More Wembley Myths

THIS being Saturday and there being nothing on but SPFL games, I thought I'd overdose on real football, by running two Wembley Wins stories – numbers six and five on my count-down of our nine wins at England's home stadium.

Wembley Win Six:

England 1 Scotland 2, 1963

THERE are perhaps more myths about this Wembley win than all the others put together. Sure, it was a marvellous win, but, hardly unexpected, the 1960s was our most-impressive post-World War II decade, during which we only lost twice to England, albeit heavily in 1969 and disastrously-heavily in 1961; but, while Britain swung during that great decade, we were more often than not, beating England.

We had beaten the men in white 2-0 at Hampden in 1962, thus winning our first outright Home International Championship since 1953; we went to Wembley, on 6 April, 1963, knowing that, victory would give us our first back-to-back win in the Championship since 1936. We were favourites and, for once, we justified that status.

Where they mythology comes in is, in the way we won. Legend has it, we played with 10 men against 11 for all but the first five minutes, thereby raising this win to the heights. The fact is, we only had a one-man disadvantage for 50 of the 90 minutes.

The key incident came after just five minutes. Scotland skipper Eric Caldow, playing in his 40^th international, went to clear the ball from down near Scotland's left-hand corner flag, when he was challenged by England and Tottenham Hotspur centre forward Bobby Smith. Smith's tackle was a bad one: "A forward's mistimed challenge" which left Caldow with a broken leg, and Smith with a serious knee injury – both players were carried off.

Scotland manager Ian McColl agreed to Dave Mackay's - who assumed the captaincy with Caldow's departure - suggestion that Davie Wilson move back to left-back; a move Wilson would only undertake if McColl stayed on the touch-line to coach him through the rest of the game.

The ten Scots re-grouped, Jim Baxter grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck, took advantage of a slip by England skipper Jimmy Armfield to shoot us ahead in 29 minutes, before making it 2-0 with his first penalty in a competitive game, two minutes later. Thereafter, Scotland played out time to win, in spite of a second-half England goal from Bryan Douglas.

That brief pen picture of the game overlooks the major role the hobbling Smith played following his return in the 40^th minute. He might have scored twice himself, laid-on a stream of tempting crosses for Spurs team mate Jimmy Greaves, but, the most-potent British striker of his era, who had scored a hat-trick in the 1961 destruction of the Scots, missed five or six chances he would normally have put-away with ease and the ten Scots got out of jail.

Of course, this was a very good Scotland team: Bill Brown; Alex Hamilton and Caldow, Mackay, Ian Ure and Baxter; Willie Henderson, John White, Ian St John, Denis Law and Wilson.

The England team they faced wasn't the best, a composite XI from the two teams might have seen Gordon Banks preferred to Brown in goal, and perhaps Bobby Charlton for St John at centre forward, but, that would be England's total representation.

It's that fact, we weren't playing a great England team, which marks down this still very brave win.

Wembley Win Five

England 1 Scotland 2: 1977

AS WITH the 1963 win, that in 1977 gets marked down due to the paucity of the English opposition. We were heading for our second successive World Cup: "Representing Britain, and here's the reason why – England cannae dae it, fur they didnae qualify".

This one might have been awkward, the match was the climax of the Home Internationals, which were then run as an end-of-season tournament, and the Scots went into it with a new manager in Ally MacLeod, who had taken over from Willie Ormond just before the tournament began.

MacLeod, famously, thought tactics were a small white mint, but, he knew how to motivate a squad and he certainly had his side up for this one. Big Gordon McQueen put us ahead just before half-time, Kenny Dalglish scored against the Auld Enemy for the second successive year on the hour and his scrambled effort put us in easy street.

Mick Channon did convert an 87^th minute penalty, but, by then the game was long since over as a contest. MacLeod could even show boat, taking off Man of the Match Don Masson in 83 minutes, to a standing ovation from the Tartan Army, and sending-on Archie Gemmill.

But, the real talking point of this game came after the final whistle, when the jubilant Tartan Army, clad in the fashion of the time like a mass Bay City Rollers tribute group, decided to sack Wembley. Down came the goal-posts, up went the turf as jubilant supporters dug-up squares to take back home as a memento of the occasion.

Of course, much drink had been taken, Scotland keeper Alan Rough, marooned some 150-yards from the dressing rooms, took an alleged 45 minutes to make his way back there and Middle England was horrified at the appaling behaviour of the Scots fans.

The mayhem didn't subside until the Sunday night, when the last revellers were rounded-up and sent northwards, while the Scots team set-off for a South American tour, as a recce for the following year's World Cup finals.

We were Kings of the World that June, but, as we know now, this was a bad case of pride coming before a fall. Still, Alan Rough; Danny McGrain, Willie Donachie, Tam Forsyth, Gordon McQueen, Bruce Rioch, Don Masson, Kenny Dalglish, Joe Jordan, Asa Hartford, Willie Johnston and substitutes Lou Macari and Archie Gemmill handed out a real beating to an England side which, it has to be admitted, wasn't their best.

Another similarity to the 1963 win comes from the fact, this one gave us back-to-back Home International Championship wins and meant we kept possession of the magnificent Jubilee Trophy; but, as we celebrated, we were sure, 12 months later, we would be placing the World Cup alongside it.

We had every right to dream - pity the dream became a nightmare.