The Birth Of Scotland National Team

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Archie Gemmill against the Dutch in Argentina 1978. Opening the 1998 World Cup against Brazil in Paris. James McFadden's 40-yard wonder goal in the same city nine years on. Leigh Griffiths' free-kick double to wound England a decade later.

As we stand in the 21st Century, these are just a small sample of moments that flood the memory across all living generations of Scotland fans when they reminisce about their national side.

But how did it all start to enable the world's second-oldest footballing nation to create these iconic moments? In the first part of our National Treasures series throughout June, we take a look at the flickering spark that ignited Scotland's obsession with the beautiful game...

First footing

It all began almost 150 years ago when Scotland contested in their first official international against England.

Although there were several unofficial encounters between the nations from 1870, the match on 30 November 1872 is officially registered by world governing body Fifa as the first football game to be contested by two countries.

During this period, it was unusual for national teams to travel for games. That meant in the 'unofficial' matches that took place in London before 1872, a number of English players represented Scotland, despite Scottish players being invited to play.

There was ill feeling north of the border that the Scotland side did not have enough homegrown players. This led to then FA general secretary Charles Alcock writing a public letter in Glasgow and Edinburgh newspapers offering an official match between 11 Scotsmen and 11 Englishmen.

With Scotland yet to form a football association at this point, the offer was accepted by Queen's Park - the nation's leading and oldest club at that stage.

With a location and date to be arranged, captain Robert Gardner and David Wotherspoon of Queen's Park met Alcock in London to finalise the details while competing in the English FA Cup.

Twelve months earlier, the first international rugby match had been contested by the same two nations at a cricket ground, and football followed the same path as 4,000 spectators watched a 0-0 draw at the West of Scotland Cricket Ground in Partick, Glasgow.

As captain, not only did Gardner lead Scotland on the pitch, but also off it. At a time when managers were largely non-existent, he was tasked with selecting the team to face England.

He would pick a starting line-up consisting of only Queen's Park players who would take to the pitch in navy blue, the same colour the Glasgow club sported at that time. And it is for that reason Scotland wear the same colours to this day.

Home championships & global pioneers

March the following year saw the creation of both the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Cup, making it the second oldest cup competition in world football, as association football quickly became the most popular sport in the country.

The next international to take place between Scotland and England was in the same month, the visitors losing 4-2 in London. The fixture would become an annual event after that, and it was in 1874 that the Scots claimed their first win, triumphing 2-1 in Glasgow.

As the game continued to grow, Scotland would enjoy a successful period in the late 1870s, claiming three consecutive victories over the Auld Enemy, including a 7-2 thrashing in 1878 that stood as England's record defeat until 1954.

In the following years, friendlies against Wales and Ireland were introduced, before the formation of the British Home Championship in 1883, adding a competitive edge to the games and heightening the rivalry.

Because of complications with travelling, Scotland only competed against the other home nations in the early years. However, they would go on to make themselves a force, losing just two of their first 43 international matches.

This dominance would propel Scotland to four of the first five British Home Championship titles, sharing two of them with England as joint winners.

With the game progressing out of the 19th Century, gradually becoming more like the game we recognise today, Scotland would be at the front of the pack spearheading a global movement in the sport as a pioneer with the rest of the home nations.

A national obsession was born.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52759209

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Scotland: Remembering Euro 92 28 years on

"People say Scotland is just a wee nation and don't have much of an effect on the world. Well, we might only be a small country, but we've had a few effects."

The Sheraton Hotel, Gothenburg. June 1992. Head coach Andy Roxburgh prepares his team for a step into the unknown.

"When you go out on that park today, you'll be doing something that no other Scottish player has ever done," he said hours before Scotland's first-ever appearance at European Championship.

"All those superstars of the past, nobody ever did what you are doing - it's something that nobody can ever take away from you."

Debuts, the Dutch and dunked in a fountain

12 June, Gothenburg. Netherlands (Bergkamp 75) 1-0 Scotland

First up were the reigning champions - a star-studded Dutch team at the Ullevi Stadium.

Despite a spirited performance, full of energy, commitment and passion, the Scots eventually succumbed to a Dennis Bergkamp strike 15 minutes from time.

"We were huge underdogs," says former Scotland midfielder Stuart McCall, who had celebrated his 28th birthday a few days earlier by getting thrown into a fountain by his team-mates.

FULL REPORT & VIDEOS

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Scotland: Alan Rough remembers Argentina 1978

A hotel from hell, furious fans, a failed drugs test and perhaps the greatest victory in Scottish football mark out Argentina 1978 as the biggest debacle in Scotland's World Cup history - and there have been a few.

In qualifying the Scots defeated European champions Czechoslovakia, boasted players from England's big hitters and had beaten Chile while also holding Argentina the previous year. That gave manager Ally MacLeod confidence to expect Scotland to come home with "at least a medal". What could go wrong?

The then Partick Thistle and Scotland goalkeeper Alan Rough was one such hopeful traveller, but in this - Alan - Rough guide to Argentina '78, he explains how things went wrong quickly and how a heroic win wasn't enough to salvage the campaign.

FULL REPORT

[Stan]

 

Yeah that's Lou from Andy & Lou off of Little Britain.

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Scotland: Stein, Narey, Brazil & being a cartoon character

The Scotland squad for the 1982 World Cup was the most internationally adept the nation had ever assembled.

Ten European Cup winners' medals between them from the previous five years, three Uefa Cup winners and four European Super Cups. Within another two seasons, they'd have amassed another two European Cups, two more Uefa Cups, four Cup Winners' Cup winners and five more Super Cups.

Throw in a collective 63 domestic honours and 503 caps, a legendary European Cup-winning manager in Jock Stein and an assistant recognised as one of the most gifted Scottish football thinkers.

Even if this assembly of tartan talent only added up to the sum of its parts, then BA Robertson's paean to hope 'We have a Dream' trumped the blind faith of Ally's Army four years previous.

This was their time. Scotland at their third straight World Cup finals. Cracked it.

What could possibly go wrong in Spain?

The build-up

FULL REPORT

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Scotland: Dalglish, Souness & Rod Stewart - World Cup 86 remembered

On a veranda at the Scotland squad hotel, captain Graeme Souness is discussing the players he is trying to sign for Rangers. Manager Alex Ferguson is in his room mulling over interest from Arsenal and Tottenham. And thousands of miles away, Kenny Dalglish - the country's most-capped player - is sitting idle.

To say the national team's Mexico 1986 campaign was infused with intrigue would be doing the dictionary a disservice.

After all, this was a campaign in which the manager died in the dressing room before qualification was clinched. His replacement was the greatest the game has ever seen. Three future national team bosses were on bibs and cones duty. The player-managers of two of Britain's biggest clubs were named in the squad. As, belatedly, was a striker from European Cup finalists Barcelona. And the Scottish FA president almost sparked a diplomatic incident by labelling opponents "scum".

Furthermore, in the build-up you had players drinking mudslingers with Rod Stewart, hanging out of stretch limos on Sunset Boulevard, appearing on Grandstand drunk and - apparently - heckling John McEnroe at the Australian Open.

David Coleman, sunstroke & cheerio Kenny

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Tales from the Trenches: Tartan Army stories on the march

Breaking a hip and wheeled around by the Scotland manager. Chartering a jet to the Faroes. And accidentally scrawling graffiti a 700-year-old religious artefact.

These are just a flavour of the tales told by Tartan Army members about their tours abroad with Scotland. In their own words, here's some of their publishable stories...

'Craig Brown pushed my wheelchair'

Moira Brown, 87-year-old fan (Everywhere apart from Azerbaijan)

I've only missed three games since 1993, including away games and friendlies. If it's Japan, I'm offski. If it's America, I'm offski. The only place I haven't been to in Europe is Azerbaijan. I've started watching the women's team as well. You just do it for the love of the jersey. The football is often disappointing, but the fans never let the side down.

My first trip was against England after the Second World War in 1947. The first time abroad was the World Cup in Germany in 1974. I gave up my job to go to Spain in 1982. I was a primary school teacher at the time, but I was told if I went to the World Cup there might not be a job for me to come back to, so I told them "I'll tell you what you can do with your job...".

My most memorable moment was when I suffered a triple hip fracture on my way to Stockholm. I missed the game and it took me a year and a half to recover. I went to all the games during that time in my wheelchair, though. Even Craig Brown took a turn wheeling me.

FULL REPORT

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Managing Scotland: Vogts, Brown, Levein & others share tales of the job

For supporters, it's the hope that kills you. For managers, it's what drives you to take the job in the first place.

The dream that you could be the person to end a nation's hurt. An aspiration of stepping on to a plane to a major tournament, hoping you won't come home too soon.

Here, we delve into the BBC Scotland archive and speak to some familiar faces to find out some tales of their time as Scotland boss.

FULL REPORT

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Scotland: Ten of the national team's greatest goals through the years

Ask a group of Scotland supporters what their favourite national team goal is and you will struggle to get a consensus.

There will be the usual contenders. Gemmill against the Netherlands, McFadden in Paris. But, over the years, there have been a glut of top strikes to get the Tartan Army on their feet.

After a lot of debate and some long thinking, BBC Scotland brings you 10 of the best...

Bobby Murdoch v West Germany, 1969

Scotland had never lost against Germany, but it looked Gerd Muller's composed strike would end that.

However, with two minutes remaining, Celtic legend Bobby Murdoch picked up the ball on the edge of the box, took two touches to the right and thumped a strike in off the bar to earn Scotland a draw.

FULL REPORT

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Scotland: Andy Roxburgh & Stuart McCall on Italia 90 World Cup

Luciano Pavarotti provided the most dramatic of soundtracks with the aria Nessun Dorma - which translates to none shall sleep - from Giacomo Puccini's Turandot.

In the opera, suitors of a princess are given three riddles to solve to win her hand. There's a catch though - failure equals death.

While not quite vying for a royal bride, the comparisons with the Italia 90 World Cup anthem and Scotland's campaign are clear. The riddles? How to beat Costa Rica in the opening match and how to get enough points from subsequent games against Sweden and Brazil to qualify for the knockout stage.

In a welcome plot twist, even a third-place finish might be enough. Surely a happy ending would befall the Scots this time?

Act one - 'Stop the world, we want to get off'

Costa Rica were World Cup debutants. Against a Scotland side making their fifth consecutive appearance, it should have been no contest. Instead, they made their mark with gusto, Juan Arnoldo Cayasso's goal early in the second half the only one of the game.

"This touches a raw nerve," Scotland head coach Andy Roxburgh tells BBC Scotland. "Their coach Bora Milutinovic has become a good friend of mine. He said to me: 'You hadn't a clue what we would do'. They played a lot of closed-door matches and practised tactics endlessly. He knew everything about us because all our warm-up matches were on public display.

"We could have won 3-1 or 4-1. Maurice Johnston had a couple of chances that normally would have ended up in the back of the net.''

Johnston, though, was thwarted by Costa Rica goalkeeper Luis Gabelo Conejo.

Former Scotland midfielder Stuart McCall says: "There was an old story that we'd found out that they had a really small goalkeeper, hence we started with big Alan McInally upfront and put in loads of high balls. But he was 6ft 3in and outstanding! Plucking balls out of the air in the 18-yard box."

McCall recalls being showered with Scotland scarves as he left the pitch as Tartan Army ire rained down. Roxburgh adds: "I remember the next day there was a headline somebody of 'Stop the world, we want to get off' and it was all about how I should be sacked."

Act Two - 'Zeroes to heroes'

Roxburgh acknowledges the pressure was already building on Scotland. It was the same for Sweden, their next opponents, who started with defeat by Brazil. The game on 16 June in Genoa was key for both teams.

"On the way to the stadium, we saw a big sign which read 'Don't worry Andy, your P45 is in the post'. I even laughed myself," he says.

"But I remember standing in the tunnel and seeing the boys standing tall, while the Swedes looked nervous. I thought 'I'm glad I'm with the team in dark blue'."

McCall agrees, adding: "I've played a couple of games short of 1,000 competitive matches and I genuinely believe two of those were won in the tunnel. One of them was when I was at Bradford and we beat Wimbledon to stay in the Premiership, the other was that night against Sweden.

"We had Roy Aitken at the front giving it all the Braveheart stuff, Alex McLeish with his red hair and freckles, Jim Leighton and Robert Fleck had their teeth out. You looked across at the Swedes, tanned adonises. They looked like athletes, we looked like savages the way we were shouting and bawling."

The Scots struck the first blow early, McCall getting on the end of a Dave McPherson flick-on after 11 minutes. "I was always deadly from a few inches," he jokes.

Johnston converted from the spot to earn a 2-0 lead, and Glenn Stromberg's goal four minutes from time was not enough for Scotland to come unstuck. Pride restored, and the hope of qualification hauled back from the realms of a long shot.

Act Three - 'Typical Scotland'

While the Swedes faced Costa Rica, Scotland lined up to play Brazil four days later in Turin. With four of the six third-placed teams making the last 16, a point would be enough. Even defeat may not be fatal.

"Playing for a draw would have shown the wrong attitude," says Roxburgh. "[Aitken] had a header cleared off the line by Branco. Some people say that stirred the Brazilians up - the game had gone flat and then suddenly they realised we wanted to win."

McCall adds: "I remember arriving in the stadium and both buses arrived together. The Brazilians were being mobbed by all these dancing beauties and we had the Tartan Army offering us swigs of lager.

"We held our own against them though; there was nothing in the game."

But with nine minutes to play and Scotland on track for qualification, substitute Muller nudged in after Jim Leighton parried a shot. Minutes later, the Scots came agonisingly close to a leveller, only to be denied by a moment of brilliance.

"I knocked the ball down to wee Mo and he hit it terrifically on the half volley about six or eight yards out," recollects McCall. "But Taffarel made an unbelievable save and tipped it over the bar. It was typical Scotland. Another hard-luck story.''

A hard-luck story with an epilogue as it turned out.

All was not lost yet, with just two points from three matches, it was still possible the Scots could qualify if results in other groups went their way. That meant an agonising 24-hour wait.

"We'd moved to a quiet town," explains McCall."We had to kill time going for a walk, having a coffee then watching those games, but none of the results went our way and we were out."

In true operatic style, the metaphorical Fat Lady had sung and, as far as Scotland were concerned, it was the same old song.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53062963

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Scotland: Craig Brown relives his France 98 World Cup journey

VIDEO

Warning: This article contains strong language that might cause offence.

Colin Hendry stood proudly with a ball under an armpit and a pennant in hand, staring. Monaco's John Collins swaggered back and forth with his chiselled chest on show. Colin Calderwood roared like a caged lion. And at the back, Darren Jackson loitered, waiting for everyone to leave.

Then there was Craig Brown.

Taking part in his third World Cup, the Scotland manager poked his head around the dressing room door. With 80,000 fans and a global audience waiting, his side's yellow-clad opponents strode by, arms linked, ready to defend their title.

Brown retreated inside for one last battle cry. "I went in and said 'guys, I've just seen Brazil holding hands. They're shitting themselves!"

An eight-year hiatus from the game's biggest stage was at an end, with the 1998 finals and a date with the world champions, Norway and Morocco to come.

For the Scotland manager, it was the culmination of months of preparation that included different duvets, a disappearing Andy Goram, a training session with Rod Stewart and a phone call from Sean Connery. What followed wasn't dull, either.

Goram, Rod & a call from James Bond

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How Scotland almost won a World Cup at Hampden in 1989

Pele. Sellouts at Hampden and Tynecastle. Future superstars. Saudis with suspicious passports. Facial hair. Penalty shootouts. Being stood up by a girl. An Amsterdam nightclub. Bus drivers buying booze for kids. A house party. And Craig Brown.

The under-16 World Cup finals of 1989 have long since been woven into the rich tapestry of Scottish football as one of the apparently endless series of 'could ye, did ye, have ye' moments to befall those representing the national team. Yet even among that litany of foul-ups and failures, losing a World Cup final at Hampden on penalties against Saudi Arabia having led 2-0 and missed a penalty with 18 minutes to play stands out for its utter fecklessness.

Granted, the Saudis may not have adhered to the 'under-16' competition criteria as assiduously as the Scots, but to somehow contrive to lose from the position they were in on that June day in Glasgow seems spectacularly careless.

FULL REPORT

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Erin Cuthbert column: Scotland World Cup exit tore me apart

Chelsea and Scotland striker Erin Cuthbert looks back to this time last summer and the national team's heart-breaking first appearance at the Women's World Cup.

I've tried to erase last summer's World Cup from my mind. That might seem a strange thing to say but I needed to so that I could move on after the way it ended.

Don't get me wrong, I'll always remember the experience, but for months afterwards, the 3-3 draw with Argentina that cost us a place in the knockout stages was the last memory in my head from the tournament.

There was a period where it was on my mind every single day, just going round and round tearing away at me. But once you separate the emotion from it, you realise that it's football and sometimes football is cruel.

It's difficult to do that, though. Even now, 12 months on, I feel a combination of anger at the referee and at VAR and anger that we didn't shut up shop better when we were 3-0 up with 16 minutes to go.

We already felt aggrieved because decisions didn't go our way in the first couple of games, and we maybe felt a bit like we didn't really belong at the tournament.

But in the last 10 minutes on the pitch that night in Paris, I felt every emotion I've ever felt.

Happiness when Lee Alexander saved the penalty in stoppage-time to keep it 3-2. The world was a brilliant place at that moment. But then anxiety when the referee ordered a retake.

My legs were actually shaking because I couldn't believe what was going on. I couldn't handle not being able to affect something that was happening on the pitch - I just wasn't used to that.

That was maybe the worst feeling of the lot. I just wanted to dig a hole and climb into it because I felt ashamed, even though there was nothing I could have done.

FULL REPORT

[Spike]

But is this the birth of a big of a golden generation for Scots? @Rab @CaaC (John)

Kieren Tierney, Andrew Robertson, Billy Gilmour, Scott McTominay, and probably a few others. If only you blokes had a decent CF

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1 hour ago, Spike said:

But is this the birth of a big of a golden generation for Scots? @Rab @CaaC (John)

Kieren Tierney, Andrew Robertson, Billy Gilmour, Scott McTominay, and probably a few others. If only you blokes had a decent CF

A few more players yet but l think Scotland can bring back the times of the glory years of Scottish football.

You missed out tagging @ScoRoss 

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Scotland at Youth World Cup 1983 remembered

It is the night current Scotland manager Steve Clarke realised he could be a professional footballer. Team-mate Brian Rice remembers it being "bedlam, just absolute mayhem".

Their manager, Andy Roxburgh, says his "boys literally became men" in the seething bowl of the Azteca Stadium on a June evening in 1983.

Official records state that 86,582 fervent Mexicans were inside the ground for the final Group A game of the Fifa World Youth Championship. Scotland was playing the hosts, with a win for either side enough to seal a place in the quarter-finals.

Having become European champions the previous summer, the Scots were contenders for the global crown. But defeat by Australia in their second game - after an opening with a win over South Korea - left them needing to beat the Mexicans. And to beat them in an arena unlike any other.

"Just driving up to the stadium, there were people everywhere making a racket," says current Hamilton Academical head coach Rice.

"Then to even be on the pitch during the warm-up... here were these wee guys from Scotland playing in the ground where Brazil had won the World Cup 13 years earlier. I remember making a point of putting the ball in the net where Pele scored and it was surreal."

That would be Rice's only involvement on the pitch, but even those on the bench had to keep their wits about them as a bombardment of projectiles were hurled from the stands - a barrage that only intensified when Clarke scored the only goal to edge Scotland into the last eight.

"I took the corner, and it was dreadful," forward Pat Nevin recalls. "But that game has stuck with me, despite playing another 850-odd time in my career. I learned that night if you're not spooked when a crowd of that size are physically trying to attack you, then nothing will ever bother you."

Airforce Academies, oxygen masks & training in Paisley

The young Scots' fearlessness was laced with no little amount of talent.

The standout squad in Europe the previous summer was burnished for the world finals by the return of Aberdeen trio Neale Cooper, Eric Black and Bryan Gunn - who missed the continental success due to club commitments - as well as the addition of St Mirren's Clarke, Dave McPherson of Rangers, and Motherwell's Brian McClair.

A three-week stint at the United States Airforce Academy in Colorado Springs provided some eye-opening preparations for the teenagers.

"I remember training at the old Love Street before we flew out and having our blood taken," recalls Rice. "Then we went to America and we were there for three weeks going up and down from altitude. Mexico was something else, though."

The Scots started with a laboured win over Korea - Celtic midfielder Jim Dobbin scoring twice in the second half - before travelling to Toluca for their second match against Australia.

The temperature was recorded as 30 degrees in a city sitting more than 2500m above sea level and the Scots toiled. Despite a goal from another Parkhead midfielder - Paul McStay - Roxburgh's side would fall to a listless 2-1 defeat.

"The ball was flying all over the place because the air was so thin and I'd never experienced humidity like it," says Rice. "I was a sub and I remember boys getting oxygen masks at half-time because they were done."

'Maybe we got a wee bit carried away'

The conditions would prove problematic later in the tournament, too.

Poland had been swept aside in the semi-finals of the European Championships, but Roxburgh's players were physically and emotionally spent by the time of their reunion in the quarter-finals in Mexico. Under a midday sun and in 40% humidity, the Scots lost an early goal and could not muster a response.

The official Fifa tournament report says the Scots "literally ran out of steam" and had "clearly struggled throughout with the conditions" after a season of club football more intense than that experienced by many of their peers.

Rice talks of the squad "maybe getting a wee bit carried away", while Nevin suggests some weren't that bothered about losing as they "had kinda had enough by that point" and just wanted home.

Regardless of the reason, Scotland's World Cup was over, with only memories and places for Cooper and McStay in the World All-star XI to show for their efforts. The Poles would go on to lose to Argentina, who in turn lost the final to a Brazil team containing future stars such as Bebeto, Jorginho and Dunga.

'The best job I ever had'

Rice was one of several who struggled the following season, but Nevin thrived - moving to Chelsea and being named player of the year.

The Stamford Bridge forward was one of 10 members of the squad to go on and win senior caps, while the likes of Ally Dick thrived at club level, playing for Tottenham in a Uefa Cup final and being signed for Ajax by Johan Cruyff.

Roxburgh, now technical director of the Asian Football Confederation, reflects with great fondness on that astonishing 12 months for his squad.

"You don't spend on youth football; you invest and hope you get a good return," he says. "And with that group we did, and then some. It's a big part of the reason I got the national team job and it's the best job I ever had, going on this adventure with these young players."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52755089

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Kirin Cup: Scotland's players remember forgotten 2006 triumph

Lee McCulloch remembers his first taste of green tea. For Gary Caldwell, it was the hotel's glass lift. Gary Teale recalls Tokyo being like a scene from Bladerunner. And Lee Miller is still bewildered by the heated toilets.

Chris Burke, meanwhile, fondly describes "a lovely vegetable curry" he enjoyed on the flight home.

The Scotland squad all have different memories from their 2006 trip to Japan for the Kirin Cup - a three-team friendly event. But each hold somewhat more sketchy recollections of the celebratory night out that followed the goalless draw with the hosts, a stalemate that meant they had won the tournament.

It started with crates of the sponsors' beer in the changing room and continued with the blessing of manager Walter Smith, who told his group of young thrusters that they could have a night out in Tokyo so long as they all reported for the bus to the airport the next morning.

Most did not need a second invitation.

'We went mad, to be honest'

FULL REPORT

[ScoRoss]

On 26/06/2020 at 19:55, Spike said:

But is this the birth of a big of a golden generation for Scots? @Rab @CaaC (John)

Kieren Tierney, Andrew Robertson, Billy Gilmour, Scott McTominay, and probably a few others. If only you blokes had a decent CF

There are a lot of talented players coming through in recent years, but seem to be clustered in the same positions. 

Not many options at right back, but have the two best left backs in at least the last 25 years for the national team. Have some options at centre back, but no great talent but now seem to have an abundance of central midfielders. And plenty of wingers and creative attackers playing at a high level, but no centre forward (maybe McBurnie or Griffiths) but not on the same level.

Under 21 striker Fraser Hornby has just moved to Ligue 1 with Stade de Reims, so hopefully he'll see more first team football and can break into the squad soon.

 

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Scotland 'very close' to reaching major finals - Craig Brown

Former Scotland boss Craig Brown says the current men's national team are "not far away" from ending their absence from major tournaments.

Brown, who turned 80 on Wednesday, is the last man to have led Scotland's men at finals, having taken the side to Euro 96 and the France 1998 World Cup.

And he says he was "so disappointed" the coronavirus pandemic caused the postponement of Scotland's Euro 2020 play-off semi-final with Israel.

"We're pretty close," Brown said.

"I think it will come back. We're not far away from it. I was sure Stevie Clarke had the team set up most definitely to beat Israel at home."

Clarke's side have won their past three matches and will face Norway or Serbia if they overcome Israel at Hampden on 8 October.

"We were getting a team together which was really looking pretty good," Brown told BBC Radio Scotland's Off the Ball. "The lockdown has helped to get guys like Kieran Tierney and Scott McKenna fit. We're getting the basis of a very good international team."

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Ex-Scotland manager Brown remembers football in WW2

VIDEO

Manchester City academy players Will and Charlie meet Bobby Brown, a former goalkeeper and Scotland manager who recalls how his life and career were changed by World War Two.

Bobby Brown sadly died in January 2020, at the age of 96, and this film is dedicated to his memory.