When Ally's Army Was Marched Out Of Argentina

The World Cup in Argentina promised so much for Scotland. On paper Ally MacLeods “Tartan Army” had a squad full of top international players. However, on the pitch, they failed to deliver yet again in a major tournament. Scotland in Argentina 1978 was a story of what might have been.

In 1978 Scotland was a team feared across Europe. In the qualifying stages, they had knocked out Czechoslovakia who at the time were European Champions. Scotland’s squad boasted players who would instantly improve any team across the world.

Proven winners with quality and determination it seemed the world was their oyster.

Scotland in Argentina 1978

Players of the calibre of Kenny Dalglish who had become Britain’s most expensive footballer when arriving at Liverpool. And just five months later, Gordon McQueen would set a new transfer record when joining Manchester United.

Liverpool had just become champions of Europe with Dalglish, Graeme Souness and Alan Hansen playing a major part. John Wark and George Burley were part of the Ipswich setup that had won the FA Cup. Nottingham Forest had Robertson, Gemmill and Kenny Burns in their ranks. Rangers had dominated Scottish domestic football winning the treble. Everything was in place for Scotland to win the World Cup.

So where did it all go wrong?

A lot of blame as to why Scotland’s campaign was so disastrous has been laid at the feet of manager Ally MacLeod.

MacLoed’s bravado in saying he had cleared a space in his wardrobe for his winner’s medal and lack of preparation for the tournament gives you an indication of how confident he was that Scotland would come home victorious.

“You can mark down 25 June 1978 as the day Scottish football conquers the world.” – Ally macleod

From Bad To Worse

In qualifying for the tournament Peru had topped their group and scored impressive victories against Uruguay and Bolivia. They had also narrowly lost to Brazil 1-0. But Scotland was not to know this or watch footage on how the Peruvians would tactically approach the game. It was no surprise to the majority of people in South America that Peru comprehensively beat Scotland 3-1.

Next up was Iran. A functional but nether-the-less poor international team. Once again MacLeod shunned any video footage confident in the knowledge his team of superstars would only need to turn up to win. They didn’t …they drew 1-1. MacLeod was in too much of a rush to get to the final to fill his wardrobe with the winner’s medal. As a result, he forget that he needed to get to the final first….

Too Little Too Late

By the time the team played Holland in their final Group 4 match their World Cup lifeline was hanging by a thread. Despite a courageous 3-2 victory against Holland who would eventually reach the final only to lose to the host nation Argentina the fairytale was over.

Only 100 fans welcomed the team home when over 25,000 had been there to send them off to Argentina. A summing up of Scotland in Argentina 1978?

Once again it was a case of what might have been.