The Scotland Epistles Football Magazine

Some offbeat crowd scenes, pub scenes and sightseeins. Hopefully we haven’t captured anyone being somewhere or with someone that they shouldn’t – ach, it was all for the cause anyway…..

15th August 2012  Scotland and Australia line-up for the national anthems prior to their friendly match at Easter Road Stadium, Edinburgh.

 

15th August 2012   Australia supporters in the ‘Rolf Harris’ end celebrate their team taking an unexpected lead against one of the giants of the northern hemisphere. Scotland recovered to win 3-1.

 

 

 

8th September 2012    Amy MacDonald and her band at Hampden prior to our World Cup Qualifying campaign kicking-off against Serbia.

8th September 2012  Scotland and Serbia take the field and the ‘Road to Rio’ begins with a goal-less draw.

11th September 2012  Scotland and Macedonia line-up prior to fighting out a 1-1 draw in their World Cup Qualifier. Macedonia win the ‘most psychedelic flag award’ however.

11th September 2012   Andy Murray U.S. Open Tennis Champion – but could he hit a decent ball to the back post?

12th October 2012     Another ‘snazzy’ flag but this time Wales also throw in a band for good measure, at the Cardiff City Stadium.

12th October 2012  Disappointed Scotland fans at the Cardiff City Stadium see Wales win the World Cup Qualifier 2-1.

16th October 2012  In the King Baudouin Stadium, in Brussels and therefore in Belgium for our usual defeat, this time in a World Cup Qualifier.

16th October 2012    No it’s not the Partick Thistle end at the Champions League Final, it’s Belgium supporters celebrating their second goal in a 2-0 victory over Scotland. It just goes to show though, that beating us still means something to our opponents! Hic!

22nd March 2013  Scotland and Wales line-up at Hampden Park prior to the World Cup Qualifier, the snow, a 2-1 victory for the Welsh, the snow getting heavier, disruption to public transport etc etc – what a feckin night it turned out to be.

22nd March 2013   Who says politics and sport don’t mix?

7th June 2013    Outside the Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia an hour before kick-off.

7th June 2013  A paraglider arrives at the Maksimir Stadium as part of the pre-match entertainment. It sure beats the hell out of having to listen to a Croatian equivalent of Des Clarke.

7th June 2013  Croatia and Scotland emerge from the’tunnel of love’ for the World Cup Qualifier.

7th June 2013  If you’ve got it, flaunt it – Celebrating a rare Scotland away victory. [1-0 versus Croatia in Zagreb – sounds good doesn’t it?]

14th August 2013  England v Scotland in a celebratory match for the 150th anniversary of the [nameless] Football Association at new, totally over-priced, Wembley.

14th August 2013   Standing with the English – It has to be said though that I’ve done a lot worse.

6th September 2013  Belgium come to Hampden for a World Cup Qualifier.

6th September 2013  It’s half-time in the game against Belgium so time for Roary the mascot to get a ‘backie’ on a Harley around a rain-soaked Hampden. And they say Vaudeville is dead.

 

15th October 2013    Croatia supporters in the West Stand at Hampden bring gifts of flares prior to our World Cup Qualifier.

15th October 2013  Justice is done as Scotland complete a home and away ‘double’ over Croatia. Croatia still made it to the play-offs however and eventually Brazil 2014. Funny how things work out….

15th November 2013  You’ve guessed it – The Yanks are coming….

15th November 2013   Hand on heart it’s Scotland v USA in a friendly match at Hampden Park,Glasgow.

28th May 2014   Craven Cottage, Fulham, London – venue for a Brazil 2014 World Cup warm-up  –  for Nigeria….

28th May 2014  The Tartan Army celebrate a goal at the one-time home of Jimmy Hill during the Nigeria-Scotland match.

11th October 2014   Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow on the day of the Scotland-Georgia Euro Qualifier.

11th October 2014   Georgia and Scotland just prior to their soccer masterclass.

14th October 2014   The Tartan Army gather in Warsaw’s nearly-new, old town.

14th October 2014   Up in the ‘Gods’ at Warsaw’s National Stadium during the Poland-Scotland Euro Qualifier.

14th November 2014   Celtic Park, Glasgow awaits the arrival of the Irish for our Euro Qualifier.

14th November 2014    Scotland and the Republic of Ireland line-up at Celtic Park.

18th November 2014   Fireworks at Celtic Park, Glasgow ahead of the damp squib friendly versus England.

18th November 2014     The Saint George’s Cross replaces the Union flag amongst the England support at Celtic Park.

25th March 2015   Heaving crowds flock towards Hampden ahead of our friendly international against Northern Ireland.

25th March 2015   Time for reflection on the passing of a true Scotland legend – Dave MacKay.

29 March 2015   Oh how we all cheered when UEFA’S new kids on the block – Gibraltar – drew level at Hampden by scoring their first ever competitive goal. Colin Stein, cunningly disguised as Steven Fletcher would help spare our blushes with our first hat-trick since 1969.

29th March 2015   Hat-trick hero and George Clooney lookalike….

5th June 2015    Easter Road Stadium, Edinburgh  

 There are two sides to every argument. 

5th June 2015   Some arse holds up the Scotland-Qatar friendly match at Easter Road as the stewards draw lots to see who’ll tackle the problem.

13th June 2015  The Tartan Army in the Temple Bar area of Dublin.

13th June 2015  Mixing with the Green Army near the Aviva Stadium, Dublin.

13th June 2015  Scotland supporters in North Stand at the Aviva Stadium.

13th June 2015   Republic of Ireland v Scotland on candid cameras.

7th September 2015  World Champions Germany, are reminded who they are playing.

7th September 2015  Scotland and Germany line-up for the national anthems and an intrusive cameraman.

8th October 2015  Polish flares in Hampden’s West Stand just prior to our Euro Qualifier.

8th October 2015  Poland supporters in Hampden’s East Stand.

11th October 2015   11,ooo Scots head for the Estadio do Algarve, near Faro for the final game of the 2016 Euro Qualifying campaign and the party that wasn’t.

11th October 2015   Inside the Estadio do Algarve and it’s a whole new ball game.

11th October 2015   A sideways glance at kilts,flags and gaudy jerseys.

11th October 2015   Gibraltar 0  Scotland 6   and our second hat-trick in the same calendar year thanks to Steven Fletcher and his magical beard.

8th October 2016   Just in case you weren’t paying attention, the Hampden electronic scoreboard lets everyone know that the home side have done something positive – versus Lithuania in a World Cup Qualifier incidently.

8th October 2016  …..and it was James McArthur [of Crystal Palace] who netted the last minute equaliser against those dastardly Lithuanians.

23rd July 2017 Tired of waiting on the men’s team qualifying for the finals of a major tournament, Robert heads to Rotterdam for the finals of the women’s Euros and a chance to get up close and personal with the tournament mascot, Kicky.

23rd July 2017 The 11,000 capacity Sparta Stadium, Rotterdam, aka ‘Het Kasteel’ [The Castle]. At this venue in 1970, apparently, the Feyenoord ‘keeper took a goalkick and ‘shot down’ a passing seagull. The stuffed bird now resides in the Feyenoord museum much to the annoyance of some Sparta fans who believe the ‘exhibit’ belongs in their museum.

23rd July 2017 The Scotland WNT starting line-up versus Portugal in the Sparta Stadium, Rotterdam. Ultimately, Scotland were unlucky to lose 1-2 having more than matched their opponents. [Unbias overview].

23rd July 2017 Scotland’s pre-match huddle [in their ‘Blue Hibernian’ kit] in the Sparta Stadium, Rotterdam, which, incidentally, also hosted Olympic Games football in 1928.

5th October 2017 Scotland line-up in their shocking pink jerseys for the first-ever visit of Slovakia. Scotland would win the World Cup qualifier 1-0.

5th October 2017 Slovakia supporters in Hampden’s West Stand. You can’t beat a big flag such as that designed by a couple of Slovakian ‘Likely Lads’ ie Ladislav Cisarik and Ladislav Vrtel and which came into force in September 1992.

March 2018 Gable-end mural in Budapest commemorating Hungary’s 6-3 demolition of England at Wembley in 1953. The following year the Mighty Magyars would triumph 4-2 at Hampden but in 2018 revenge would be sweet.

27th March 2018 Robert and a big bird outside the 22,000 capacity Groupama Arena, Budapest – home of Ferencvaros FC – which opened in 2014. Sculptor Gabor Szoke also created something similar outside the Atlanta Falcon’s American Football Stadium. No giant birds of prey outside Hampden though, please.

30th August 2018 Alighting at Paisley Gilmour Street station for refreshments prior to seeing the Scotland WNT defeat their Swiss counterparts in a World Cup qualifier at the home of St. Mirren FC.

30th August 2018 The Simple Digital Arena, Paisley where free match-day programmes for Scotland WNT v Switzerland WNT were available on entry to the stadium. Official attendance 4098.

10th September 2018 David Stuart emerges from the foliage near the south-east corner of Hampden Park to sell high quality fanzines, [almost unnoticed] prior to the Scotland v Albania UEFA Nations League match.

8th June 2019 David Stuart flogging our footballing wares in a quiet corner of The Shed, Shawlands, Glasgow prior to the Scotland v Cyprus Euro Qualifier. Pre or post-match, The Shed is of course an excellent venue for Tartan Army conviviality. Cheers!

19th June 2019 On the ‘Avenue James McFadden’ outside the Parc des Princes, Paris prior to Scotland v Argentina in the Women’s World Cup finals.

19th June 2019 Scotland’s starting line-up versus Argentina in our third group match at the Women’s World Cup finals.

19th June 2019 Scotland led 3-0 and were heading for the World Cup Round of 16 ….and then it all went horribly wrong. Total equality achieved though, the women’s team blew it in a way that their male counterparts would have been proud of.

19th June 2019 Au Revoir! Au Revoir! Au Revoir!

19th November 2019 Kazakhstan’s first visit to Scotland [they gubbed Alex McLeish’s side 3-0 in the Euro qualifier in Astana in March 2019] would be Scotland’s last home game before the covid pandemic turned the world upside down.

19th November 2019 Steve Clarke’s Scotland grab a modicum of revenge in front of a crowd of just 19,515. Ironically, football behind closed-doors was just around the corner.

May 2021 Gearing-up for the Euro Finals – Hampden Park in its Euro 2020 finery.

May 2021 Gearing-up for the Euro Finals – Glasgow city centre advert.

May 2021 Gearing-up for the Euro Finals – Tesco Superstore, Rutherglen.

May 2021 Gearing-up for the Euro finals – Pub advert, Rutherglen.

14th June 2021 The long wait is over – Scotland v Czech Republic in the Euro 2020 finals at a Covid crowd-restrictions Hampden Park. Attendance 9847.

14th June 2021 A big boy done it [twice] then ran away. Despite having the bulk of the possession, Scotland contrive to lose 0-2.

18th June 2021 Czech Republic and Croatia line-up for Hampden’s second Group D match in front of the tournament’s lowest attendance of 5607.

18th June 2021 Man of the Match, Luka Modric [aka the Chic Charnley of the Balkans] , who was appearing in his fourth successive Euro Championship finals.

18th June 2021 Relaxing in the North Stand at Hampden watching Croatia and the Czech Republic draw 1-1.

18th June 2021 The second match of the day – England v Scotland at Wembley Stadium – as viewed on tv.

19th June 2021 Scotland earn a hard-fought point in a goal-less, but never dull, draw at Wembley

22nd June 2021 Croatia and Scotland line-up for the third Group D match at Hampden with both sides chasing qualification to the Round of 16.

22nd June 2021 Callum McGregor, scorer of Scotland’s peach of a 42nd minute equaliser versus Croatia in front of a crowd of 9896.

23rd June 2021 Well it was good while it lasted….

4th September 2021 A Hampden Park without covid attendance restrictions welcomes a crowd of 40,869 to see Scotland v Moldova in a World Cup qualifier.

4th September 2021 Lyndon Dykes’ 14th minute goal makes all the difference on a night when manager Steve Clarke utilised all five substitutes against a nation that were instrumental in ‘Bringing down Berti‘ in 2004.

9th October 2021 Andy Robertson and Rachel Corsie – in chic stern-looking poses – welcome one and all to Hampden Park for the Scotland v Israel World Cup qualifier.

9th October 2021 Half-time presentation of ‘back-dated’ caps associated with Scotland’s 1967 World Tour.

9th October 2021 I’m usually with John & Yoko when they sang ‘Happy Xmas [VAR is over]’ but on this occasion the Video Assistant Referee ruled in Scotland’s favour and so Lyndon Dykes’ second half equaliser was allowed to stand.

9th October 2021 Every scoreboard tells a story – but only part of the story really. Twice Israel led and Scotland missed a penalty before Scott McTominay netted the winner in the last minute. Surely the technology is there to add in the names of the scorers, times of goals/missed penalties, official attendance plus ‘Have a safe journey home, folks’.

15th November 2021 Scotland line-up prior to the World Cup qualifier versus Denmark at Hampden Park.

15th November 2021 Che Adams, scorer of Scotland’s second goal in our 2-0 victory over Denmark.

1st June 2022 The North Stand at Hampden Park becomes a pre-match saltire.

1st June 2022 Scotland and Ukraine line up prior to their World Cup Play-off Semi-final at Hampden Park.

1st June 2022 We can only hope…..

2nd June 2022 Disappointment for Scotland would be followed by disappointment for Ukraine when they lost the play-off Final in Cardiff and Wales qualified for their first World Cup finals since 1958.

28th March 2023 and David nips in for a pint before the match v Spain.

His excitement reaches fever pitch as he discovers inside that there’s not just a great painting of the lady herself but there’s beermats too!

28th March 2023 Scotland and Spain line up at Hampden Park prior to their European Championship qualifier.

29th March 2023 Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Julio Iglesias, Baccara and, er, Manuel from Fawlty Towers……..your boys took one helluva beating!