The Scotland Epistles Football Magazine

First posted on Facebook, 28th June, 2016

Happy Birthday to Phil Bardsley who will turn 31 today. Phil has gained 13 caps so far, all with Sunderland. It’s fair to say he is not favoured by Gordon Strachan at all, 12 of his caps came under Craig Levein gaining his first against Spain at Hampden in October 2011 when Scotland lost out to a late goal to lose 3-2.
Strachan has rarely picked Phil for his squads and has only given him 23 minutes of playing time against Poland in the friendly win in Warsaw 2014. Phil only played 11 times for Sunderland last season and it will be interesting to see if he’s picked much by Club Manager Mark Hughes or International Manager Strachan next season.
Happy Birthday Phil and all the best.

And no wonder they look happy with themselves. After all they have just beaten England 2-1 at Hampden, May 1976. Pictured are Colin Jackson, Joe Jordan, Tom Forsyth, Kenny Dalglish, Alan Rough and kneeling we have Derek Johnstone and Danny McGrain. This would be the Colin Jackson’s last game for Scotland despite having never been beaten, playing in the dark blue of his country. Jackson played 8 games; won 5 and drew three, scoring one goal against Wales, the season before this game down at Ninian Park in a 2-2 draw (see video).  A returning Gordon McQueen would take over from Jackson. Alan Rough was also unbeaten at this point having played four games thus far.

First posted on Facebook, June 25th, 2016

Happy Birthday to Callum Davidson who will turn 40 today. Callum made his debut in Scotland’s first game after the 1998 World Cup, as would Barry Ferguson and Neil McCann; all three would be second half substitutes against Lithuania in Vilnius in the opening Euro 2000 qualifier. Callum would start in Scotland’s next seven games and indeed play a big part in their campaign. However, the Czech Republic would win the group at a canter with maximum points with Scotland second; 12 points behind them.
Scotland got through to the play offs against England and would lose the first leg 2-0 at Hampden. Davidson would play in the second game where a Don Hutchison goal gave Scotland a memorable but forlorn win.
Davidson’s first twelve caps would come as a Blackburn player and his next five as a Leicester City player, however he would only feature under Berti Vogts fleetingly due to injury, gaining cap number 17 in October, 2002 against Canada at Easter Road.

Callum would eventually make his way back from the International wilderness in his time with Preston North End with George Burley playing him in two games of the 2010 Euro Qualifiers. Scotland would lose the first game in Oslo 4 -0 to Norway but would beat Macedonia 2-1 at Hampden in Callum’s last game with Scott Brown and James McFadden scoring.
Happy Birthday Callum.

First posted on Facebook on June 24th, 2016
As a lover of international football I am managing to enjoy the Euro 2016 finals which ironically [but for obvious reasons] are also the most painful tournament finals I’ve ‘experienced’ during my lifetime. Even a visit to my local TESCO is painful as it hurts to see large flags of the 24 finalists hanging from the rafters whilst our [small] saltire is tucked away next to dairy or beef products.

As someone who clutches at straws for a hobby I sought solace in one of Scotland’s few European success stories [sort of] by visiting my local Lidl store -official supplier of the Scottish F.A. dontchaknow. There to greet me at the front entrance were cardboard cut-outs of Russell Martin, Ikechi Anya and Andrew Robertson. [There’s an Alan Hutton joke in there somewhere]. Anyway I wouldn’t mind adding the two-dimensional version of the three amigos to my Scotland memorabilia collection – probably a more acceptable cut-out than my Xena Warrior Princess collectible.

First posted on Facebook on June 22nd, 2016

Happy 35th Birthday to Stephen Crainey. Stephen gained 12 caps in total. Does it say something about him that he gained them under Berti Vogts and then Craig Levein? He was first capped as a Celtic player in the horror show that was the Stade De France in 2002 where the French lets us off easy with only a 5-0 drubbing in Berti’s first game.
It didn’t get too much better for Stephen as he played in a few more friendly defeats before an appearance in his only competitive game,unfortunately this was in Toftir in the Faroes as a woeful Scotland scraped by with a 2-2 draw.
Cap number five would come in March 2004, under rather tragic circumstances as he replaced the injured John Kennedy in only 17 minutes of Kennedy’s one and only Scotland appearance against Romania at Hampden. Scotland would lose 2-1.
However, by this time Stephen was a Southampton player as he was, for his sixth cap which was another friendly defeat only this time away to Denmark.
Cap number 7 would come a whole six years later as a Blackpool player as the Seasiders enjoyed a revival under Ian Holloway and with Charlie Adam in tantalising form. Finally Stephen would enjoy victory as Scotland dispatched the Faroes up at Pittodrie in friendly in November 2010 with goals from Danny Wilson, Kris Commons and James Mackie.
However, Crainey would remain nothing more than a squad player filling in for the absence of the likes of Phil Bardsley and others. His last cap would come in the 2-1 victory over Cyprus in Larnaca coming on for Bardsley in the 74th minute.
Happy Birthday Stephen and all the best with AFC Fylde in the National League North next season.

David Stuart

First posted on June 22nd, 2016

While we’re looking back on strips; this was among the best. We posted this one last year too.
“It’s a new strip launch, so who can we get to pose for it?”
“Well, we’ll no get any guys from down South, so let’s get some locals in.”
“Jock Wallace has told us to f#‪#‎k‬ off, we’re no getting any of his players but Celtic’s sending McGrain and Dalglish.”
What aboot Hibs can they send anybody and get that big poof Rough, he wisnae too bad against the Swiss. Noo is there anybody else?
“Eh, Willie Miller’s hingin’ aboot for a disciplinary, what aboot him?”
“.Willie . . .who?”
“Miller, he plays fir Aberdeen, the boss is thinkin’ of playin’ him soon again.”

8. Yep one more sold. I hope you are all as excited as me for this. Anyway, please buy issue 4 and get us to that break even figure. Thanks to everyone who has brought us to this point.
8 appearances. First of all to two players from either side of the Old Firm divide who have passed away prematurely in the last few years; Tommy Burns and Colin Jackson. Both players were perhaps unlucky not to gain more caps; Burns due to the plethora of great midfield players available to Scotland at the time and Jackson lost out to the likes of Gordon McQueen, even though he never played in a losing Scotland side.

Two of the Wembley Wizards also only have eight caps, Arsenal legend Alex James and Jimmy Gibson. From the sixties, there’s Lisbon Lion John Hughes, Rangers’ Ralph Brand, Hearts and Everton player Alex Young and goalkeeper Jim Herriot. Then there’s Paul Hegarty, Stuart Kennedy and Alan McInally (always a duffer among them).

8 goals. Top of the class goes to Ralph Brand with 8 goals in 8 games but this was the sixties so there was no shortage of great strikers so we could afford to drop him. Graham Leggat from around the same time also hit 8 as did Billy Liddell of Liverpool. Two stalwarts from our team in the 70’s and 80’s also scored eight but most were no doubt penalties, Archie Gemmill and John Robertson. Of course, there is also a current player on 8 but since six were against Gibraltar, maybe we shouldn’t mention it.

World Cup Squad numbers with the number 8 included Kenny Dalglish in ’74, ’78 and ’82. Roy Aitken was given the jersey in ’86, Jim Bett at Italia ’90 and Craig Burley in 1998.
As for opponents we have played Lithuania 8 times and beat them on five occasions, drawn two and lost one. Of course, the one loss was in a Berti Vogts friendly. Maybe someone should get a petition started to have all Berti’s friendlies expunged from the records and our figures for those years might not look too bad and of course some duff players might never have been capped!
So remember. Buy Buy Buy
Bye.
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Are you lot getting fed up with this yet. Well buy just 9 more copies between you and I’ll stop. Yes another issue bought and only 9 to go ’til we break even. Once more to paraphrase the Big Bang Theory; here is ‘Fun with Figures’. Today’s number is 9
9 Caps for Scotland; Among them: Legendary Jags player Johnny McKenzie; the only known Gaelic speaking player to play for Scotland. One of the Hibs Famous Five, ex Hibs and Aberdeen manager Eddie Turnbull. Then there’s Eddie Colquhoun of Sheffield United, Peter Cormack who despite his success with Liverpool was never capped as a player for them. Then we have Brain Irvine, James Mackie and Arsenal double winning Captain Frank McLintock.

9 goals; we have Hearts Legend Tommy Walker, great players from the sixties Ian St. John and Davie Wilson. Paul McStay hit 9 too which is good for a midfielder and then the man who took us to France ’98 with a bundle of goals Kevin Gallacher.

World Cup Squad numbers – Joe Jordan ’74 and ’78 but not ’82’ that went to Alan Brazil; Joe was given number 15. Alex Ferguson must have known our forwards were rubbish in ’86 and none of them deserved the number 9 jersey. It went to Eamonn Bannon instead. At Italia ’90 it went to a striker in Ally McCoist and another Rangers player in ’98, Gordon Durie.

Finally, we have played the Faroe islands 9 times and beat them seven times and drawn with them twice. How come though with all those victories it’s the 2-2 draw under Berti Vogts that keeps giving me nightmare flashbacks.
So that’s number nine folks and remember Buy Buy Buy.
Bye.
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http://www.ebay.co.uk/…/SCOTLAND-EPISTLES-FOO…/381667271162…

First posted on Facebook, June 17th, 2016

Who? I know I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel with this one but when there’s no first team player with a birthday I sometimes look up the Under 21 players and see if I can find something interesting. Last week I almost wrote about Jim McNichol who as a Brentford player gained 7 Under 21 caps in the late 70’s. Jim’s claim to fame was that in May, 1987 he saved Torquay from relegation from the old English 4th Division. 2-0 down at half time to Crewe Alexander his team faced the drop but Jim scored from a free kick after the restart. In the dying seconds with tensions high the police brought in Police dogs to ensure there was no crowd trouble. One of the dogs Bryn, got a bit too excitable and attacked McNichol who would need 17 stitches to his leg but in the injury time added on for his treatment Torquay equalised in the dying seconds. Now that’s what they mean when they talk about taking one for the team.
Anyway, back to Graeme Hogg. What’s so interesting about him? Well, other than that he played for Manchester United and during a spell with Hearts he had his nose broken by team mate Craig Levein after an on-field dispute. Other than that not much. Graeme did achieve four Under 21 caps but what is interesting is the team that he played with in his first game for the Under 21’s.
Central defender Graeme lined up for the Scotland under 21’s for the first time in April, 1984 in Belgrade, This was second leg of the Quarter Finals of the European Championships. Scotland had won the first leg 2-1 with goals from Mo Johnston and Brian McClair.
The team to face Yugoslavia would win 329 full caps between them but would also have two players in their ranks who would probably, be among the best players never capped for Scotland. The line-up and Caps were Bryan Gunn (6), Stevie Clarke (6), Mark Reid (0), Richard Gough (61), Hogg (0), Maurice Malpas (55), Bobby Russell (0), Roy Aitken (57), Paul McStay (76), Mo Johnston (38). Subs would be John Hewitt (0) and Brian McClair (30).
Mo Johnston would score for Scotland but the Scots would lose 2-1 to take the tie into extra time and the game would end 3-1. Jock Stein at the time had complained about the timing of the game as some of the Scotland players had played two domestic games in the four days previous to the match.

Bobby Russell of Rangers would of course be an over age player for this tie and is often cited as one of the greatest players never to be capped by Scotland as is John Hewitt of Aberdeen.

As for Graeme he would play 81 times for Man. United before moving on to Portsmouth, Hearts, Notts County and Brentford.
Happy Birthday Graeme.