The Best England v Scotland Matches

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5 August, 2024

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There’s no rivalry – on or off the pitch – quite like the England v Scotland rivalry. When they go head to head on the pitch it’s sure to be more than a little rivalry. When looking at the stats, it’s a little more equal than you would think. Overall, they have played each other 114 times. Out of those, England has won 48 times, Scotland 41 times and there have been 25 draws. However, England’s wins are more recent, so in the modern era of football, the stats would look slightly different. So, out of those, what are the best England v Scotland matches?

Colin Hendry takes us through his list of the best England v Scotland matches in his opinion – including some he’s watched – and some he had the experience of playing in. Let’s see what he says…

1928 – The Wembley Wizards 5-1

Colin Hendry takes us way back to March 1928, with the ‘Wembley Wizards’ who certainly had their cake and ate it against England at Wembley. The Scottish team delighted the 80,868 crowd to annihilate the England team on home turf.

The background of the match sees both of the squads failing to win matches, with Scotland losing to Ireland and drawing with Wales. England had lost both of their games against Ireland and Wales. England went into the match with a poor record against Scotland and were going in as the underdogs.

The opening of the game was very dramatic, with England threatening to score in the first attach – hitting the post. However, Scotland responded quickly and Alex Jackson scored within 3 minutes of the opening whistle. Strong performances from Alan Morton and Alex Jackson forced the English defense wide – which left space for the Scots to exploit. England dug deep for a lot of the first half to keep the Scots at bay, but just before half time, Alex James scored the second.

However, it was the second half that was the most memorable of Scottish footballing history. The Scottish team raised their game and dominated the match. Twenty minutes in, they scored their third goal. Then, just ten minutes later, James got the fourth. Jackson then scored his hat-trick in the 85^th minute to makes the score a resounding 5-0. However, with just one minute to go, Bob Kelly managed to stick a free kick past the Scottish goalie for a consolation goal. The final score was 5-1.

After the Game

At the end of the match, in his interview, Alex James said “We could have had ten!” and the team was on a high, with papers singing their praises. England’s defense came under a lot of criticism and very rightly so.  It was said that day that England weren’t just beaten, but they were left in shock. They were made to look inferior in every way. Despite their beautiful game, the Wembley Wizards were never selected as a full team again for an international match.