England v Scotland: great moments from the past recalled ahead of first meeting between old enemies since 1999

April 1961
England 9 Scotland 3

Ian St John, Scotland striker
If it was not for 9-3 I could sleep at night. I wish I could forget about it but I cannot – even 50 years later.

As a schoolboy, it was always my dream to play for Scotland at Wembley. I used to fill scrapbooks with cuttings from newspapers about the exploits of players such as Lawrie Reilly and Jimmy Cowan from our wins down there.

It was what you were brought up on then and it was a big deal – you got to meet royalty.

Unfortunately, we did not have a manager back then and the team was picked by a selection committee, who were bampots. They never picked the same side for two games in a row no matter how well we had done.

Even Denis Law, a European Player of the Year, was dropped. Everyone was at the mercy of these idiots.

So there was no continuity and no guidance. We had a trainer, Dawson Walker, who knew how to stick a plaster on a cut but that was about it.

There were no tactics: everything was off the cuff. We were like a pub team.

Our two first-choice goalkeepers, Bill Brown and Lawrie Leslie, were both injured but, even so, I think most people were surprised when the selectors picked Frank Haffey.

The roof fell in for him – and the rest of us – during that game. He emigrated to Australia later on and I think they took his passport from him so he could not come back. He is probably stuck in the Outback somewhere.

Denis Law, Scotland striker
I could not believe it when I got in to the dressing room after the game: Frank Haffey was singing in the bath! The rest of us were trying to drown ourselves. As a matter of fact, we were trying to drown him.

When we got on the bus to leave the stadium the Scottish fans were banging on the sides and throwing bottles at us as we went down Wembley Way. Most of us were crouching down out of sight but then there was a barrage of bottles bouncing off the windows. I looked up and there was Frank, waving to the fans as if he was the Queen.

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April 1967
England 2 Scotland 3

Jim Baxter, Scotland midfielder, died 2001
They were world champions and they were full of themselves and it was a makeshift Scottish side. I think Jimmy Johnstone fainted or jumped off the train at Edinburgh or something. But we were a good workmanlike side, everybody playing for one another, and things began to go for us.

We were so much on top it was unbelievable. People said we could have emulated the 9-3 win England had in 1961. I said: “Take the p--- oot of them, never mind bothering about 9-3.”

Ah, we were laughing, Denis Law, myself and Billy Bremner. We just had a great laugh with wee Alan Ball running about daft. He was the hero of the World Cup and Bremner said we should call him Jimmy Clitheroe after the wee comic with the short trousers and the squeaky voice.

So I kept calling him Jimmy Clitheroe and trying to give him nutmegs and he was going hairy. Billy gave him pelters all right and Denis... well, of course, Denis was arrogant. “Go away, little man,” and all that. We were never in danger of losing that one.

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June 1977
England 1 Scotland 2

Ally MacLeod, Scotland manager, died 2004
When we won, the Scotland supporters came on and took away the pitch and the goalposts. It was bedlam and when I tried to get up the tunnel a London bobby would not let me. I said: “I’m the Scotland manager!” He said: “Yeah, right, and I’m Her Majesty the Queen.”

Don Revie saw this and he told the bobby, “He really is the Scotland manager.” So the policeman let me up the tunnel. When I got into our dressing room there were four Tartan Army supporters there. In the bath with Alan Rough!

Gordon Strachan, current Scotland manager
I was there as a supporter in 1977 – I was there on my honeymoon. I was invited on the pitch by a policeman. Me, my wife Lesley and my best man were the only ones left stood on the terracing. He just looked at us and went, “On you go”, so we went.

Honestly, I felt part of it. When you are there as a supporter, you feel part of that win. You feel at one with the players. You are part of the victory, the occasion. There is a bit of turf in some house in Broughty Ferry in Dundee that the current owner doesn’t know comes from Wembley.

I have done it all in these games – been a supporter, played and now I will manage in it and it has to be a collective attack. We will be together as a group – supporters, players and staff. Whether you are doing anything, table tennis even, playing against England is an occasion that we have to win.

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June 1996
England 2 Scotland 0

Steve McManaman, England midfielder
The game at Euro 96 was crazy because it was so highly charged. In the end, Paul Gascoigne’s goal in the second half was just outstanding.

The goal was a long ball from defence which Gazza latched on to before lofting it over Colin Hendry’s head and then volleying past Scotland goalkeeper Andy Goram.

He had taken a lot of criticism in the build-up, so the goal and subsequent celebration felt like a big moment. Gazza raced away and rolled onto the floor, with Teddy Sheringham picking up a water bottle and squirting it into Gazza’s mouth – it may have had something to do with pre-tournament pictures of some of the lads in a dentist’s chair in Hong Kong.

It transformed our tournament. I truly believe it was that moment that spurred us on to reach the semi-finals.

Jamie Redknapp, England midfielder
I think what I’ll always remember is the atmosphere. It was like no other. I mean, I played great when I came on, I’m not going to lie. It felt good.

I’d been training well and Terry Venables said to me before the game, ‘you are close to starting but if not, you’re going to come on and at half-time’, we all went out to warm up and he touched me on the shoulder and said ‘you’re going on’.

I’ve never felt a buzz like it because it’s England-Scotland, let’s not forget it. It should mean the same, especially now that Gordon Strachan is in charge.

It’s not the sort of game that Roy Hodgson is looking forward to. I don’t see what benefit he gets from it. If he loses, all it does is heap a load of pressure on you.

And if you win, everyone says, ‘Oh, you should beat Scotland’. It’s a no-win for Roy Hodgson. Especially with the games coming up. I don’t see any upside to it for him.

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November 1999
Scotland 0 England 2

Craig Brown, Scotland manager
I was involved in seven games against England and any time we played them I would say: “I don’t care if we lose every other game, you’ve got to beat them.”

That was the perception and the fans were desperate to beat them.

It is still the same now. To beat England is a real feather in your cap. To be honest, that obsession possibly held us back.

We lost at Hampden partly due to the SPL fixture schedule because there was an Old Firm game the week before we played England.

Paul Lambert was our best player at the time but he got his faced smashed by Jorg Albertz. I am sure it was accidental but it was an Old Firm game, you know.

Barry Ferguson played in Paul’s place but he is not naturally defensively-minded. Paul Scholes scored two, where Lambert should have been the anchor man in midfield. There was no way he would have scored twice if Lambert had been playing.

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November 1999
England 0 Scotland 1

Don Hutchison, Scotland goalscorer
We had three or four guys in the squad who were born down in England like myself and Neil Sullivan. We knew we had to do a bit more, not to convince the players because we were picked on merit, but to prove it to the fans.

We thought the 2-0 result from the first leg flattered England and we truly believed we could turn it around at Wembley.

We started on the front foot and they just never had a chance. David Seaman made a great save from Christian Dailly at the end and if we had scored there, 100 per cent, we would have gone on to win.

We knew we had the momentum. If we had got the second, going into extra-time we would have fancied our chances.

Scoring the goal did not change anything for me. I did not get

carried away with it because we lost the tie 2-1.

You can be blase about it or big-headed, but that’s not the type of person I am. If you do, then you leave yourself open to getting shot down by someone asking: ‘What was the score? Oh, you lost 2-1’.

Taken from telegraph.co.uk