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

 

 

 

 

Thanks For the Memories, Big Man

 

                                                Image: The Scottish Football Museum

On a recent visit to my daughter’s house in darkest Dalkeith recently, I was heartened to see my 16-year-old granddaughter Hannah enjoying the sun in the back garden. She wasn’t lying incommunicado with a set of headphones stuck in her lugholes – rather she was engrossed in a good book. And not on one of these technically fangled Kindle things – it was an actual hardback book, leather bound with actual pages that required turning.

I was delighted to see Hannah has her ageing grandfather’s aptitude for reading. I had rather wished I had taken the book I’m presently engaged in – Alex Brown’s excellent Niddrie Boys, an autobiographical tale of a lad of similar age to me growing up in Edinburgh’s Niddrie/Craigmillar area and the trials and tribulations he went through.

It was whilst reading Niddrie Boys that I heard the recent sad news of the passing of one of Scotland’s finest defenders – Gordon McQueen.

There’s a chapter in Niddrie Boys where Alex Brown detailed his adventure to Wembley in 1977 to watch Scotland play England in the bi-annual pilgrimage to old London town. In what were less technically operated times, Brown sneaked on a London bound train without paying at Edinburgh’s Waverley Station and joined the thronging masses for the journey south. Brown regales us with the story that the train was so ‘rammed’ as he puts it that there was next to no chance of any ticket inspector even attempting to check tickets of passengers, the number of whom far exceeded the capacity of the train. The Niddrie Boy then fell off the train at London King’s Cross and staggered his way to Wembley Stadium where he – and doubtless countless others – managed to climb into the stadium without paying.

Brown said he had a great view of Gordon McQueen heading home Scotland’s first goal. It was one of those goals you never forget and never tire of seeing. The towering figure of a Scots warrior, leaping above a hapless English defender, his mop of blonde hair straddled over his head which bulleted the ball past England goalkeeper Ray Clemence. McQueen then ran to soak up the acclaim of an adoring Scottish support, given another shot of adrenalin just as the effects of copious amounts of alcohol was beginning to wear off.

That Scotland team of 1977 had the fans daring to believe. McQueen was a tower of strength at the back while the genius that was Kenny Dalglish, wing wizardry of Willie Johnston and the power of striker Joe Jordan were huge contributions to a team that was genuinely considered by some to be among the best nations in Europe. After all, hadn’t Scotland eliminated reigning European Champions Czechoslovakia from the qualifying group for the World Cup finals in Argentina the following year?

Dalglish scored a second Scotland goal in the second half before England pulled back a late goal. The Scots won 2-1 and thousands of them – including Alex Brown – poured on to the hallowed Wembley turf before demolishing the old stadium. Bits of Wembley turf and goalposts are still to be found all over Scotland to this day.

My favourite tale from that afternoon was from manager Ally MacLeod. Before Wembley, the ebullient Ally wasn’t quite as well known down south as he was in his homeland. MacLeod struggled to get back to the dressing rooms after the game and with panic setting in amongst what little security there was – the 1970s were different times, dear reader – MacLeod had difficulty persuading one of the security staff that he was indeed the Scotland manager. As MacLeod himself put it – “eventually I made it to the sanctuary of the dressing room and found goalkeeper Alan Rough in the bath – with two Scotland supporters…”

The tragic passing of McQueen brought memories of that day flooding back for me and, unquestionably, thousands of others. In later years, the great man became a summariser for Sky Sports and his reaction in the studio whilst watching James McFadden score an absolute screamer for Scotland against France in Paris in 2007 became iconic. McQueen did well not to lapse into a sweary rejoice when he shouted ‘Goaaaaaaallll!’ although the presenter’s subsequent question of ‘who for, Gordon?’ was the definition of the term pointless.

There was sadly something symmetrical about reading author Alex Brown’s account of that day whilst hearing about McQueen’s death, attributed to the effects of dementia, aged just 70. The footage of McQueen during his spells at Leeds United, Manchester United and, of course, Scotland mean the big fella will never be forgotten.

Thanks for the memories, big man.

 

Mike Smith

Twitter @Mike1874

Celebrate Good Times

 

                                                                    Photo: BBC Scotland

Last week was one of those ‘international break’ interludes which means the top flight of Scottish football had a break while the lesser mortals in the lower leagues carried on as usual. 

Scotland were involved in what is now euphemistically termed a ‘double header’ with games against Cyprus and Spain at the National Stadium. Against all odds, Stevie Clarke’s men bagged six points to start the European Championship qualifying campaign with a bang, following up a laboured 3-0 over Cyprus with a brilliant 2-0 win over European ‘heavyweights’ Spain at Hampden - a game sure to live long in the memory.

The fixtures against Cyprus and Spain evoke memories of previous Scotland victories over said opposition and, moreover, the celebrations which followed. Back in early February 1989, Scotland travelled to Cyprus for a World Cup qualifier. The Scots were favourites to win. I can just about remember Scotland hammering the Cypriots 8-0 at Hampden in another World Cup qualifier in 1969 - Colin Stein scoring four goals. Stein had also scored in the fixture in the Mediterranean island where the Scots won 5-0 four months earlier.

Fast forward twenty years and we looked forward to Scotland repeating these easy victories. However, the Scotland team in 1989 was a different composition to the one that ended the decade that was the swinging sixties. While the team that cruised to that 8-0 win included the likes of Billy Bremner, Billy McNeill, John Greig, Willie Henderson, Alan Gilzean, Eddie Gray and Charlie Cooke as well as the aforementioned Stein, the 1989 version wasn’t quite as endowed with such talent. Nevertheless, when Maurice Johnston gave the Scots the lead after just nine minutes in the heat of Limassol, we sat back and waited for the goals fest. But we Scots know it never pays to get overconfident where the national football team is concerned…

Cyprus equalised six minutes later, and the game was level at half-time before the metaphorical roof fell in for the Scots three minutes into the second half when Cyprus took the lead. Scotland manager Andy Roxburgh cut a sorry figure but, thankfully, not for long as Richard Gough equalised six minutes later. But surely even a draw against the group’s so-called minnows – a group that also contained Norway, France, and the former Yugoslavia, - would seriously damage Scotland’s hopes of reaching the World Cup finals in Italy the following year.

Step forward Richard Gough once more. With time added on at the end of the game standing at a remarkable six minutes, the Rangers defender headed home a dramatic and, some might say, scarcely deserved winner for the Scots. Cue the normally placid Roxburgh leaping on to the pitch dancing like a demented gazelle on heat.

Scotland did qualify for the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy – but then they brought on the Costa Ricans…

What Scotland 1989 could have done with was a player with the sublime ability of Kenny Dalglish. Five years earlier, ‘King Kenny’ scored one of the most memorable goals seen at Hampden when he dinked past two Spanish defenders in the penalty box before firing a brilliant left foot shot into the top corner of the net to seal a 3-1 win over Spain in another World Cup qualifier, this time for the 1986 finals in Mexico. A young Maurice Johnston had scored twice to put the Scots in control, but Dalglish’s superlative strike put the Scots in dreamland.

Scotland manager Jock Stein wasn’t the sort of character to dance jigs of joy on the touchline but the celebratory atmosphere amongst the ecstatic Tartan Army was palpable to say the least. It gave the Scots real belief that they could qualify for the finals two years later which, of course, they did. These were the days, younger readers, when Scotland regularly qualified for the final stages of World Cups.

Jim Bett, who had a pivotal role in the game, recalled the fans backing at Hampden and said they were like an extra man for the Scotland team. He believed with such a backing they could have beaten anyone at Hampden that evening. Certainly, the celebrations went on long into the night, even with it being a ‘school’ night.

Now, Scotland have been celebrating another win over Cyprus and a sensational triumph over Spain. We Scots know better than anyone not to count our chickens but we can genuinely believe we will be at the finals of the European Championships in Germany in 2024. Can't we? Can we celebrate good times?

On second thoughts, perhaps I should have waited until after the games against Norway and Georgia in June before posting this…

 

Twitter @Mike1874

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