It was pantomime stuff and it was infectious. A bandwagon rolled. AC/DC played a gig wearing Scotland jerseys. Blue Peter presented the somewhat perplexed squad with a special good luck badge.
Scottish nationalism was on the march with the SNP making record gains. A pro-union newspaper in England wrote that Scotland winning the World Cup would be like “distilled firewater. Hooched up on that, the nationalists could rampage to victory”.
In 1978, Scots roamed across the British football landscape like gods. In the August of 1977, Kenny Dalglish, whose famous goal against Wales helped secure the finals place, had become Britain’s most expensive footballer when arriving at Liverpool. Five months later, Gordon McQueen would set a new transfer record when joining Manchester United.
Liverpool had just won the European Cup with Alan Hansen, Graeme Souness and Dalglish the spine of the team. Ipswich had just won the FA Cup with John Wark and George Burley. Nottingham Forest had won the First Division title and the League Cup with Kenny Burns, Archie Gemmill, John McGovern and John Robertson. Burns was the player of the year in England. A fine Rangers team had won the domestic treble.
