top scorer in each of his four seasons at Cardiff City – for whom he notched the winner in the 1927 FA Cup final against Arsenal.
7. Jimmy McGrory
The most prolific goalscorer in the history of British top-flight football, Jimmy McGrory found the net a whopping 522 times in 501 appearances for Celtic overall (needless to say, he is the club’s all-time leading marksman).
A champion of Scotland with the Glasgow giants as both a player and manager, McGrory – who bagged six goals in seven international caps – hit a Scottish top-flight record 48 hat-tricks and once scored eight goals in one game (also a record).
6. Davie Cooper
“God gave Davie Cooper a talent. He would not be disappointed with how it was used.”
Those were the words of former Rangers and Scotland manager Walter Smith, describing a winger of sublime ability.
Blessed with a wand of a left foot, 22-cap international Cooper – who featured at the 1986 World Cup – was an extraordinarily elegant player who helped Rangers to multiple Scottish titles, Cups and League Cups during a 12-year spell at Ibrox. He later added another Scottish Cup with Motherwell.
5. Stevie Chalmers
Scorer of the most significant goal in Celtic’s history – the winner in the 1967 European Cup final against Inter Milan – Stevie Chalmers’ name is etched into the folklore of the Old Firm giants.
Among the club’s all-time leading marksmen with 236 goals in 431 outings, the versatile Chalmers – who represented Scotland on three occasions, winning the 1966/67 British Home Championship – also claimed numerous league titles, Scottish Cups and League Cups with Celtic.
4. Hughie Gallacher
One of Newcastle’s greatest ever players, Hughie Gallacher scored for fun during his five years on Tyneside, firing the Magpies to the 1926/27 First Division title.
Previously a Scottish Cup winner with Airdrieonians, the centre-forward – who also starred in England for Chelsea, Derby County, Notts County, Grimsby Town and Gateshead – won 20 caps for Scotland, averaging better than a goal a game.
3. Jimmy Johnstone
Another European Cup-winning ‘Lisbon Lion’, ‘Jinky’ Jimmy Johnstone – so nicknamed for his bamboozling dribbling ability – is widely considered to be Celtic’s greatest ever player.
A 23-time Scotland international, the iconic outside right finished third in the voting for the 1967 Ballon d’Or – having done the treble with Celtic during the 1966/67 season.
2. Denis Law
A free-scoring striker for Manchester United and Manchester City – not many can say that – Denis Law won two top-flight titles, the FA Cup and the European Cup with the former.
One of Scotland’s all-time leading marksmen with 30 goals in 55 caps, the legendary ‘Lawman’ – who also had a brief stint in Italy with Torino – picked up the 1964 Ballon d’Or.
1. Kenny Dalglish
Liverpool’s greatest player of all time, ‘King Kenny’ Dalglish won it all as a Red – with five First Division titles and three European Cups among his numerous honours.
And that was only after the legendary forward had done three doubles with Celtic in his native Scotland – by whom he was capped 102 times, scoring 30 goals and starring at two World Cups.
