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June is a glorious month especially in the even-numbered years when it features the World or Euro Championship finals. If you are looking for some extra special dates for a celebratory Barbie then why not choose from the undernoted five which have borne witness to Scotland’s grand total of six victories at major tournament finals.
11 June 78 World Cup Mendoza,Argentina Scotland 3 Netherlands 2

14 June 74 World Cup Dortmund, Germany Scotland 2 Zaire 0

15 June 82 World Cup Malaga, Spain Scotland 5 New Zealand 2

16 June 90 World Cup Genoa, Italy Scotland 2 Sweden 1

18 June 92 Euros Norkopping, Sweden Scotland 3 C.I.S. 0

18 June 96 Euros Birmingham, England Scotland 1 Switzerland 0

I’ve attached postcard images of three of the World Cup venues where we have tasted victory and we’ll try to dig out something else nearer each individual date. The Westfalen Stadion in Dortmund in 1974 [where Scotland treated Zaire with the leniency of a first offender] was also the blueprint, apparently, for the remodelled Ibrox Stadium ie cheerio running track and large terracing. Somewhat ironically, the Westfalen Stadion was itself considerably re-modelled for the 2006 World Cup but includes standing areas for club matches.

Malaga’s then uncovered Estadio la Rosaleda [aka The Rose Garden] had standing areas behind each goal during the 1982 World Cup Finals and I was on the lower tier of the furthest away terracing [ie the NORTH terracing for the benefit of David Stuart] to watch Scotland put the New Zealand all-whites to the sword.There was also a moat however that prevented us from mobbing John Wark and the boys at the final whistle.

Genoa’s Stadio Luigi Ferraris is another box-stand masterpiece which apparently was the inspiration for the re-developed Deepdale Stadium of Preston North End. The link here is Craig Brown who managed the Lancashire club between 2002 and 2004 and who assisted Andy Roxburgh in guiding Scotland to victory over Sweden in Genoa at Italia 90.

I particularly like the postcards that afford you a view of the adjacent topography-be it the dry [in summer] river bed to the right of La Rosaleda or the Genoan Hills which overlook Luigi Ferraris – well it turns me on anyway. Hopefully JUNE 2016 will necessitate an update for this article.

Robert Marshall

First posted on Facebook 28th May, 2015