The annihilation of the Scottish football team, 9–3, by the English at Wembley was the worst defeat they had ever suffered, and a humiliation that has never yet been forgotten. In the aftermath, the goalkeeper, Frank Haffey, emigrated to Australia.
England were on a roll when we met them. Earlier in the season they had already beaten Northern Ireland 5–2, Luxembourg 9–0, Spain 4–2 and Wales 5–1. Their form continued after they had played against us as they went on to beat Mexico 8–0. If it seems that I am reluctant to get round to talking about the match, those who recall the game will probably understand why …
Bobby Robson set the ball rolling for England when he scored after nine minutes. The Tartan Army fell silent. This was not how it was supposed to be. There were almost 100,000 at Wembley that day and the Scots were the loudest as usual, but the English fans found their voices after Robson’s goal and the atmosphere, which had already been intense, now became electrifying. It was almost as if something special was expected. Jimmy Greaves – who else? – made it 2–0 after 20 minutes and then, nine minutes after that, he scored again. I don’t know why England did not score a lot more before half-time. We were there for the taking but the scoreline remained the same.
Our dressing room was more than a little animated during half-time. We were not just in disarray on the pitch, for those few minutes we were in a state off it as well. Blame was being handed around as if it was a grenade with the pin removed. We managed to pull ourselves together, though, and some team spirit began to spread through the camp. We realized that all was not lost and that we could get back into the game if we were prepared to give it a real shot. By the time we went back on to the pitch we were much more fired up than we had been at the start of the match.
The second half was not very old when Dave Mackay sent in a flying long shot which left Ron Springett in the England goal floundering. The ball thumped into the back of the net and the Tartan Army leapt to its feet as one. We gained a lot of confidence from that and it was not long before Davie Wilson scored our second with a terrific diving header. England were reeling and the scene was set for one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the game.
It didn’t happen. England stormed back and were awarded a free-kick near our penalty area. To this day it seems to us that Jimmy Greaves gained an unfair advantage by taking the free-kick several yards nearer to the goal than he should have done. The referee must have had some mud in his eye for a moment and, from that kick, the ball found its way to Bryan Douglas, who made it 4–2. We were very disappointed because it seemed such an injustice.
We fell apart after that and England took full advantge of the situation. Bobby Smith made it 5–2 with 18 minutes left and, even when Pat Quinn scored for us, it didn’t seem to matter any more. Johnny Haynes scored twice in less than two minutes, Jimmy Greaves completed his hat-trick, and Bobby Smith made it 9–3. It was a result that went down in history for all the wrong reasons from a Scottish viewpoint. While Johnny Haynes, the England captain, was being carried off the pitch shoulder-high and their goalkeeper Ron Springett was hurrying away to see his newborn daughter, Frank Haffey was in tears. I think we were all close to tears in our morgue of a dressing room, but Frank gave way to his. He never played for Scotland again.