SCOTLAND SWINGS – FROM BAD TO ‘WORLD CHAMPS’

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28 Jul

SCOTLAND SWINGS – FROM BAD TO ‘WORLD CHAMPS’

The 1960s heralded a golden age of players who wore the dark blue of Scotland. Law, Gilzean, Baxter, Greig and Johnstone are just some of the names still familiar to supporters today.

Bookended by heavy defeats against the Auld Enemy, the decade witnessed just one other loss in the annual fixture against England and contained both the most-celebrated and horrific of Wembley encounters. The time is ripe to reevaluate the rollercoaster 60os which featured 64 matches, three World Cup campaigns, failure against Norwegian part-timers and a six-goal spree against Spain just days later.

Author Ronnie McDevitt has been watching Scottish football for more than 40 years and has attended four World Cups and two European Championship tournaments with the national side – and seen Scotland play overseas more than 150 times.

In Scotland in the 60s you will discover:

What the atmosphere was like inside the Wembley dressing room following the loss of nine goals to England in 1961
The inside story of misbehaviour on tour which almost led to Jim Baxter being sent home in disgrace
That an inpromptu juggling display inspired the players to score six times against Spain in Madrid
How the press reaction to the inclusion of English-based players affected those ‘Anglos’
Who the Selection Committee of the SFA were and how precious Wembley tickets were allocated
How the Scottish team were slaughtered by their own media despite pulling back a two-goal deficit at Wembley
That Jock Stein’s part-time spell as the national manager ended in a public row with the SFA
How Jim Baxter inspired his teammates to defeat the World Champions in 1967
Why the success of Scottish clubs in Europe decimated the squad which Bobby Brown took on a World Tour resulting in a hostile backlash Down Under
And read the players’ account of a valiant performance in West Germany which ended in an unlucky defeat, a sending off and dreams of what might have been at the 1970 World Cup

Click here for more information, or to read a sample from Scotland in the 60s.