RARELY can 270 minutes of football have had such an impact on a nation as Scotland's 1978 World Cup campaign. Nearly three decades on, Scottish football is still scarred and defined by the events of eight days in Argentina when, having set out to conquer the world, Ally McLeod's Tartan Army went from heroes to zeroes.
In 78, Graham McColl recounts the remarkable story of the Scots' campaign in all its gory detail, from the send-off in front of 30,000 expectant fans in Glasgow, to the sombre homecoming three weeks later, after Scotland had fallen in the first round.
Through interviews with the players, SFA officials, and McLeod's widow Faye, McColl provides a fascinating insight into the ill-fated campaign. He explores the rising euphoria in the run up to Argentina, as well as the various factors behind Scotland's misery. But he does not shy from the overriding sense that Scotland were simply let down by their own manager and players. The exhilarating victory over Holland, capped by Archie Gemmill's wonder-goal, illustrated what might have been, but by then Scotland had already shot themselves in the foot against Peru and Iran.
Despite the disappointment, 1978 is remembered fondly north of the border and McColl detects a nostalgia for those halcyon days when Scotland supporters could be genuinely optimistic.
As McColl himself a battle-scarred fan concludes, the real tragedy of 1978 is not that Scotland failed so miserably. The real tragedy is that they never again dared to dream.
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