We Support the Boys in Blue

 

During the international fixtures for October, there was much celebration over the fact that Scotland had qualified for the final stages of next summer’s European Championships in Germany. Scotland’s mightily impressive start to their qualifying campaign – winning their first five games in Group A, an unprecedented achievement – meant a draw in their sixth game against Spain in Seville would secure their passage to the finals.

After having what looked like a perfectly good goal disallowed early in the second half (don’t get me started on VAR…), the Scots lost 2-0 to their hosts. As a nation we don’t see success as comfortable bedfellows and few of the Tartan Army expected much else, particularly as Spain were intent on revenge for their 2-0 defeat at Hampden earlier this year.

We knew that, despite the defeat in Seville, Scotland would qualify if Norway failed to defeat the Spaniards in Oslo the following Sunday. Whilst a draw in that fixture would have been the idea result – Scotland would have qualified for the finals and still be top of the group – Spain’s narrow victory was enough for Scots across the globe to celebrate. And celebrate we did!

It’s a phenomenal achievement by Steve Clarke’s team and the reaction took me back half a century to when Scotland qualified for the 1974 Word Cup finals in what was then West Germany. The world was a different place back then and the Scots were drawn in a qualifying group that included just two other countries – Denmark and what was then called Czechoslovakia. Denmark weren’t the force in world football they are today and Scotland brushed them aside 4-1 in Copenhagen and 2-0 at Hampden.

That just left the small matter of a Czechoslovakian team who were less than three years away from winning the European Championship. Most pundits believed that qualification for West Germany would come down to the head-to-head games between the Scots and the Czechs. However, when Denmark held the Czechs to a draw in Copenhagen the door was suddenly left ajar for Scotland to progress. All they had to do was win their game against the Czechs at Hampden and it would be job done.

On an unforgettable evening at Hampden on 26 September 1973, Scotland fought back from conceding the first goal when Nehoda scored for the visitors – absolute disaster for Scotland as legendary football commentator Arthur Montford put it – to secure a dramatic win with goals from (6 feet four, eyes of blue) Jim Holton and a diving header from a young Joe Jordan.

The scenes at Hampden at the end of the game were memorable. Scotland had qualified for the final stages of a World Cup for the first time in 16 years. Not since 1958 had the Scots graced the world stage. Manager Willie Ormond, a member of Hibernian’s Famous Five forward line of the 1950s, was carried shoulder high from the field as the Scots celebrated a momentous achievement.

Scotland had had some great players since they last played in a World Cup finals. Dave Mackay, Willie Henderson, John Greig, Jim Baxter, and Tommy Gemmell were all players of note yet none of them would play in the final stages of a World Cup. Now, the class of 1974 had the opportunity to make history, particularly as they were the only home nation to qualify. England were put to the sword by Poland (who would go on to get third place in West Germany) and the football headline writers down south were in crisis mode. Manager Sir Alf Ramsay had helped make England world champions in 1966 (you may have heard about this) but eight years later he was persona non grata.

Scotland, being Scotland, we went out of the 1974 World Cup in the first round on goal difference. The fact we only put two goals past African minnows Zaire while Yugoslavia put nine past them didn’t help. In later years, allegations surfaced about bribery but that’s another story.

Of course, Scotland would go on to qualify for another four World Cup finals in succession. The sheer joy of our nation qualifying to play on the biggest football stage of all was all consuming – never mind the sometimes catastrophic events when we got there (if there is anyone from Peru, Iran or Costa Rica reading this – just don’t, okay?)

The present-day Scotland team have exceeded expectations, particularly with the victories over Spain and Norway. The more ‘glass half-empty’ fans among us will say this is dangerous and will lead to an inevitable downfall. Bur, for now, lets enjoy the moment, savour the remarkable fact that Scotland haven’t qualified for a major tournament through the back door of a play-off but were one of the first countries to qualify on merit.

As the Scotland squad of fifty years ago sang so memorably in their World Cup song ‘Yabba dabba do, we support the boys in blue…’

 

 Mike Smith

Twitter @Mike1874

www.theftibason.com