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Women's World Cup 2019: England v Scotland - a historic football rivalry

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WATCH: England and Scotland fans re-enact first football game

Scotland play England on Sunday in their first ever match at the Fifa Women's World Cup.

The England-Scotland rivalry goes back further than the rules of football, so it's not the first time the two sides have played against each other.

Keep reading below for some fascinating facts about the two sides throughout history.

1.Mary Queen of Scots watched a game of football in 1568 at Carlisle Castle after fleeing from the Battle of Langside. Some experts say both English and Scottish players took part in the match on the castle grounds. John Bonner from Carlisle Castle says "she and her courtiers watched a football match from the very walls here at Carlisle castle, perhaps the first international football match between England and Scotland."

2. The first official match between Scottish and English footballers was played in 1872 at Hamilton Terrace in Glasgow. It was written up in the papers as the 'great international football match'.

Image source, Getty Images / Hulton Archive
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The first official games between England and Scotland were in the 1870s

3. The rules of association football had been set down by the Football Association in England in 1863. There weren't any football pitches so the games took place at cricket clubs!

4. By 1870 C. W. Alcock, Secretary of The Football Association, had issued public challenges in various Scottish newspapers, including the Glasgow Herald, to Scottish players to play an international match against England. This would be like if FA Chief Executive Martin Glenn called for an England v Scotland match on social media.

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WATCH: Scotland's Lana Clelland and Christie Murray answer your questions

5. There were five unofficial matches between 1870 and 1872 in London, before the first official match took place at the West of Scotland Cricket Club in Glasgow on 30 November 1872.

6. Britain's first recorded international women's football match was played in Edinburgh in May 1881. A team representing Scotland beat one from England 3-0, with Lily St Clair scoring the opener, making her the first scorer in the history of the Association game! The Glasgow Herald described the Scottish team as looking smart in blue jerseys, white knickerbockers, red belts and high heeled boots (we hope they also described what happened in the game!)

Image source, Purple tv/bbc alba
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A painting by Glasgow artist Stuart Gibbs of players in the British Ladies Team in 1895

7. During the First World War, as men fought on the front line, women playing football became more popular. In 1918 there was an unofficial Scotland v England match hosted at Celtic Park; attracting a crowd of 8,000 people.

8. The largest victory between the England and Scotland men's team was a 9-3 victory for England in 1961.

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WATCH: England Women's footballers answer your questions

9. Scotland beat England 3-2 in 1967. It was a year after England won the 1966 World Cup and Scottish fans proclaimed their team the new world champions.

10. In 1972 Scotland hosted England in what was the first official women's international for both countries. It was November, bitterly cold and a half the game took place in a snowstorm. Scotland played well with a 2 goal lead at one point but eventually lost to England 3-2. Rose Reilly, star of the Scottish team later did become a World Cup winner, but in the colours of the Italian team in 1983.

Image source, Getty Images / Mirrorpix
Image caption,

Rose Reilly, one of the stars of the Scottish team, trains in the 1970s

11. The last time the Scottish men's team played England in a major tournament was in 2017 in the 2018 World Cup qualifier. A Harry Kane equaliser in the last minute rescued a point for the Three Lions in a 2-2 draw.

12. The last time the England and Scotland women's team met was at Euro 2017, with the Lionesses winning 6-0 in Utrecht.

13. France 2019 is Scotland's first appearance at the FIFA Women's World Cup!