Scottish Football Today

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5 August, 2024

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Last week Hendry took us through the golden era/s of Scottish football… a time when Scotland qualified for top tournaments and their domestic teams could compete with the very best in Europe. However, as Hendry says, it has been almost years since Scotland has managed anything like this. So, where is it now? Is Scotland looking at better times ahead? Hendry takes us through where things have gone wrong, and how he sees Scottish football going today.

“Back when I was playing, the Scottish team had lots of top players. We had Premier League players, players in top European clubs as well as Celtic and Rangers players who were playing at top level. As a result, we were an international team that could compete with others and put up a good match. In the World Cup in 1974, they were knocked out the cup without even losing a game – we even got a draw against Brazil. We qualified for five consecutive World Cups, up until 1990. Although we never progressed, we had a squad good enough to get there.

The last time we qualified was in 1998 – over 20 years ago. That seems like a long time ago. Why? Because we had top club players. Now, the Scottish national team doesn’t have that top quality. There are a few players for top clubs, like Andy Robertson, but we need more. I’d say unless we get at least six or seven of those players, then we’ll keep struggling.” So let’s compare the quality of the Scottish players between then and now.

The 1998 Scotland Word Cup Squad

When we looked at the last World Cup Squad, we can see that out of the 22 players they had on the team, 8 were from Premier League clubs, 10 from Celtic and Rangers, plus players from other top clubs such as AS Monaco. A typical Scotland starting 11 would have looked as follows:

Kevin Gallacher

Kevin Gallacher played as a striker/winger from 1983 up until 2002. This Scottish player started his career in Dundee Utd – a strong Scottish squad. However, in 1989, he moved to First Division club, Coventry City and then in 1992 joined the Premier League club Blackburn Rovers, alongside Hendry. He stayed at this club until 1990, and it was here that he was part of the Premier League-winning team. Gallacher then moved on to Newcastle United. Overall, he made a total of 53 appearances for his country, scoring 9 goals for the team.

Colin Hendry

Hendry was the club’s defender – and captain in the 1998 squad. Another player that started off in Dundee, he then moved over to Blackburn Rovers in 1986, then in the Second Division. He made his move to the top league when moving to Manchester City in 1990 – however, he then went back down to the second on return to Blackburn. This wasn’t for long, as they were promoted to the Premier League in 1992. It was with Blackburn Rovers that Hendry won the Premier League title. He stayed in the Premier League with Rangers and Coventry City. Overall, Hendry made 51 appearances for his country, scoring 3 goals.

Colin Calderwood

Calderwood, the Scottish defender, is yet another Premier League team player. Starting his career in Mansfield Town, he moved on to Swindon Town, and then onto Premier League squad, Tottenham Hotspurs in 1993, where he stayed till 1999. He also made four appearances during their victorious League Cup campaign. It was during his time at Tottenham that he earned most of his 36 national appearances.

David Weir

Weir, the Scottish centre back spent the earlier part of his career in the Scottish league, playing for Evansville Purple Aces, Falkirk and Heart of Midlothian, when the team won the Scottish Cup. It was whilst he was at Midlothian that he was part of the World Cup 1998 squad. However, in this tournament, it became evident that he was Premier League material, as he made his move to Everton in 1999, and his debut game saw the squad winning 5-0. He stayed in the Premier League with Rangers in 2007, where he was part of the squad that won the SPL 3 times, Scottish Cup twice and Scottish League Cup 3 times. Weir played for his country 69 times, scoring one goal.