THE SCOTTISH RUGBY UNION began 2022 by announcing the induction of Eric Liddell, former Scotland winger, Olympic Games gold medal winner and the subject of the iconic movie Chariots of Fire, into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame. Not before time, the induction marked the centenary of his Scotland debut, in Paris.
The men who play with odd-shaped balls have been inducting into their Hall of Fame in a somewhat piecemeal manner of late – Tom Smith, a former Scotland and Lions prop was inducted during the Autumn Internationals series, as was Oban Lorne's Dee Bradbury, the first lady to be President of a Tier One rugby nation, while a handful of former women internationalists were inducted to mark Women in Sport Week.
The Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductions are handled somewhat differently. OK nobody has been added to the 116 current members since 2019, Covid has meant the cancellation of the annual Induction Dinner, which, to me, is simply another opportunity for the so-called great and good of Scottish Football to get together for a wee swally, tell tall tales and kid themselves on that they matter in the game.
For me, the trouble with the Scottish Football Hall of Fame is twofold – the make-up of the Induction Committee, which for me has too-many fans with lap tops from a certain two Glasgow clubs, and not enough people with an appreciation of the glorious history of Scottish Football.
The inductees also include too-many from what we kid ourselves on was the Golden Age of the 1970s, and too-few from the real Golden Ages, before World War II.
For instance, The Lisbon Lions were, quite-rightly, inducted en bloc in 2017, however, Messers Jim Craig and Willie Wallace – the very same year, became the last two of that team to be personally inducted. If they were all in there anyway, what was the point of inducting the team? In any case, for me the entire team should have been inducted as one.
I would also induct, en bloc, the Rangers team which won the Cup-Winners Cup in Barcelona, and the Aberdeen team which won the same trophy in Gothenburg, although, in both cases several individual team members are already in there.
The benchmark for Scotland international team performances are the two 'Wembley Wizards' wins, of 1928 and 1967. Only three of the 1928 team are in the HoF – Hughie Gallacher, Alex James and Alan Morton, the trio who, had that team been numbered, would have worn numbers 8, 9 and 10. No sign of the other eight, who included Alec Jackson – who, lest we forget, scored three of our five goals – and skipper Jimmy McMullan, one of the greatest captains in our history.
Eight of the victorious 1967 team are in there, what have Eddie McCreadie, Ronnie McKinnon and Jim McCalliog done, to be outside looking in at their team mates on that great day?
International football today is a multi-billion £ industry, encompassing World Cups, European Championships, African Cup of Nations and the like. Yet the whole shebang was started, back in 1872 by England's Charles Allcock and Queen's Park's Bob Gardner. They might get away with not recognising Mr Allcock, who isn't Scottish, but, why isn't Gardner, (pictured below), our goalkeeper and captain, and therefore the first of the 1200 plus players to have represented Scotland in the past 150 years, in the Hall of Fame?
Quite a few Scotland team managers are in the Hall of Fame, but, one who isn't is Andy Roxburgh. Andy turns 79 next year, bus he is still heavily-involved in football as Technical Director with the Asian Football Confederation.
Who they, you might ask? Well, the AFC is Asia's equivalent of UEFA, From his office in Kuala Lumpur, Andy looks after coaching in 47 countries and, you can guarantee, whether or not Scotland qualifies for the World Cup in Qatar at the end of this year, Andy Roxburgh will be there, such is the esteem in which he is held all over the world – except for Scotland.
Another Scotland manager still awaiting induction is Ian McColl, he's just the manager with the best winning record – at a time when he didn't get to pick the side.
Rose Reilly and Julie Fleeting are in there to represent the ladies, but, there is a third Ayrshire lassie with an overwhelming case for induction – Kilmarnock's Elsie Cook. And, while I am pushing the case for people from God's County – Auchinleck Talbot's Willie Knox and Tucker Sloan, not to forget Mauchline's Victorian Galactico Dr John Smith, a man who scored goals for fun for Scotland back in the first Golden Age, and later was one of the first British Lions rugby tourists, to Australia and New Zealand.
He's got a better case for inclusion than some already in there – ten internationals, ten goals, including a hat-trick in a 6-1 win over England, in London, before becoming a leading referee.
And finally on this subject, Hughie McIlvanney – who isn't even the best writer in his family, is in there, but, no sign of Bob Crampsey.
Presumably, all being well, we will see the Induction Dinner reconstituted at the end of this year. I just hope, between then and now, the high heid yins who run the Hall of Fame will have a good hard look at their induction process, and who they put up for it. Quite honestly, Scottish football deserves better.
The 150th anniversary of International Football will roll around on St Andrew's Day this year. That's usually around the time of the Induction Dinner, is it too-much to ask, they right a few past wrongs in this of all years?
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