For May 23rd I'm going back 34 years to 1987 and another edition of the oldest international fixture in the world: Scotland versus England.
The fixture was another in the Rous Cup three team competition with Brazil making up the numbers and taking away the trophy following a win against Scotland and a draw with England. I suspect that it doesn't take pride of place in the Brazil trophy cabinet (perhaps they have a whole room rather than just a cabinet?) but you never know.
Hampden Park at the time had a large open end and side. The main stand was very old with a press box precariously perched on the roof and which leaned outwards. It looked like it was about to slide off the roof. The far end from the open end where I was standing was the only part of the ground that was modern and covered. I remember being told that this was known as "the Rangers End" and that it had been paid for off the back of a number of full houses at Celtic matches at the stadium! I will always remember the TV studio behind me which had an elevated position on stilts. It contained Jimmy Hill who was serenaded throughout by the Scots who obviously thought he was something that you could rest your feet on at the end of a long hard day: We hate Jimmy Hill, he's a pouf, he's a pouf". Occasionally the odd beer bottle (filled with a yellowish liquid) would sail upwards towards the studio window in a big arc but they all bounced harmlessly away. It wasn't a place for an Englishman to venture with impunity and I kept myself to myself.
These days the stadium is a modern all seater venue. Historically it was the home ground for Queen's Park FC but this arrangement ended earlier this month as the Spiders (fabulous nickname!) played their final home game at Hampden Park before decamping to Lesser Hampden which is immediately outside on the other side of the car park and much more suited to the small crowds that watch Queen's Park.
This game was my third of four visits to Mount Florida to support England. Strangely the game was rather lacklustre and lacking in passion, not a normal feature of such matches and it revived the debate as to whether the top players were too tired after a long season immediately following on from the 1986 Mexico World Cup.
Scotland had a useful side being managed by Andy Roxburgh containing the likes of Leighton, Gough, McStay, McLeish, Miller, Aitken and a strike force of McClair and McCoist who had scored 78 goals between them that season. England's side featured more Rangers players than Scotland's did thanks to Chris Woods and Terry Butcher and AC Milan's Mark Hateley also played. Bobby Robson's England were strong in every position and the side included Pearce, Hoddle, Waddle, Beardsley and Bryan Robson. Robson missed a good chance in the first half and Charlie Nicholas hit the crossbar in the second when it looked easier to score. Played in front of 64,713, it was the 103rd meeting of the two nations since 1872 and, sadly, it was only the third goalless draw in all that time.
CRB Match No. 511
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