The Football History Boys

Scotland are out of the Euros as a familiar combination of hope, brief flashes of skill, bad luck and a typical gutsy underdog performance in one of the group games proves to be not enough to carry them through once again in a major tournament. It might have not been everyone's cup of tea or Irn Bru, but the 0-0 draw between England and Scotland at the Euros was maybe best recognised by football history types for a result that hasn't happened very often between the sides in a long history of hostilities since 1872. Alex Horsburgh ( @AlexHTheMax ) explains... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scotland's draw with England in the Euros was the first ever scoreless draw between the sides at Wembley, and only the fourth 0-0 between the sides (with the others being in 1872, 1987 and in 1970!) Following the very first match between the sides in 1872 at the West of Scotland cricket ground in

David Marshall's scramble back and fail v Czech Republic at the Euros sadly isn't the first goalkeeping howler from a lob the Tartan Army have had to endure down the years. The myth of the dodgy Scottish goalie was sadly resurrected at Hampden on Monday, June 14th as a familiar self destruct sequence played out in Glasgow. Here are five Scottish lob stories compiled by Alex Horsburgh ( @AlexHTheMax ). 1. Nine Past Haffey Celtic goalie Frank Haffey picked a Jimmy Greaves lob out of the net in 1961 at Wembley as England ran out 9-3 winners in the Home Internationals. The Three Lions raced to a 3-0 lead, before Scotland fought back to 3-2 and then 4-3 to keep the hosts on their toes, before a runaway final period of the game saw England score five times and have what would have been a 10th goal ruled out for an infringement. 2. Calamity Kennedy Stewart Kennedy of Rangers froze in the white hot atmosphere of an Auld Enemy clash in London in 1975 as he conceded five times in the w

Before the political velvet divorce of Czechs and Slovaks in the 1990s the old Czechoslovakia were a formidable international football team. Scotland had many interesting encounters with them from their first match against them in 1937 until the late '70s and three World Cup qualifying campaigns for 1962, 1974 and 1978 inclusion produced six memorable matches, and indeed a seventh fixture, which was a one off game that would go the way of the old Czechoslovakia. Alex Horsburgh ( @AlexHTheMAX ), with the help of a Man United great interviewed in 2018, plots another glorious failure for the Scots against a team that would only be denied by the best of Brazil in the World Cup final of 1962. _________________________________________________________________________ Scotland meet the Czech Republic in their first Euro 2020 (2021) tie on June 14th at Hampden. Scotland famously denied the former Czechoslovakia a World Cup place in 1978 as the then European Champions of 1976 failed to overc

Scottish football may be close to seeing the end of one of their best known league clubs since the demise of Third Lanark in 1967.  A dodgy financial deal would see Thirds disappear almost overnight from the Scottish game 54 years ago, never to return to their former league status, but the formation of a pyramid system in Scotland is now seeing a former Scottish Championship club digging their heels in as they refuse to take their place in the Highland League following a play off final that saw Fife non-leaguers Kelty Hearts replace them in League 2. Alex Horsburgh ( @AlexHTheMAX ) has been looking at the possible end of an East of Scotland side from the county of Angus, formed in 1906, who have been a permanent fixture on pools coupons for as long as we can remember. Following their relegation from Scottish League 2 there is word coming out of Brechin City FC that they won't continue as a club and won't play in the Highland league with nearest away matches 50 miles north of th