Sir Alex Ferguson’s recent ill health prompted the football world to rally around its greatest ever manager and to look back at his unequalled career.
It’s easy to imagine that when the 76-year-old reminisces about his countless achievements, some of them might all blend into one. A year that is bound to stand out, however, is one which still lives on in his country’s national memory.
Since Scotland were first eligible to qualify for the World Cup in 1950, they’ve made it onto football’s greatest stage, on average, every eight and a half years. However, that average is brought up significantly by a period between 1974-1990, when they made it to five in a row.
Jock Stein had been appointed head coach in 1978 on the back of extraordinary success with Celtic. The Hoops had won the league nine times on the bounce, a spell of dominance the club would not match until their current era. In 1967, he had also guided them to the European Cup.
By 1985, the Tartan Army were gearing up for another celebration as they headed to play Wales at Cardiff’s Ninian Park. Scotland were on the verge of qualifying for a play-off spot and a 1-1 draw was enough. The final whistle prompted huge celebrations.
There was commotion too, on the touchline, but only gradually did the players and 12,000 fans begin to realise that something was amiss. After a couple of minutes, Ferguson – a member of Stein’s coaching staff - headed onto the pitch to tell the squad that Stein had collapsed after suffering a heart attack.
TV cameras showed the manager being carried into the treatment room, where he passed away half an hour after the end of the game, on September 10th, 1985. Many of those who weren’t aware of his ill health thought he was overcome by his side’s achievement.
Ferguson was undoubtedly the most high-profile member of the national side’s set-up due to his achievements with Aberdeen. In the New Year’s Honours list of that year, he had been given an OBE following the Dons’ league and cup double.
So that his new role with Scotland would not detract too significantly from his domestic role, he made Archie Knox his co-manager at Aberdeen. The win over Australia proved to be relatively straightforward, Rangers’ Davie Cooper and West Ham’s debutant Frank McAvennie scoring the goals.
They were headed for Mexico ’86, a World Cup so memorable for Diego Maradona’s Hand of God, Gary Lineker’s Golden Boot, and the birth of the Mexican wave. Yet for Scotland, it was tinged with sadness as they sought to do themselves justice and pay a poignant tribute to the manager who had led them there.
The draw was unkind, Group E matching them with Uruguay, Denmark, and West Germany, the latter having finished as runners-up four years earlier. Scotland’s opening game, a 1-0 defeat to the Danes, looked more flattering when their opponents beat Uruguay 6-1 in their next match.
Next up for Ferguson’s men was West Germany, which unsurprisingly ended in a 2-1 defeat. A goalless draw in the final group game against Uruguay left Scotland bottom with a goal difference of -2.
Most European sides struggled with the humidity, but Scotland were also bearing a heavier weight given what had happened the previous autumn.
In one of Ferguson’s autobiographies, A Light in the North, he recalls:
“The abiding memory for me in my time with the Scottish team was Jock Stein. To have worked with Jock is to me an honour beyond description. The tragedy of his death hit us all with a sickening thump.”
In the November, Fergie joined Manchester United. With the World Cup over, Scotland turned to Andy Roxburgh as a more long-term appointment, leaving his predecessor to head to England with the chance to make history.