Aidan McCall | Reporter
Scottish football has had it’s fair share of highs and lows. After a recent heart-wrenching failure in world cup qualifying and insipid performance throughout UEFA qualifiers, we take a look back on Scottish football throughout it’s history.
National Football Through the Years
In 1954 Scotland qualified for their first ever World Cup and were represented in Switzerland by a 13 man squad even though FIFA allowed a 22 man squad. Scotland lost their first game against Austria leading to their manager Andy Beattie resigning before their game against Uruguay which they lost 7-0. Not exactly the start Scotland were looking for.
The next World Cup in 1958 saw Scotland turn out again. Experiencing agony in the first 3 games – losing twice and drawing once – meant Scotland went crashing out. Matt Busby was meant to be manager but because of the injuries he suffered in the Munich Air Disaster he did not take charge, resulting in Dawson Walker taking his place. Since Scotland managed to qualify for two World Cups in a row, the 1950s were good for Scottish football.
The 1960s arrived with no World Cup places in 1962 or 1966. Two British Championships and four managers during 1960 and 1966 the first half of the decade was not exactly plain sailing.
However hope was still in play as in 1967 Scotland had a game against the world champions, and bitter historic rivals, England. Scotland were underdogs going into the game but Scotland came back home with a stunning 3-2 win as the first team to beat England.
In 1974 Scotland qualified for their first World Cup in 16 years and achieved their best ever performance at a World Cup. In 1978 we also were at the World Cup but lost and drew a game. Their last game was against Netherlands and came back to beat them 3-2 with a famous goal from Archie Gemmil.
Scotland qualified for the 1982 and 1986 World Cup and this was their fourth in succession. On the lead up to the 1986, Scotland had a game against Wales and needed a draw – they got it, but at the sad passing of manager Jock Stein after having a heart attack.
Scotland qualified for their fifth consecutive World Cup and in 1992, they qualified for their first ever European Championship. Scotland also qualified for the 1996 European Championship and qualified for the World Cup 1998 in France. That was Scotland’s last ever Major Championship.
Club Football
Three Scottish football teams have lifted a European trophy and the first ever Scottish and British team to win a European cup was Celtic who beat Inter Milan 2-1. The Celtic squad was all Scottish players and their manager Jock Stein was also Scottish.
Next came Rangers who won the Cup Winner’s Cup in 1972. They played Dynamo Moscow in the final and beat them 3-2 in the Camp Nou stadium. Just like Celtic, the Rangers starting line-up was all Scottish players as was the manager.
Aberdeen were the next team to win a major European tournament. Under Sir Alex Ferguson Aberdeen won the Super Cup in 1983 against Real Madrid, beating them 2-1. The Aberdeen team which was also fully Scottish. Dundee United beat Barcelona 2-1 and then moved on to the final against Göteborg but were beaten 2-1.
In 2003 Celtic made the UEFA Cup Final but got beat 3-2 by Porto. In 2008 Rangers made their way down to Manchester for the UEFA Cup Final against Zenit St. Petersburg and were beaten 2-0.
This year in Europe two Scottish teams were out by the first round, Rangers and St Johnstone. Aberdeen kept going until the Third Qualifying round and Celtic are in the Champions League group stages.
The Verdict
The downfall of the National team could be to do with how Scottish Clubs aren’t getting as much money from TV deals as English and European teams. Scottish clubs find it easier to bring in foreign players rather than persevering with young, home grown players. The National team is mostly made up of older players at this moment in time so this is what happens when Scottish Teams buy foreign footballers rather than coaching Scottish youth players for the future.
Scottish football teams can’t rely on youngsters alone because other teams are paying big money to bring in the best so the Scottish clubs have to bring in experienced European players who are at a lesser standard. Most of this is down to money from TV deals and Scotland don’t get much money from TV deals compared to England or any other European country. When Scottish teams won their European trophies, all their players were Scottish, coming through a youth system at Scottish football clubs. Now very few International players have came through the youth system at Scottish clubs.
Overall Scotland has had a lot of good Scottish players in the past, with many successes. However sadly at this moment we are failing to grow and develop Youth players for the future of Club and National football. A return to the success of prior decades would begin with putting emphasis on youth development and turning away from buying in talent from other countries.
