The Scotland Epistles Football Magazine

First posted on Facebook July 17th, 2016

Happy Birthday to Peter Cormack who will be 70 today.
It’s fair to say that Peter’s Scotland career never really reached the heights that was expected of him. Peter had flourished under Jock Stein at Hibernian as a teenager and indeed he would make his Scotland debut at the age of 19.
Peter had played for the Under-23 side a couple of times prior to his first full team game and lining up alongside against Brazil on 25th June 1966 were a couple of familiar faces. Billy Bremner and Charlie Cooke had played with Peter in the Under-23 side but had progressed to first team before him. Also making his debut that day was John Clark of Celtic.
This was a pre-World Cup warm up for Brazil and on show were such players as Jairzinho, Gerson and Pele. Stevie Chalmers of Celtic put Scotland ahead in the first minute but Brazil equalised through Servilio in the 16th minute and the game ended 1-1.
Surprisingly it would be a couple of years before Peter would play again for Scotland coming on as a sub with 3 minutes to go in a 1-0 defeat to Denmark. However, a year later things pick up again as Peter plays two games in a row. The first in September 1969, the Republic of Ireland game at Dalymount Park which I mentioned the other day.
He is then picked for the World Cup Qualifier against West Germany. At this point Scotland were still very much in the hunt for a place in Mexico and any kind of result against the Germans would put Scotland in a good position going into their last game against Austria.
Scotland got off to a great start with Jimmy Johnstone scoring in only three minutes, however the Germans equalised just before half time and then went into the lead in 60 minutes. Alan Gilzean would equalise four minutes later but with only nine minutes to go a final German gaol broke Scottish hearts. It was shortly after this that Tommy Gemmell went on the rampage having being hacked down by Helmut Haller; Tommy decided to take full blooded revenge and whacked Haller a cracker. Tommy became only the fourth Scotland players to be sent off and the third Celtic player to do so on National duty with Bertie Auld and Pat Crerand being his predecessors.
Scotland lost the final World Cup Qualifier against Austria in Vienna with Peter missing out but who knows what would have happened had we drawn in Hamburg but isn’t that always the way?
As for Peter, after another period of absence would see him come on as a sub, again against Denmark in November 1970 in a Euro qualifier. This would be his first game as a Nottingham Forest player. Scotland won one nil, thanks to a John O’Hare goal
1971 would Peter’s best year for representing Scotland as he would win his final four caps; mind you it wasn’t a great year for Scotland as their playing record would read P10 W2 D1 L7 F5 A14.
Peter would play in defeats to Portugal, England and Denmark and a nil nil draw against Wales. These results would see the ending of Bobby Brown’s reign as Scottish manager and the beginning of Tommy Docherty’s. In fact, the two Scotland wins would be under Tommy and without Peter. Docherty would bring Peter on as a late sub against the Netherlands in Amsterdam in December ’71 and that would be it for Peter . . . well almost.
Peter would become a Liverpool player in 1972 and would be a pivotal part of their season ’72-’73 Championship and UEFA Cup winning team but there would be no Scotland recall for him that year. However, despite not having played for Scotland since 1971 Peter was chosen as part of the 22 players that travelled to Germany for the 1974 World Cup. It is strange that Scotland played six games prior to the World Cup that year and Willie Ormond chose not to play him but still took him to Germany as part of the squad.
That was it for Peter and Scotland; his international record was pretty poor as Scotland would only win once with Peter involved and even then the goal had been scored long before he came on.

First posted on Facebook , July 16th, 2016

Had he lived Bobby Evans would have been 89 today. Bobby played for Scotland on 48 occasions, winning 45 caps with Celtic and the other three with Chelsea. He captained Scotland 12 times.
Bobby died in 2001 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008
I always liked this card from 1959.

The other day I wrote about Danny McGrain and his debut for Scotland and so I thought that could be a theme over the next few months or so. So today it’s Kenny Miller Time. Kenny started out as a Hibs player and he was capped at Under 21 level in March, 2000. He would gain seven caps as an Under-21 player, 4 of which would be gained as a Rangers player. He moved to Rangers in June, 2000 for £2m.
Craig Brown gave Kenny his first cap on 25th April, 2001 in Bydgoszcz, Poland where Scotland played out 1-1 draw in front of a crowd of 18,000. Craig was giving them out like confetti that night and Kenny was among seven new caps. Starting that night were Barry Nicholson of Dunfermline who would gain three caps in total, John O’Neill of Hibs who would have an International career totalling of 75 minutes, all in this game, which was twenty minutes longer than Charlie Miller of Dundee United would have as he was substituted in the second half too. Gavin Rae of Dundee would be more fortunate, carving out an International career of 14 caps. As for the subs; Andy McLaren of Kilmarnock would come on at half time replacing Billy Dodds for his 45 minutes of International fame, followed ten minutes later by Miller’s replacement; Steven Caldwell of Newcastle. Steven would win 12 caps in total. Finally with nine minutes remaining Kenny Miller would make his International bow replacing Scotland’s goalscorer Scott Booth. Within a minute, Tomasz Iwan was sent off for a second bookable offence for fouling Miller and that was that.
Had Kenny made a big impression, would he feature in Scotland’s World Cup campaign that year? The answer is no, in fact Brown would not play him again and it wasn’t until Hans Hubert Vogts took charge that he would return almost two years later.
By this time, Kenny would be a Wolves player and started the Euro Qualifier against Iceland at Hampden in March, 2003. If Kenny had felt he had waited a long time for a return to the Scotland team, he did not have to wait long for his first goal, coming just twelve minutes into the game. Scotland won 2-1 with Lee Wilkie hitting the winner in the second half.
Of course, Kenny went on to win 69 caps and scoring 18 goals (and truth be told probably missing a few sitters too) which came when playing for 7 different clubs; Rangers, Wolves, Celtic, Derby, Cardiff City, Vancouver Whitecaps and Bursapor. This must surely be a record; if not then playing in five different countries surely will be, with stints in Scotland, England, Wales, Canada and Turkey.

Just to clarify that Duncan Mackay whose birthday it was yesterday was not the same guy that played in the 1978 World Cup. No, he should not be confused with the Duncan Mckay that played for Melchester Rovers and apparently played in the ’78 World Cup. Here he is in action against Netherlands and for some unknown reason he is passing the ball to a Scotsmen with the unlikely name of Mel Jeffries.

First posted on Facebook, July 15th 2016

We have started using Memes on the Facebook site and here are some we have posted.

Duncan will be 79 today ( 14th July, 2016) and he played 14 times in total for Scotland. Duncan was a regular for Celtic in the late fifties and early sixties playing at right back. He was first capped for Scotland in April, 1959 taking part in the Home International match against England at Wembley. John Dick a forward for West Ham would make his only Scotland appearance on that day too. Scotland would lose one nil to a second half goal from Bobby Charlton.
Duncan retained his place for the next three games as Scotland played a trio of friendlies. First up was a 3-2 victory over West Germany at Hampden with John White, then of Falkirk, Andy Weir of Motherwell and Graham Leggat of Fulham scoring. From there, towards the end of May, Scotland defeated the Netherlands 2-1 at the Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam with Bobby Collins of Everton and Leggat hitting the goals. In early June, Scotland lost the final friendly one nil in Lisbon to Portugal.
He wasn’t involved on the two opening games of the 1959-’60 Home International series but returned to face England once more, this time at Hampden in April 1960. Graham Leggat would give Scotland the lead but a Bobby Charlton second half penalty gained England the draw. This game was again followed by a series of friendlies starting off with a 3-2 defeat at home to Poland despite goals from Denis Law and Ian St. John. (This was the first of four home games we have played against the Poles and we have still to beat them; losing twice and drawing the other two).
A small tour of Europe followed and saw Scotland lose 4-1 in Vienna, with Duncan’s namesake Dave Mackay hitting the consolation goal, draw 3-3 with Hungary in Budapest with Willie Hunter of Motherwell, Alex Young of Hearts and George Herd of Clyde and finally on to Ankara in Turkey. Duncan is one of that elite Scottish brand who have played Turkey in a match, as 8th June, 1960 is still the only occasion the two teams have met. Scotland were to lose 4-2 with Eric Caldow hitting a penalty and Alex Young the other.
Duncan played in the two opening games of the ’60-’61 Home Internationals in which Scotland were to lose 2-0 down at Ninian Park and then win 5-2 at Hampden in November, 1960 with goals from Law, Caldow (another penalty), Alex Young and two from Ralph Brand. Duncan had played seven games in a row and had now accumulated 11 caps, however, he was dropped for the game against the Auld Enemy in April ‘61 in favour of Bobby Shearer of Rangers where he was chosen as the reserve player. Ill fortune or good luck? With Scotland losing 9-3 perhaps it was the latter.
He wasn’t involved in Scotland’s opening three World Cup ties that year but was brought back to the defence after a 4-0 crushing by Czechoslovakia in Bratislava to face the Czechs at Hampden in a must win game in September, ’61. Scotland left it late and did it the hard way. Is there any other? Twice, going behind to the Czechs with St. John and Law hitting equalisers before Denis hitting the winner with seven minutes remaining.
Duncan would start one more game for Scotland, a crushing 6-1 victory over Northern Ireland in October ’61. All the goals were scored by Rangers players; Davie Wilson with one, Ralph Brand with two and Alex Scott with a hat-trick. He would be replaced by Alex Hamilton of Dundee who would play in 24 of the following 25 games for Scotland at right back. His final appearance would come against Uruguay in a friendly at Hampden in May of ’62 coming on as a sub for fellow Celt Pat Crerand in the 75th minute. Scotland were three down already in this rather tousy match but two late goals by Jim Baxter and Ralph Brand would put some respectability on to the score line.
Duncan would leave Celtic in 1964 having been with them since 1955 without winning a major honour, however he was very highly thought of at the time during Celtic’s barren spell. He moved on to Third Lanark and then played out his football days in two stints in Australia.
Happy Birthday Duncan and all the best.

David Stuart

Happy Birthday to Arthur Albiston who will be 59 on July 14th. (Happy Bastille Day to all French Revolutionaries and Rush fans too). Arthur probably couldn’t be described an exciting left back; more dependable and a good man to have in your team. He must have been, as Manchester United played him 485 times! As for Scotland, in comparison, a meagre 14. Perhaps Arthur was a bit unlucky, as Frank Gray had made the left back berth his own partnering Danny McGrain for a few years and then Maurice Malpas appeared on the scene. Of course, there is the fact that Jock Stein gave five caps to Ally Dawson in this period too, which maybe Arthur and the rest of us shouldn’t forgive. Mind you his main rival for the left back position at Man. U. for a few years, Stewart Houston only gained a solitary cap in his time too.
Arthur’s first cap came against Northern Ireland in April, 1982 in a dull 1-1 draw. John Wark scored for Scotland whilst Arthur’s Man Utd. teammate Sammy McIlroy netted for the Irish. It was probably a bad time to make your debut, if you were hoping for a World Cup place a month or so later. Jock Stein discarded Arthur at this point as Frank Gray came back into the team; Danny McGrain and George Burley completed the full back cover for Spain ’82.
His next game was in September, 1983 against Uruguay and he would go on to play in ten of the next twelve Internationals. In one of the games he missed, his place was taken up by Doug Rougvie for his sole cap and in the other Maurice Malpas was given his debut.
The Uruguay game also saw the debut of Paul McStay, as Scotland won 2 nil with goals from John Robertson and ‘Elephant Man’ Davie Dodds who was making his debut that night too.
Among the highlights for Arthur must have been that amazing game where Scotland beat Yugoslavia 6-1 in front of a crowd of only 18,512. Of course, this had to be the one night there was no real TV coverage due to industrial action IIRC. There is grainy footage on You Tube though. There is no truth in the rumour, that this game set in motion the disruption of Yugoslavia few years such was the beating we gave them. (A hell of a beating Marshall Tito)
Arthur must have also enjoyed the next two games as Scotland beat; first Iceland 3 nil a month later and then shortly after that, came the night Mo Johnston put the Spaniards to the sword scoring a double in a memorable 3-1 win in World Cup Qualifiers. Not so much happy memories for the Wales game in March ’85 when we lost to them at Hampden, which saw Arthur lose his place to Maurice Malpas and never really regain it. He would play in a friendly against East Germany in Alex Ferguson’s first game in charge and then in the final World Cup warm up against Netherlands in April ’86.
However, Arthur had one last game for Scotland at the Estadio Neza in Nezahualcoytl in one of the most frustrating games ever. Uruguay had a player sent off after 56 seconds and we thought that’s it we’re on our way to the second round but what followed was a travesty of a football match; as Uruguay dug in and weren’t afraid to put the boot in. As for Scotland we barely strung two passes together and that’s was it. Adios Scotland and Adios Arthur Albiston.
Happy Birthday Arthur and all the best.
David Stuart

No, it’s not an article on post Steve Hackett Genesis but we now only have three copies of the magazine to sell to break even. Yep, less than a tenner away from being solvent. I could buy them myself but it’s just not the same.
Anyhoo, enough of this twaddle and on to a Scotland 3.
3 caps; well there’s hunners but included among them are such greats as Bertie Auld who’s three caps all came in the 1950’s. Hearts striker Donald Ford and a member of the ’74 World Cup Squad, Queen of the South legend Billy Houliston, the wonderfully named Barney Battles Snr. of Celtic, father of Barney Jnr. Ian Wallace bought for £1 million by Notts Forest and couldn’t buy a cap beyond his three won at Coventry. Recent ‘great’ prospects that never lived up to expectations Derek Riordan and David Goodwillie also reached 3 caps. Two goalkeepers well loved by their respective clubs Henry Smith of Hearts and Tommy Lawrence of Liverpool also have three.

3 goals – Top of the list from the post-war era is East Fife’s Henry Morris who scored a hat-trick against Ireland on his debut and never featured again. Three Lisbon Lions in Stevie Chalmers, Bobby Lennox and Billy McNeill, two Rangers greats from the same era Jim Baxter (including two against England at Wembley in one game) and John Greig. From Leeds United Eddie Gray and Billy Bremner hit three as did Arsenal double hero George Graham and Spurs double hero the tragic John White. Paul Sturrock, Steven Thompson, Neil McCann, Craig Burley, Colin Hendry all hit three too. From the current squad there’s Ikechi Anya, Matt Ritchie, Christophe Berra, James Morrison and Jordan Rhodes.

World Cup Squads #3;from 1974 – Danny McGrain, 1978 – Willie Donachie, Frank Gray in ’82, Maurice Malpas wore it in 1986 and then in 1990 after giving Jim Leighton the number one spot, shirts were allocated by accumulated caps so that Roy Aitken wore it in 1990. Back to reality in 1998 and it went to Tom Boyd
.So who have we played three times; well there is Peru but let’s not get into that, so we’ll go with Slovenia who we have drawn with twice and beaten rather gloriously 3-0 in the Celje Stadium in 2005 with wonderful goals from Darren Fletcher, James McFadden and Paul Hartley.

So there you go the story of three. So come on, who out there is going cough the last few pennies needed to help us break even. Remember Buy Buy Buy. Bye!!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SCOTLAND-EPISTLES-FOOTBALL-MAGAZINE-ISSUES-1-4-FOR-10-FREE-POSTAGE-/381699087110?ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SCOTLAND-EPISTLES-FOOTBALL-MAGAZINE-4-TARTAN-ARMY-FANZINE-MAGAZINE-/381699090676?ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT