Scotland 78: A Love Story

If one considers the word love when it comes to Scotland's international football, it's the phrase "tough love" which springs to mind, an appropriate term that probably defines the relationship between the fan and their football team. In reality the effort in Argentina in 1978 was nothing but a series of self-inflicted wounds that ultimately sealed their fate and was the just the backdrop for many years of disappointment in international tournaments from 1974 to 1990.

Scotland played in five world cups in a row but despite having some good players were never able to progress out of the group stages. In the World cup they played a total of 15 matches, with 4 wins, 6 losses and 5 draws. The wins were against the likes of Zaire, New Zealand, Sweden and Holland (a match Holland didn't need to win), all in all an unimpressive record.

In 1974 when they got back to the UK there was an aura of some kind of moral victory not having lost (which overshadowed Billy Bremmer missing an open goal against Brazil). In 1982 they were eliminated again on goal difference aided and abetted by Alan Hanson and Willie Miller colliding when going for the same ball that allowed the Soviet forward a clear run and go around the Scotland keeper to score. In the 1986 world cup they were simply overmatched in their group and by 1990 they had tripped up so many times on the international stage that a loss against tiny Costa Rica was of no real surprise, nor was Jim Leighton fumbling a shot from Brazil which ultimately resulted in a goal that sent them home. Although disappointing it was just all par for the course and not in any way surprising.

The 78-world cup campaign in many respects was seen as an opportunity to build on the back of the 74 tournament where they didn't lose a match and to some extent was seen as unfinished business. Scotland had qualified for the tournament in a group which included European champions Czechoslovakia and a spirited Wales team. So where did it all go wrong??

Scotland and the manager simply started to believe their own press and got caught up a hype and bravado which was way over the top. To promote Scotland as world champions before they set off did nothing than raise expectations. When the final squad was announced it was the omission of striker Andy Gray in favor of Joe Harper that stood out. Gray had been the top scorer in the English league the year before for Aston Villa.

However, it was a low-key effort in the British home championships with 2 draws and a loss to England was an indication that something wasn't right. Scotland looked ordinary in all of the matches and scored only two goals. In the Wales match Scotland scored a bizarre own goal and it was the injury to Gordon McQueen that was a big blow. McQueen himself wasn't fit enough to play in the world cup finals but nevertheless travelled with the team which was a baffling decision. When Scotland arrived at their hotel where they were based there was no water in the swimming pool and there was nothing to do. This was a massive howler by the Scottish FA somebody should have made the trip weeks before to finalize and check the facilities.

In the first match against Peru things started out of well with a Joe Jordan goal after 20 minutes but it was noticeable that the Scottish backs were having trouble with the pace of the Peruvian forwards who looked dangerous on the break. Eventually Peru equalized but Scotland's hopes were raised when they were awarded a penalty. Don Masson's attempt was saved and from there onwards things went downhill as Peru scored two long range efforts from outside the box which one which was from a direct free kick and Peru stunned Scotland with a 3-1 victory.

The loss was a hammer blow and when it was revealed that winger Willie Johnston had failed a drug test (taken medication for a cold) that scandal was red meat for the English press and media who just piled on the misery on top of the loss. It was all a public relations disaster and a national humiliation. Monday mornings Daily Mail had an advert with the Scottish national team standing around a car, arms folded with the banner saying, "they run rings around their opposition". In the same paper and the cartoonist Mac had a well-dressed bowler hatted character being hurled out of a high-rise window with the caption Saying "Hamish - it's the man from Pru (insurance) - not from Peru !!"

The Scotland team had a chance to make amends against the part timers from Iran but were held to a 1-1 draw with the help of an own goal in one of the worst performances from a Scottish team. During the match the BBC consistently panned in on Scotland manager Ally Mcleod who looked like a tortured soul on the bench, clearly frustrated and distraught at the inept performance. At the conclusion of the match and he had to run the gauntlet of angry Scotland fans chanting "we want our money back". The English media had a field day and relished rubbing it all in. This wasn't surprising, England had failed to qualify for two world cups in a row and comedian Andy Cameron whose cheesy hit song got to # 6 in the UK charts had a line in it "England canny do it cos they didny qualify" surly put a big target on Scotland's back that the English the press and media couldn't resist having a go at.

Scotland had the difficult task of playing group favorites Holland in the last match and had to beat them by 3 clear goals for them be able to progress to the next stage. Although an uphill struggle at the outset the gradient got higher with a disallowed goal and then went one down just before the half. Scotland pulled one back early in the second half and were awarded a penalty soon after which was converted. However, the biggest cheer of Scotland's world cup campaign was a brilliant individual effort by Archie Gemmell who scored one of the great ever world cup goals. Scotland now 3-1 up were poised to do something incredible and make an unbelievable comeback as they pressed for the 4th goal. Unfortunately, it was a replaced by a loud groan as a Dutch player blasted in another long-range effort past the hapless Scottish goalkeeper Alan Rough who probably was best ball watcher ever to grace the field in international football. Scotland were brought back to reality and their world cup was over, they won 3-2 but were eliminated on goal difference.

In the aftermath of Scotland's world cup, the SFA stood their ground and refused to dispense with manager Ally Macleod which was an arrogant and dogmatic gesture by them. They couldn't immediately be seen to have to admit that they made a mistake by replacing Willie Ormond with Macleod. Also, by keeping on Macleod they knew that the media would be focused on him rather than their role in such a disorganized world cup campaign. Eventually about two months later Jock Stein became the Scotland manager. It's important to note that 10 players from the 1978 squad of 22 never played for Scotland again and only 6 from that squad participated in the 1982 world cup. In reality one win a loss and a draw wasn't the worst results a team could have, nevertheless there was the overall feeling that it was a massive underachievement. Ally Mcleod ended up looking like a cartoon character because the more he talked the more he dug himself in deeper in the hole and one had to wonder if his players took him seriously during the tournament.

Many of the players underperformed and should have been ashamed of themselves and others never should have been in the squad. Lou Macari looked like a zombie in that match and only showed any sign of life at the end by enthusiastically shaking the hand of the referee in a congratulatory manner. Macari was very critical of the SFA, but only because he bitched about not getting the £20,000 bonus he claimed were promised. Macari would be one of the players that would never play for Scotland again. I would also add that this documentary although entertaining ignores the role the Scottish FA had in the debacle. To have the team located in accommodation that was substandard and not to have had sufficient scouting for the teams they were playing was a big oversight. I suspect that money was an issue, and they cheeped out.

Although it was unlikely that Scotland would win the world cup, they had enough players to have posed a threat to the top-rated teams, of course that never happened and Scotland floundered badly. Scotland have never performed well at world cups and European nations tournaments. Northern Ireland had an impressive and memorable world cup in 1982. The Republic of Ireland of the late 80's and early 1990's often punched above their weight and put in some good performances and even Wales after a long exile from international scene got to the semifinal of the 2016 Euro finals.

Scotland still has its loyal fans - although the bonnets and tartan scarfs has been replaced by blue painted faces designed as the St Andrews cross, but the jinx of Scotland's disappointing performances in the international tournaments persists.

My wife and I have a made-up word to describe when things go catastrophically wrong and, being personally somewhat absent-minded and accident-prone, she gets to use it a lot around me. That word is "Hailcrang!" and watching this wonderful BBC Scotland documentary on the Scottish national football team's disastrous showing at the 1978 football World Cup, I can think of no more suitable word to sum up the whole experience.

I'm actually writing while this year's tournament is raging on and of course my team isn't amongst their number. In fact they haven't qualified for the Finals since 1998 while our biggest national rivals England of course are there with a favourite's chance to win, which would leave me inconsolable if they did.

But back in 1978, England nor any other of the home nations qualified for Argentina, all bar Scotland who really did look as if they had a fine team full of great players, names like Dalglish, Souness, Jordan and many more. We also had an ebullient manager, the irrepressible Ally McLeod who innocently and naively stoked the flames of expectation by talking up our chances of actually winning the thing. A Glasgow comedian, Andy Cameron even scored a U. K. top 10 hit with his novelty rallying-call "Ally's Tartan Army" (tag-line - "And we'll really shake them up, when we lift the World Cup!") and the team was given an open-bus send off at the national stadium, before they even left the country! Of course, right after them flocked hordes of Scotland fans, some of whose trips took weeks to get there and back, while elsewhere there's a great story of a bunch of outlying islanders themselves digging new television cables under the ground just to be able to watch the Scotland games on the box.

Well, that's when it all went hailcrang for the team. The team's living accommodation and training facilities were dreadful and MacLeod hadn't even bothered to watch any of his opponents in advance of the games.

What could go right?

And sure enough, a humbling defeat by Peru and then a shambolic display against minnows Iran left them with a mountain to climb, i.e. To qualify we had to beat the fancied Netherlands by three clear goals. Plus, of course in the background, there was the drug-taking scandal of winger Willie Johnston, sent home in a blaze of bad publicity for taking a banned substance for hay fever.

Well, do the boys not come out in Cordoba against the Dutch and play a stormer, at one point, thanks to wee Archie Gemmill's wonder-goal going 3-1 up and raising a nation's hopes until just a few minutes later Dutch forward Johnny Rep smashed in a screamer from 30 yards to bring us all back to earth. Legend has it he was so far out that MacLeod was heard to chide aloud, "Go on, hit it!" Maybe Rep heard him!

With a mass of contemporary news coverage on the manager, his team and the fans (oh, the fashions and the hairstyles - and that's just the men!), it was fantastic and at the same time traumatic to relive the events of that cruellest of summers. My favourite bit was the inspired mock-up of Scotland actually going on to win the trophy and there was also a nice story of a Scottish fan reuniting years later in Scotland with an Argentinian girl he first met there and their marrying soon afterwards.

It definitely helps if you're Scottish to give you that enormous sense of dashed anticipation and misplaced hubris on show here, but in truth the story I'm sure has universal relevance to any football fan who dares to dream that their wee team has even the slightest chance of success.

It can't be coincidence that the popular Lloyd-Webber and Rice musical "Evita" was out at the time with its mournful hit song "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" everywhere you listened. I wonder if its writers had a premonition of what was awaiting Scotland that mad summer in South America when they wrote it?