The 1978 FIFA World Cup was perhaps the most incredible World Cup that the Scotland National team has ever been a part of. It was a World Cup that many felt Scotland had a real chance of winning, perhaps none held this belief more strongly than the Scotland manager Ally Macleod. When he took his star-studded squad to Argentina, he intended on winning the competion.
What happened instead was disappointment, farce and some bittersweet glory.
Qualification
Scotland had been in qualifying group 7 with reigning European champions Czechoslovakia and Wales. Scotland managed to win the group with the following results:
Lost 2-0 away from home to Czechoslovakia on the 13th of October, 1976
Won 1-0 at home to Wales on the 17th of November, 1976
Won 3-1 at home against Czechoslovakia on the 21st of September, 1977
Won 2-0 away against Wales on the 12th of October, 1977.
Before departing for Argentina, almost 30,000 fans saw the team off at Hampden, as the squad rode in an open-top bus around the stadium. More fans greeted the bus as it headed to Prestwick Airport. It was a tremendous send-off for a team that had the expectations of a nation on their shoulders.
The Team
So why were the expectations so high? It wasn’t for no reason. The Scotland squad of 1978 had some fantastic players in it, with more than 60 medals between them. Kenny Dalglish was part of the squad, the wonderful Liverpool player who had won the European Cup and had been the most expensive player in the UK. He was joined by fellow Liverpool great Graeme Souness although, oddly, Alan Hansen was omitted.
Gordon McQueen was part of the squad, who had broken the Kenny Dalglish transfer record when he joined Manchester Utd. Bizarrely, he was injured and unable to play but still selected as part of the squad.
Further adding to the quality was Archie Gemmill, who had won the First Division and League Cup with Nottingham Forest along with his team mates Kenny Burns and John Robertson. Kenny Burns had been voted as the Football Writers Association Player of the Year in 1977/78.
The star-studded squad also included Sandy Jardine (Rangers), Joe Jordan (Manchester United), Lou Macari (Manchester United) and captain Bruce Rioch (Derby County).
There were some bizarre omissions and selections. Gordon McQueen was included despite being injured. European Cup Winner Alan Hansen was excluded. Willie Miller, who had been fantastic for Aberdeen was left at home. Also left behind was Andy Gray, who had become the first player in history to win both the PFA Player of the Year award and the PFA Young Player of the Year award in the 1976/77 season.
The Manager
The team was managed by Ally Macleod, the former Third Lanark and Blackburn Rovers winger, who had become a promising young manager. He managed Ayr Utd for 9 years, getting them promoted to the top division and turning them into a well respected side. He was named Ayr’s ‘Citizen of the Year’ in 1973.
In 1975, he was appointed manager of Aberdeen F.C and famously won the League Cup against Celtic.
In May, 1977 the SFA appointed him as Scotland manager and optimism was high. Scotland defeated England at Wembley then won the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification group.
Macleod was incredibly confident going into the World Cup, with no shortage of bravado as the excitement for the tournament reached fever pitch. He told the media he had cleared a space in his cupboard for his World Cup winners medal. When asked what he would do if they managed to win he, he replied “retain it”. He also suggested the day of the World Cup final would be known as ‘National Ally Day’ in Scotland.
Fans from all over Scotland were making plans to follow the squad to Argentina. Before departure, Blue Peter presented the squad with a ‘Good Luck’ badge and even metal band AC/DC played a gig wearing Scotland shirts!
So what could go wrong? Almost everything.
The Tournament
Things went wrong before a ball was kicked. The hotel was a converted stable block, that hadn’t been fully converted. Building work continued as the squad arrived (apparently the team bus also broke down en-route to the hotel) and the hotel pool had no water in it. The decision was also made not to bring their own chefs, leaving the squad to adapt to the local cuisine.
As for preparations, not much was done to prepare for the opposition. Scotland were in a group with Peru, Iran and the Netherlands. A TV company had offered Ally Macleod an all-expenses-paid trip to watch Peru prior to the tournament but he declined. The feeling around the camp seemed to be that preparing wasn’t necessary with such a gifted squad.
The first game against Peru on the 3rd of June was a disappointing defeat. The score was 3-1 Peru. To make matters worse, post-match Willie Johnston was found to have failed a drug test, testing positive for the banned stimulant fencamfamin. This was part of an anti-hystamine but he was sent home to Scotland in disgrace and would never play for the nation team again.
The combination of the defeat and loss of Willie Johnston heavily damaged morale. The next game was against Iran on the 7th of June, which saw Scotland slump to an embarrassing 1-1 draw with an Iranian team which had won the previously 3 AFC Asian Cup’s in a row (Asia’s version of the Euros). Iran had lost their opening game 3-0 to the Netherlands and Scotland were heavy favourites to amend their defeat to Peru with a confident victory. Instead Scotland were flat, needing an Iranian own-goal to score.
The Tartan Army were furious, and jeered the squad off the pitch. At this point, it all came down to one game. Against the Netherlands, one of the best teams in the world. Scotland would need to win by 3 goals in order to progress.
The game against the Netherlands was played on the 11th of June, which Scotland won 3-2. Defeating a Netherlands team that would go on to reach the final and leaving everyone feeling that if that level of performance had been seen in the first two games, then things may have turned out differently.
The highlight of the game was a wonderful Archie Gemmill goal which has been lauded as one of the greatest World Cup goals ever. Despite out playing the Netherlands, and being 3-1 up at one point, Scotland could not win by the 3 goals they needed and were eliminated from the tournament.
The Aftermath
The Scotland squad arrived home in Scotland to a crowd of just 100 welcoming them back. Quite the contrast to the 30,000 who had gathered to see them off.
Ally Macleod had lost his arrogance, instead he was dejected. He stated “with a bit of luck in the World Cup, I might have been knighted. Now, I’ll probably be beheaded.”
It was a sad end to a World Cup that had promised so much. Bad luck, lack of preparations and some bad decisions had scuppered the best chance Scotland has ever had to progress deep into the prestigious competition.
Further Reading
Macari Recalls Scotland’s ‘Bizarre’ 1978 World Cup – Man Utd
FIFA World Cup Upsets – Scotland 3 – 2 Netherlands – FIFA