Football is Academical
Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
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Hamilton Accies 1985-86 Part 2
Accies won the First Division Championship in 1985-86 , this is a look back at an amazing season
PART TWO – JANUARY TO MAY 1986
January 1986
The bad weather at the start of 1986 saw Accies first two matches at Airdrie and Brechin postponed before a return to action on 11th January at home to Falkirk. A tough afternoon saw second half goals from Tommy O’Neill and a first in Accies colours by Adrian Sprott.
Accies run of 6 consecutive wins was brought to a halt at Somerset Park where again Adrian Sprott scored in a 1-1 draw , the fifth consecutive match between the teams in Ayr with the same 1-1 result.
Accies Scottish Cup tie with Forfar Athletic at Douglas Park was postponed as the weather continued to bite.
February 1986
Accies played Clyde on 1st February at Douglas Park and really clicked into gear scoring two tremendous volleys by John McNaught and John Brogan in a 3-0 win.
Two days later Forfar Athletic visited Douglas Park in the Scottish Cup tie previously postponed with two John Brogan goals securing a 2-1 win.
The freezing conditions meant Accies didn’t play another game in February. Home games against Alloa and then the Fourth Round Scottish Cup tie at home to Premier Division leaders Hearts were postponed. The cup tie was postponed on multiple occasions as well as league games at East Fife and Forfar.
March 1986
A capacity crowd packed Douglas Park on the evening of Monday 3rd March 1986 and witnessed the most extraordinary start , as John McNaught galloped down the right wing and crossed for John Brogan to put Accies 1-0 ahead after 21 seconds.
The lead was sadly short lived as Hearts John Robertson soon equalised.
Hearts goalkeeper Henry Smith produced numerous saves to keep Accies at bay and won the match of the match on the night , but it was Hearts Gary Mackay who scored the only goal of the second half to win the game 2-1 for the Edinburgh side.
Accies retuned to Douglas Park the following Saturday on a blustery day against Kilmarnock. Three Accies first half goals threatened to sweep the Ayrshire side away, but the change of ends with the wind advantage saw a Kilmarnock comeback , however Accies held out to win 3-2. Accies were four points ahead at the top of the league with two games in hand.
This was followed by two games in seven days against Brechin City , the re-arranged midweek visit to Angus where Accies won 3-1 was followed by the teams meeting at Douglas Park. Joe Reid scored after 35 seconds and despite John Pelosi missing a penalty shortly afterwards , the goal was enough to secure a 1-0 win.
A tough week with three away fixtures began with a 1-0 win at Ayr and then a trip on the Monday evening to Airdrie saw Accies race into a 3-0 lead before a late Joe Reid goal won the game 4-0.
Firhill was the next stop for the Accies bandwagon. A John McNaught first half goal gave Accies a platform to build a 2-0 victory where captain Graeme Mitchell netted in the second half.
Accies despite the cup defeat to Hearts followed this up with six consecutive wins in March which opened a substantial gap at the top of the league with Dumbarton who had played two games more were 8 points behind with 7 games left.
Accies ended March having won 13 leagues games from 14 since the end of November victory at Cappielow.
Accies announced the arrival of Brazilian trialist Jorge Fernandez but his time in Lanarkshire was short lived with TV pictures showing him missing the whole goal as they tried to stage him scoring for the cameras.
April – May 1986
On 2nd April 1986 Accies drew 1-1 at home to Alloa , a game in which goalkeeper Rikki Ferguson made his 500th appearance for the club , a true Accies legend.
Accies were on the verge of promotion and Champions elect however the second promotion spot was wide open going into the final month of the season. although Dumbarton looked favourites.
Hamilton 31 +38 48
Dumbarton 32 +14 39
Falkirk 33 +13 36
Kilmarnock 33 +8 36
Forfar 31 +5 34
East Fife 32 +1 33
A John Brogan goal at home to Montrose coupled with their penalty miss meant Accies won 1-0 and secure promotion to the Premier League.
The following midweek there were some shock results with Dumbarton losing at home to Forfar 2-0 in an early kick off , which put Accies on the verge of the title.
Accies with promotion secured played a Falkirk team with the motivation of chasing promotion and the Bairns ran out surprise 3-0 winners.
Hamilton 33 +36 50
Dumbarton 34 +12 40
Falkirk 35 +17 40
Kilmarnock 35 +12 40
Forfar 33 +6 36
East Fife 34 -1 34
The Hamilton fans travelled in numbers to Shawfield as Accies faced Clyde in the hope of the securing the league title. It was something of an anti-climax with Clyde winning 4-2. Alex Hamill’s late red card was Accies only sending off of the season. Robin Rae was given his debut in goal, as was young Gerry McGuigan.
However news filtered through from Broomfield that a late goal by former Accies player Jamie Fairlie had given Airdrie a 2-1 win over Dumbarton which meant Accies were Champions.
Shawfield saw the Accies fans invade the pitch in celebration.
A day of shocks also saw Falkirk lose 3-2 at home to Morton while Forfar beat Kilmarnock 1-0 at Station Park.
Hamilton 34 +34 50
Falkirk 36 +16 40
Dumbarton 35 +12 40
Kilmarnock 36 +11 40
Forfar 34 +7 38
East Fife 35 0 36
Accies travelled to Methil for a midweek 6.30pm kick off and Robin Rae again played and conceded another four goals in a 4-0 defeat.
Dumbarton once again seized second place winning 3-1 at Alloa
Hamilton 35 +30 50
Dumbarton 36 +14 42
Falkirk 36 +16 40
Kilmarnock 36 +11 40
Forfar 35 +7 39
East Fife 36 +4 38
With captain Graham Mitchell in hospital , vice captain Willie Jamieson was presented with the First Division Championship trophy, the players took the trophy on a lap of honour prior to the 2-1 win over Morton at Douglas Park.
Kilmarnock’s 3-0 home win over Dumbarton put them firmly in the promotion hunt as Falkirk beat Brechin 2-1 at Brockville
Hamilton 36 +31 52
Falkirk 37 +17 42
Dumbarton 37 +11 42
Kilmarnock 37 +14 42
Forfar 36 +8 41
East Fife 37 +6 40
Accies ended the season with three away games , a midweek 2-0 defeat at Forfar, moved the Angus side into second place with two games remaining.
Hamilton 37 +29 52
Forfar 37 +10 43
Falkirk 37 +17 42
Dumbarton 37 +11 42
Kilmarnock 37 +14 42
East Fife 37 +6 40
Accies then followed up with a 4-1 win at Dumbarton where Gerry Phillips was given a rare start and scored twice as John McNaught played his final game for Accies before his £92,000 transfer to Chelsea. This was a game Dumbarton had to win , and Accies ended their promotion hopes.
Forfar lost 2-0 at Morton and Kilmarnock lost 2-0 at Partick , so it was Falkirk with a 2-1 win at Ayr who moved into pole position for the second automatic promotion place going into the final day.
A Falkirk defeat at home to East Fife on the final day could open the door to Forfar or even Dumbarton , Kilmarnock or East Fife.
Hamilton 38 +32 54
Falkirk 38 +18 44
Forfar 38 +13 43
Dumbarton 38 +8 42
Kilmarnock 38 +12 42
East Fife 38 +7 42
The final day of the season saw John McNaught join the fans on the terracing at Broomfield as Accies beat Airdrie 2-1.
Falkirk secured promotion behind Accies with as 2-2 draw against East Fife at Brockville . while Forfar also drew 2-2 . at Alloa
FINAL TABLE 1986/86
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Hamilton Academical 39 24 8 7 77 44 +33 56
2 Falkirk 39 17 11 11 57 39 +18 45
3 Kilmarnock 39 18 8 13 62 49 +13 44
4 Forfar Athletic 39 17 10 12 51 43 +8 44
5 East Fife 39 14 15 10 54 46 +8 43
6 Dumbarton 39 16 11 12 59 52 +7 43
7 Morton 39 14 11 14 57 63 −6 39
8 Partick Thistle 39 10 16 13 53 64 −11 36
9 Airdrieonians 39 12 11 16 51 50 +1 35
10 Brechin City 39 13 9 17 58 64 −6 35
11 Clyde 39 9 17 13 49 59 −10 35
12 Montrose 39 10 14 15 43 54 −11 34
13 Ayr United 39 10 11 18 41 60 −19 31
14 Alloa Athletic 39 6 14 19 49 74 −25 26
Accies were First Division Champions and top scorer John Brogan won the First Division Player of Year
Hamilton Accies 1985-86 Part 1
PART ONE – AUGUST TO DECEMBER 1985
Accies won the First Division Championship in 1985-86 , this is a look back at an amazing season.
(For context the league was made up of 14 teams playing each other 3 times meaning a total of 39 games and two points for a win)
August 1985
Accies began the 1985/86 season hosting the Lanarkshire Cup , playing Airdrie in the semi final. An early Airdrie goal was soon cancelled out and with new signings Jimmy Sinclair and striker Willie Jamieson making their debuts. Accies ran out 6-1 winners with Willie Jamieson netting a hat trick.
Accies fans were excited for the season ahead as they won the Lanarkshire Cup for the first time since 1934 as they beat Motherwell 1-0 in the final courtesy of a Gerry Phillips goal.
The league season began with a tough away trip to Falkirk which ended 0-0, although both teams played some quality football which suggested they would both be involved at the top end of the table.
Brechin City then visited Douglas Park and again the result was 0-0 despite Accies having 27 shots at goal.
A routine 2-0 win the League Cup second round over East Fife was followed by a 1-0 away defeat to Kilmarnock.
Incredibly Accies started what would become a high scoring season , with no league goals scored after 3 games.
Accies hosted Premier Division Dundee in the League Cup 3rd round with Albert Kidd’s early goal being wiped out before half time when Accies were awarded a penalty with John Pelosi netting. Into Extra Time and Accies created the cup shock to win 2-1 with John Brogan scoring the winner in front of 2237 fans. The real hero was goalkeeper Rikki Ferguson who saved a penalty late in extra time.
Accies scored their first league goals of the season the following Saturday as they beat Lanarkshire rivals Airdrie 3-1 again at Douglas Park. Brian Wright scored his final goal in Accies colours before his transfer to Motherwell.
September 1985
Accies opened September with a League Quarter Final which had to be played at Fir Park for safety reasons against Rangers. An early John Brogan goal was a shock and Accies almost doubled their lead with Tommy O’Neill’s shot hitting the underside of the bar , bouncing on the line before being cleared.
Rangers however won 2-1 with Bobby Williamson scoring twice close to half time.
Accies returned to league action with a hard fought 2-2 at Dumbarton in a match which was played in monsoon conditions with Rikki Ferguson again saving a penalty from Albert Craig. Accies then beat East Fife 2-1 at home.
Firhill was the next destination and with John McGachie scoring to level the game 1-1 before John Brogan netted a late winner as Accies won 2-1.
Accies in September with a swashbuckling display where they led Morton 4-0 at half time before John Brogan completed his hat trick in the second half as Accies ran out 5-0 winners.
Accies fans were becoming excited about a promotion push now the goals were being scod on a regular basis with John Brogan beginning to justify his signing the previous year.
October 1985
Accies began October moving into second place in the table behind early pace setters Dumbarton when they won 2-1 at Montrose with Brogan and John McNaught (below) scoring. McNaught was a fans favourite and nicknamed “Worzel” after TV character Worzel Gummidge due to his unkept hairstyle. He had begun his Accies career as a full back but manager John Lambie moved him into midfield and he benefited greatly from this move.
Accies then hit a bump in the road with a 2-1 home defeat to Alloa.
A tough trip to high flying Forfar Athletic ended in a 2-2 draw, with Brogan and McNaught again scoring.
Manager John Lambie was always looking to improve his squad and signed Ayr Utd’s Gerry Collins who immediately made his debut against his former club. John Brogan’s early goal was added to by captain Graeme Mitchell as Accies won 2-0.
John Lambie was on look out for a strike partner for John Brogan with Willie Jamieson now playing as a centre half.
November 1985
John McGachie was disappointing in the role at Shawfiled where Accies lost 1-0 to Clyde, this was his last game for Accies. McGachie soon departed for Meadowbank in a swap deal which saw Adrian Sprott arrive at Douglas Park.
Adrian Sprott would go on to score the most famous goal in Accies history when his goal secured a shock 1-0 win over Rangers at Ibrox in the 1987 Scottish Cup Third Round. Sadly Adrian passed away 2023 at age 61.
A new partnership was tried as league leaders Dumbarton visited Douglas Park , with young Willie Waters given his chance , which he grabbed with both hands, scoring a hat trick on his debut as Accies ran out 6-1 winners, with Rikki Ferguson again saving an Albert Craig penalty.
Accies again struggled to score and it took an own goal on the brink of half time to secure a 1-1 away to East Fife.
John Lambie then on the advice of John Brogan went back to Brogan’s former club St Johnstone and signed their top scorer Joe Reid.
Partick Thistle then visited Douglas Park and raced into a 2-0 half time lead , before John Pelosi brought Accies back into the game midway through the second half when he netted a penalty. Joe Reid came off the bench and made an immediate impact snatching a point with a last minute goal as the teams finished level at 2-2.
Accies ended November with a trip to Cappielow to face Morton, on what many described as a dangerous ice covered pitch. A Gerry Collins goal , his first for the club gave Accies a precious 1-0 win.
December 1985
Kilmarnock started December top of the league , a point ahead of Accies , but following a 1-0 won at Falkirk they hit a remarkable slump losing three consecutive games 4-1.
Accies opened December with a 4-2 win at home to Montrose with new strike force John Brogan and Joe Reid both netting twice.
Kilmarnock stayed top winning 1-0 at Falkirk, but the following week they would suffer a shock 4-1 defeat at Montrose opening the possibility for Accies to snatch top spot.
Accies game at Alloa was one of the most amazing in Accies history with Alloa racing into a 2-0 lead before Tommy O’Neill and Joe Reid brought Accies level. Alloa would go in at halftime 3-2 ahead. A superb second half display by Accies saw them equalise before two goals by substitute John McNaught seemed to have sealed victory. Frankie Cole completed his hat trick for the home side but Accies held on to win 5-4 and go top of the league.
Accies then faced two home games against third placed Forfar and second placed Kilmarnock at Douglas Park before 1985 would end.
John Brogan scored the only goal of the game as Accies defeated a tenacious Forfar Athletic 1-0 at Douglas Park.
This set up a massive game at Douglas Park as Kilmarnock again stumbled 4-1 at home to Dumbarton.
Accies led Kilmarnock by 1 point as the clubs met on a sunny winters day in their match of 1985, on the Saturday between Christmas and New Year 1985.
It was a game with 3,271 in attendance for Accies fans to savour as John Brogan’s early goal was added to by Tommy O’Neill’s wonderful free kick as they went 2-0 ahead inside the first half hour. Accies would go on to inflict Kilmarnock’s third consecutive 4-1 defeat and ensure Accies topped the table as 1985 ended.
Scottish First Division 1975/76
In 1975 there was league reconstruction in Scottish Football with two leagues becoming three leagues. The initial format was a 10-14-14 structure and over the past 50 years the second tier of Scottish Football has been one of the most competitive in European and possibly World Football.
It is a league which has also seen the beginning of many famous players career as well as a league which has seen some high profile players end their career.
This is at look back at the first season of the Scottish First Division now know as the Scottish Championship in 1975/76.
The league was created by merging the bottom 8 from the previous season in Division One – Airdrie , Partick , Kilmarnock , Dumbarton , Dunfermline, Clyde , Morton , Arbroath , with top 6 from Division Two – Falkirk , Queen of the South , Montrose , Hamilton , East Fife and St Mirren.
The first season was unique in that it only consisted of 26 games with each teams playing each other home and away at a time when 2 points were awarded for a win.
The short fixture list was supplemented with the Spring Cup which I will cover in a later blog.
The title favourites were Airdrie , Partick and Kilmarnock who had just missed out on places in the first Scottish Premier League.
The League season would run from the final Saturday in August 75 to the end of February 76.
The season began with League Cup sections.
Scottish League Cup
Group 1
Airdrie were drawn with two Premier League teams, Rangers and locals rivals Motherwell as well as Clyde and after an opening with a 6-1 defeat at Ibrox and then beating Motherwell and Clyde at home they finished third losing their final three games. Rangers won the group with 10pts ahead of Motherwell on 8pts.
Group 2
Hibernian won 5 of their 6 games , the only blemish being a 2-1 away defeat to second placed Ayr , having opened with a 2-0 home win over Dundee and ending with a 2-1 win at Dens Park.
Group 3
Celtic proved too strong and they won 5 games out of 6 despite an away defeat to Hearts , they beat Aberdeen home and away.
Group 4
Partick Thistle were drawn with Kilmarnock and two teams who would have a poor start to life in the Premier Division , St Johnstone who would end the season bottom and Dundee Utd who would finish 8th avoiding relegation on goal difference from their city rivals Dundee.
Partick made a great start to the season beating Kilmarnock 3-1 at Rugby Park and swept into the Quarter Finals in style winning all six group games.
Group 5
In a tightly fought group Queen of the South emerged as victors with a final day 3-2 away win against Stirling Albion on 7pts , while Falkirk and Hamilton finished on 6 pts after drawing 2-2 at Douglas Park, Accies won at Falkirk and Queen of the South but failed to win a home game. Stirling were bottom on 5pts.
Group 6
Montrose won the group with 8pts ahead of East Fife and Raith Rovers on 6pts, despite losing 2-1 at Raith on the opening day.
Group 7
Clydebank emerged as group winners despite Arbroath opening with two 4-0 wins over Clydebank and East Stirling. Arbroath’s 1-0 defeat at Berwick, meant a final day decider at Kilbowie which Clydebank won 1-0.
Group 8
Stenhousemuir won the group winning their final two home games 2-1 v Morton and 3-2 v Stranraer to overtake their rivals and win the group on 8pts , with Stranraer on 7pts and Morton on 6pts.
Group 9
This group featured the bottom 6 clubs from the 1974/75 season, the winners then faced a playoff with a randomly drawn Group winner for a Quarter Final place. The six teams played each team once so only played 5 games.
Cowdenbeath were the winners with the decisive result being a 1-0 win away to Queens Park at Hampden.
Playoff
Clydebank beat Cowdenbeath 2-0 home and away for a 4-0 aggregate win.
Quarter Finals
Partick progressed to the League Cup semi final beating Clydebank 4-0 at Firhill before losing the return 1-0.
Montrose also reached the semi finals after losing 1-0 at Easter Road they beat Hibs 3-1 after extra time at Links Park for a 4-3 aggregate victory.
Queen of the South took Rangers to extra time at Palmerston after losing the first leg 1-0 at Ibrox
Celtic beat Stenhousemuir 2-0 away and 1-0 at home.
Semi Finals
Celtic beat Partick Thistle 1-0 in the League Cup semi final, while in the other semi final Montrose led Rangers 1-0 at half time before losing 5-1.
Final
Rangers beat Celtic 1-0
SCOTTISH FIRST DIVISION LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
August 1975
The League campaign opened on 30th August with Partick disappointingly drawing 0-0 away to Morton. Kilmarnock made a solid start beating ten man Hamilton 4-2 at home, but Montrose would go to the top beating East Fife 3-0 at home.
September 1975
Montrose won 2-1 at Angus rivals Arbroath before winning 3-2 at Dumbarton to maintain top spot three games into the season.
Partick moved into second place after beating Clyde 1-0 at home and then winning again at Rugby Park 1-0.
Partick would then move top by the end of the month with wins at Dumbarton 3-2 and 2-1 at home to Dumbarton.
Kilmarnock moved to second place having won four of their five games only losing to Partick by end of September.
Hamilton Accies moved into third place following up their opening day defeat with three successive wins and a draw at Montrose who dropped to 4th having lost at St Mirren before the draw with Accies.
At the other end of the table after drawing their opening game 2-2 with St Mirren , Queen of the South were bottom after losing three in a row.
Clyde were in the other relegation place having lost four of five games despite a 3-0 home win over St Mirren.
October 1975
Partick completed a sequence of six league wins on the bounce before a 1-0 defeat at home to Airdrie and a 0-0 draw at Arbroath saw them drop to second place.
Kilmarnock took over at the top of the league with seven wins in their nine games only losing at Montrose during October and winning the other games.
Airdrie moved into third place with three wins out of four during October all with clean sheets the only blips being a 2-2 draw at Clyde.
St Mirren moved up to fourth with three consecutive wins.
Queen of the South were bottom after losing six of their first nine games, with Morton in the other relegation spot having only won one game in their opening nine games.
Hamilton Accies lost all four games in the month to drop to tenth.
November 1975
Kilmarnock maintained top stop through the month with four wins all with clean sheets despite a shock 1-0 away defeat to Dunfermline.
Partick had a solid month to stay second including a 5-0 home win over East Fife.
Airdrie stayed in third place with four 2-2 draws during November and a 1-0 defeat away to Morton.
St Mirren stayed fourth just ahead of Montrose.
Hamilton Accies slumped into the relegation slots before a 3-2 win over East Fife lifted them to tenth.
Two wins and two draws lifted Clyde to seventh, but Queen of the South remained bottom losing three and drawing two in the month,
The other relegation place was filled by Dunfermline who despite their win over Kilmarnock and 1-1 draw at Firhill against Partick lost their other three games without scoring.
December 1975
Partick regained top spot when Kilmarnock lost 2-0 at Arbroath and Partick won 4-2 at Airdrie on the Saturday before Christmas then beat Arbroath 2-0 at home.
Kilmarnock only won one game in December and drew two.
Airdrie stayed third while Arbroath moved up to fourth beating East Fife , Hamilton and Kilmarnock before dropping back to sixth with defeat at Firhill.
Montrose moved fourth ahead of St Mirren.
Queen of the South ended the year bottom although there were sparks of recovery as they won their final three games 5-2 against Dunfermline , 1-0 at Morton and 4-2 over Dumbarton.
Clyde slumped into the relegation spots losing all four games in December.
January 1976
Partick played Kilmarnock on 3rd January at Firhill and was a virtual title decider as they had a one point lead over the Ayrshire side. The match attracted a massive crowd of 11,507.
Partick won 2-0 with goals by Benny Rooney and Joe Craig as Thistle moved clear in the title race.
Partick were by the end of January in pole position with a three point lead over Kilmarnock with only three games remaining.
Montrose suffered a 5-3 home defeat to Angus rivals Arbroath on New Years Day before winning 6-0 at Dumbarton and ended the month in third place.
Dumbarton bounced back to beat Kilmarnock 3-9 and draw 0-0 at Firhill.
Queen of the South continued their recovery with a 2-2 draw at Airdrie followed by another three wins to move up to tenth.
Hamilton drew three games in a row before winning 4-1 at Morton as they ended the month in eleventh place.
Dunfermline with two draws and two defeats moved into the relegation places with Clyde
Clyde’s slump continued losing all three games to end the month in bottom spot.
February 1976
Partick Thistle were crowned Champions winning all three games in February completing a 15 games unbeaten run which included 11 wins.
Kilmarnock won promotion finishing second while Montrose finishing third had opened February with a 7-1 win at East Frife.
Dumbarton won their final four games to finish fourth ahead of Arbroath in fifth.
Airdrie dropped from fourth to seventh when they lost 3-1 at home to St Mirren (who snatched sixth place) and Hamilton Accies away 2-1.
Hamilton Accies ended February with a ten game unbeaten run although only three of them were wins. Accies final game of the season was held over to March and was lost 3-0 at Dumbarton. Accies finished outside the relegation places in ninth place behind Falkirk.
Queen of the South stayed up winning eight of their final eleven games.
Clyde finished bottom losing twelve of their last thirteen games only drawing 0-0 with Hamilton on the second last day.
Dunfermline were also relegated losing their final two games after a 5-1 win over Clyde.
SCOTTISH CUP
Third Round
Partick won 2-1 at Albion Rovers , Ayr beat Airdrie 4-2 , Hearts drew 2-2 with Clyde before winning the replay 1-0 away. Montrose won 3-1 at Morton.
Motherwell produced the shock of the round coming from 2-0 down at half time to beat Celtic 3-2 at Fir Park.
Fourth Round
Queen of the South draw 2-2 at Premier Division Ayr before winning the replay at Palmerston 5-4 after extra time to reach the Quarter Final
Montrose beat Raith Rovers 2-1 while Rangers beat Aberdeen 4-1.
Partick Thistle drew 0-0 at Firhill with Dumbarton , with the replay being won 1-0 by Dumbarton.
Quarter Final
Dumbarton having seen off First Division champions Partick Thistle then knocked out runners up Kilmarnock 2-1 at Boghead.
Montrose drew 2-2 with Hearts at Links Park , before drawing again 2-2 at Tynecastle before losing the second replay at Muirton Park, Perth 2-1 after extra time.
Motherwell drew 2-2 with Hibs before the replay at Easter Road ended 1-1 after extra time. a third game at Ibrox saw Motherwell win 2-1.
Queen of the South lost 5-0 at home. to Rangers.
Semi Finals
Dumbarton drew 0-0 with Hearts in the Hampden semi -final before returning to the National Stadium and losing the replay 3-0.
Motherwell saw the fortune of their Third Round victory over Celtic reversed when their 2-0 half time lead over Rangers ended in a 3-2 defeat , the turning point being Rangers controversial penalty award at 0-2 early in the second half.
Final
Rangers scored in the first minute and went on to beat Hearts 3-1.
FIRST DIVISION NOTABLE PLAYERS BY TEAM
1 PARTICK THISTLE
Alan Rough – Goalkeeper – 53 Scotland caps and play in two World Cups – 1978 & 1982
Danny Kellachan – played 147 games for Partick before moving to Hamilton Accies in 1978.
Alan Hansen – 26 Scotland caps , won 3 European Cups, 8 League titles , 2 FA Cups , 3 League Cups during a distinguished career with Liverpool before becoming a Match of the Day pundit.
John Hansen – Alan’s brother was the only ever present in the 1975/76 Partick Thistle team
Jackie Campbell played 406 games for Partick between 1963 – 1982, as part of the famous Thistle team that won the 1971 League Cup
Dougie Somner – Top scorer with 27 goals went on to play for St Mirren and was their first scorer in Europe before moving to Hamilton Accies and Montrose.
Joe Craig – Scorer of 23 goals in 1975/76 . moved to Celtic where he gained his only Scotland cap coming off the bench to score before moving to Blackburn Rovers and Hamilton Accies.
Dennis McQuade – Scorer of 13 goals , had scored in Partick ‘s famous 4-1 League Cup Final win over Celtic in 1971 went on to play for Hearts and Hamilton Accies.
2 KILMARNOCK
Jim Stewart – Goalkeeper – 2 caps for Scotland and was part of Scotland 1974 World Cup Squad, went on to play for Middlesborough and Rangers
Goalkeeping coach at Kilmarnock , Hearts , Rangers , Scotland and Nottingham Forest.
Gordon Smith – moved on to Rangers before a move to Brighton led to his infamous miss in the 1983 FA Cup final , became Chief Executive of SFA from 2007 -2010.
Davie Provan – won 10 caps for Scotland after moving to Celtic where he won 4 Premier Leagues , 2 Scottish Cups and 1 League Cup.
Iain McCulloch – went to Notts County where he won promotion to First Division in 1981 and was their top scorer for next two seaons.
3 MONTROSE
Les Barr – the hero of Montrose League Cup run – scored the winning goal in Quarter Final against Hobs and scored the penalty that gave Montrose the half time lead against Rangers in the Semi Final
Harry Johnston – played 182 games 1970-76 for Montrose and returned for a second spell playing 95 games – 1979-1982 after a spell with Partick Thistle.
Bertie Miller played 120 games for Montrose 1975-1979 after two spells at East Fife either side of his big move to Aberdeen. where he played 49 games 1971-1973.
4 DUMBARTON
Walter Smith – went on to manage Rangers and Scotland
Murdo MacLeod – won 20 caps for Scotland , including playing at World Cup in 1990. He moved to Celtic where he won 4 Premier Leagues , 2 Scottish Cups and 1 League Cup before moving to Borussia Dortmund where he won the German Cup , and then Hibernian where he won 1 League Cup
John Bourke – joint top league scorer with 17 goals , went on to have a successful career at Dundee Utd & Kilmarnock before returning to both Dumbarton and Kilmarnock either side of a spell at Brechin City.
Ian Wallace – won 3 Scotland caps and went to Coventry City before a spell under Brian Clough at reigning European Cup holders Nottingham Forest.
5 ARBROATH
Gordon Marshall -Veteran Goalkeeper played 142 games for Arbroath 1972-1978 , began his career playing 193 games for Hearts 1956-1963 before moving to Newcastle playing 177 games 1963-1968. Also played for Nottingham Forest before returning to Scotland Hibs , Celtic and Aberdeen.
Jimmy Bone – scored for Partick in 1971 League Cup Final win and played for Norwich and Sheffield Utd before moving to Gayfield before winning the Anglo Scottish Cup under Alex Ferguson at St Mirren.
Derek Rylance played 275 games for Arbroath 1971-1981.
6 ST MIRREN
Alex Ferguson – manager began his managerial career at Love Street in 1974, and became a legend at Aberdeen and Manchester Utd.
Tony Fitzpatrick – made captain of St Mirren at age 19 by Alex Ferguson played 160 games for St Mirren before moving to Bristol City before returning and playing another 191 games for the Paisley club. He had a 6 year spell as CEO from 2016.
Frank McGarvey – his scoring exploits at St Mirren led to an ill-fated move to Liverpool. He had great success at Celtic lifting 5 major honours between 1980 and 1985 before returning to St Mirren and helping them lift the Scottish Cup in 1987.
Billy Stark – played 255 games for St Mirren before success with Aberdeen and Celtic before brief spells at Kilmarnock and Hamilton Accies. He went on to a long coaching career beginning as assistant to Tommy Burns at Celtic and worked at SFA as Scotland u-21 manager.
7 AIRDRIE
This Airdrie team had played Celtic in the 1975 Scottish Cup Final
Derek Whiteford – played over 300 games in a ten year spell with Airdrie from 1967.
Paul Jonquin played over 700 games for Airdrie between 1962 and 1979
8 FALKIRK
Ally Donaldson Goalkeeper for Falkirk between 1972 and 1976 either side of playing for Dundee.
Stewart Kennedy a full back who played over 100 games for Falkikrk before moving to Aberdeen , where he won 8 Scotland caps including playing in 1978 World Cup. A serious injury in European Cup Winners Cup semi final in 1983 brought a premature end to his career and missed the final in Gothenburg although he was on the bench against Real Madrid.
9 HAMILTON ACCIES
Rikki Ferguson – goalkeeper played a club record 452 games for Accies 1974-1988, also capped by Scotland at u-21 level , a real hero to Accies fans.
Jim Frew – right back who played 363 games for Accies 1971-1981
Arthur McMillan left back played 221 games for Accies 1969- 1977 , winning Accies Player of the Year award in 1971, 1973 & 1976.
Jamie Fairlie – many Accies fans of the era’s favourite player , played 291 games for Accies scoring 74 goals 1974-1983 , sadly broke his leg at Falkirk on the eve of a big money move to Aberdeen in 1981. He went on to play for Airdrie, where he scored the winner against Dumbarton , which handed the 1986 First Division to Accies. Following spells with Clydebank and Motherwell. He returned to Accies 1987-1989 winning the First Division in 1988 playing a further 41 games and scoring 7 goals.
Billy Thomas a new signing at the start of the season , scored 17 goals in 25 appearances over two seasons.
10 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH
Allan Ball – goalkeeper played 579 games for Queens his only club between 1963 & 1982.
Tommy O’Hara – went to play in USA and returned to play for Motherwell, Falkirk and Partick Thistle.
11 MORTON
Roy Baines – goalkeeper signed from Hibs played 117 games for Morton 1972-1976 before a playing a few games in a 3 year spell at Celtic before returning to Morton 1979-1983 playing a further 154 games before ending his career with St Johnstone 1983-85.
Davie Hayes – full back who played 465 games for Morton 1969-1984
George Anderson played for Morton 1969-81 and returned from 1985-87 after a spell with Airdrie.
12 EAST FIFE
Ernie McGarr – experienced goalkeeper began his career at Aberdeen where he was unable to dislodge Bobby Clark , but won 2 Scotland caps before he played 118 games for East Fife before playing 75 games for Airdrie between 1978 and 1980. He famously saved three penalties against Celtic in 1973.
Mark Clougherty played for East Fife before moving to Falkirk, Clyde and then on to Dumbarton where he played 223 games 1980-1988.
13 DUNFERMLINE
Allan Evans – moved on to Aston Villa where he won the English League Championship in 1981 and European Cup in 1982 and was a member of the Scotland squad at Spain 82 and won 4 Scotland caps
14 CLYDE
Dom Sullivan – a cultured midfield player , went on to play successfully for Aberdeen and Celtic
Neil Hood – signed from Hamilton Accies in 1975 having scored 44 goals in 144 games for Accies, went on to score 69 goals in 151 games for Clyde a popular striker.
WORLD CUP 2026
PLAYOFFS MARCH 2026
The Playoffs took place recently to decide the final 6 teams to qualify for World Cup 2026 with 2 Inter Continental pathways and 4 European pathways.
The semi finals took place on 26th March with the finals on 31st March 2026.
Intercontinental Pathway 1
These playoffs took place in Guadalajara , Mexico
On 26th March Jamacia beat New Caledonia 1-0 thanks to a goal from Bailey Cadamarteri of Wrexham , the son of former player Danny and brother of Scotland youth international Caelan-Kiloe.
Jamacia then played the final against DR Congo, and after a goalless 90 mins , it took a goal from Burnley defender Axel Tuanzebe to send DR Congo to their second ever World Cup , they previously qualified in 1974 then known as Zaire, in a similar way to Haiti who also qualified twice in 1974 and 2026.
DR Congo will be in Group K with Portugal , Columbia and Uzbekistan.
Intercontinental Pathway 2
Mexico was also the host for these playoffs with the games being played in Monterrey.
Suriname took a shock lead early in the second half when full back Liam van Gelderen netted but Bolivia came back to win 2-1 with a Moises Paniagua goal and a penalty from striker Miguel Terceros.
Bolivia went on to play Iraq in the final.
Iraq took a first half lead through Luton Town striker Ali Almahadi but their lead was short lived with Bolivia equalising before half time through Moises Paniagua. Iraq finally made it to the World Cup with a 2-1 victory when Aymen Hussein scored in the second half , meaning Iraq go into Group I which is a tough looking group with France , Senegal and Norway.
European Pathway A
Wales hosted Bosnia & Herzegovina and took the lead through Dan James early in the second half and despite hitting the woodwork the Welsh lead remained fragile as Bosnia pushed for an equaliser. Edin Dzeko the Bosnian 40 year old captain rose in the 86th min to head them level and force the game into extra time and eventually penalties.
The Bosnian Demirovic missed the fist penalty but the tie turned when Brennan Johnson missed the Welsh 3td kick and when Neco Williams missed the Welsh 4th kick , Bosnia completed their victory to host the Pathway A final.
Italy overcame N Ireland 2-0 in Bergamo with a great finish by Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali before Moise Kean took the pressure off with a second goal ten minutes from time.
The final saw Bosnia host Italy where Moise Kean put the Italians ahead inside 15mins. Italy were reduced to ten man when Alessandro Bastoni was sent off shortly before half time.
Bosnia took the match into extra time when Haris Tabakovic equalised with ten mins remaining.
Bosnia then repeated their penalty shoot out win in Cardiff as they eliminated Italy winning 4-1 on penalties to move into Group with Canada , Qatar and Switzerland.
European Pathway B
Ukraine played Sweden in Valencia where a hat trick by Arsenal’s Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres gave his nation a 3-0 lead before a late goal was little consolation for Ukraine as they lost 3-1.
Albania took a shock 1-0 lead over Poland at half time but the Polish talisman Robert Lewandowski equalised before Piotr Zielinski put the Poles through 2-1 and into the final in Solna against Sweden.
Sweden with Englishman Graham Potter as manager took their place in the final with a 3-2 home win over Poland. Newcastle’s Anthony Elanga gave Sweden an early lead before Piotr Zielinski. It was Sweden’s former Celtic defender Gustaf Lagerbielke who put them 2-1 ahead at half time. Poland continued to battle back and Karol Swiderski equalised for a second time.
It was however Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres who proved to be the match winner and send Sweden to World Cup Group F alongside Holland , Japan and Tunisia.
European Pathway C
The early kick off saw Turkey beat Romania 1-0 with a goal from Ferdi Kadioglu and they had to wait to see where they would travel to for their final.
Slovakia took a 6th minute lead at home to Kosovo through Martin Valjent however midway through the first half Kosovo equalised through Veldin Hodza.
Slovakia regained the lead in Bratislava on the verge of half time through Lukas Haraslin.
Kosovo however equalised through Fisnik Asllani and went in front for the first time in the match 3-2 after an hour when Florent Muslija scored.
Kosovo made their place in the final safe when they went 4-2 in front through Kreshnik Hajirizi after 72mins. Slovakia’s David Strelec scored a consolation in injury time but Kosovo ran out 4-3 to host Turkey in the final.
Turkey won the playoff final when Karem Akturkoglu scored early in the second half and they qualified to play in World Cup 2026 Group D along with USA , Paraquay and Australia.
European Pathway D
Denmark who were denied qualification by Scotland’s injury time goals at Hampden in November secured a playoff final place with an impressive 4-0 win over North Macedonia in Copenhagen. It took until the second half but after Mikkel Damsgarrd scored , Gustav Isaksen added two goals in a minute and the tie was over before Christian Norgaard added a fourth,
Republic of Ireland scored a penalty by Troy Parrott in Prague before an own goal gave them a 2-0 lead. A penalty by Patrik Schick however gave Czech’s a way back into the game. A second half equaliser Ladislav Krejci took the game to penalties.
The Irish led 3-2 in the shoot out after three kicks but missed their final two and Czech Republic progressed 4-3 on penalties to the final.
Czech Republic took an early lead through Pavel Sulc , but Denmark took the game to extra time with a goal from Joachim Andersen of Fulham.
Czech defender Ladislav Krejci scored in the first half of extra time before the Danes equalised again through Kasper Hogh’s first international goal.
Czech Republic then won the penalty shootout as they had done a few days earlier against the Irish – 3-1 on penalties moving to Group A with Mexico , South Africa and South Korea.
WORLD CUP 2026 – Part 3
Scotland Opponents Qualification – Part Three
BRAZIL
CONMEBOL Qualifying saw all 10 Countries compete through a home and away round robin of 18 matches with the top 6 automatic qualifiers, and 1 country 7th place progressing to the Inter Continental Playoffs in March 2026.
Matchday 1 & 2 – September 2023
Brazil opened with an easy 5-1 home win over Bolivia as Argentina struggled to beat Ecuador 1-0 at home although Uruguay also won beating Chile 3-1 at home on Matchday 1. Colombia beat Venezuela 1-0 and there was a 0-0 draw between Paraguay and Chile.
Matchday 2 saw Brazil struggle and it took a 90th min goal to give them a 1-0 win in Peru. Argentina had a more comfortable 3-0 win in Bolivia. Uruguay lost 2-1 in Ecuador while Venezuela beat Paraguay 1-0 at home. Chile drew 0-0 at home to Colombia.
Argentina and Brazil start with maximum 6pts ahead of Colombia on 4pts.
Matchday 3 & 4 – October 2023
Argnetina’s early goal gives them a 1-0 home win over Paraquay, while Brazil suffer an unexpected setback when they draw 1-1 at home as Venezuela equalise late on.
Chile beat Peru 2-0 for their first win while Ecuador score in injury time to win 2-1 in Bolivia. An injury time penalty in Colombia gives Uruguay a 2-2 draw.
Matchday 4 saw Argentina maintain their 100% record with a 2-0 win in Peru.
Brazil lost 2-0 in Uruguay, now 7pts in joint second place, with Uruguay on 6pts.
A home win for Venezuela 3-0 over Chile also put them level on 7 pts, while Paraquay beat Bolivia 1-0 at home to continue Bolivia’s run of defeats now at four in row.
Ecuador also moved on to 7 points with a 0-0 draw at home to Colombia, who were on 6 points.
Matchday 5 & 6 – November 2023
Shock defeats for both Argentina and Brazil opened up the whole qualifying group.
Argentina lost their 100% record but stayed top on 12pts after losing at home to Uruguay 2-0. Uruguay moved to 9pts and were joined in joint second place by Colombia who won 2-1 at home to Brazil.
Venezuela and Ecuador moved to 8pts after drawing 0-0 as Brazil dropped to 6th place on 7pts.
Bolovia broke their duck winning 2-0 over Peru and in the process overtake their opponents who moved to the bottom on 1 point.
Chile and Paraquay draw 0-0 and both moved on to 5pts.
Matchday 6 ended 2023 and left Brazil struggling to qualify after a 1-0 home defeat by Argentina as they remained in 6th place on 7pts.
Colombia’s 1-0 win in Paraquay put them joint second on 12 pts with Uruguay who beat Bolivia 3-0 at home.
Ecuador’s 1-0 home win over Chile put them in 4th place on 11pts with Venezuela on 9pts after a 1-1 draw in Peru.
Matchday 7 & 8 – September 2024
Bolivia continued their improvement having lost their opening four matches with their second win when they beat Venezuela 4-0 at home.
Argentina maintained their domination of the group beating Chile 3-0 at home, while Brazil got their campaign back on track beating Ecuador 1-0 at home.
Colombia’s 1-1 draw in Peru and Uruguay’s 0-0 draw at home to Paraquay kept them level in second place on 13pts.
Matchday 8 again saw defeats for the powerhouses of Argentina and Brazil.
Colombia moved into second place on 16pts with their 2-1 home win over Argentina although they stayed top on 18pts while Uruguay drew 0-0 in Venezuela. Uruguay moved on to 14pts, while Venezuela went on to 10pts.
Paraquay moved on to 9pts with a surprise 1-0 home win over Brazil who remained on 10pts, with Venezuela.
Ecuador moved on to 14pts in joint third place with a 1-0 home win over Peru.
Bolivia won 2-1 in Chile to give them 3 wins from 4 games after their poor start and on to 9pts alongside Paraguay.
Matchday 9 & 10 – October 2024
Brazil won 2-1 in Chile after falling behind early on and their goals came very near the end of both halves as they moved up into 5th place on 13pts.
Argentina stayed top on 19pts despite being held 1-1 in Venezuela.
Bolivia continued their revival with a 1-0 home win over Columbia to move to 12 pts, leaving their opponents in second on 16pts.
Ecuador moved into 3rd place on 15pts with a 0-0 home draw against Paraguay.
Uruguay dropped to 4th place on 14ptswith a surprise 1-0 loss in Peru.
Matchday 10 saw big home wins for Argentina 6-0 over Bolivia , Brazil 4-0 against Peru and Colombia 4-0 over Chile.
Argentina were clear at the top on 22pts while Colombia’s win put them second on 19pts.
Uruguay’s 0-0 draw with Ecuador put Ecuador and Brazil level on 16pts ahead of Uruguay on 15pts.
Paraquay beat Bolivia 2-1 at home to overtake their opponents into 6th on 13pts.
Matchday 11 & 12 – November 2024
Leaders Argentina were handed a shock 2-1 defeat in Paraguay although still led the table comfortably on 22pts.
In an amazing game Uruguay came from 1-0 down at half time to lead 2-1 against Colombia going into injury time. Colombia equalised only for Uruguay to score again and win 3-2 to move within a point of Colombia on 18pts.
Colombia were matched on 19pts by Ecuador who handed out a second successive 4-0 defeat to Bolivia.
Brazil could only draw 1-1 in Venezuela to stay 5th on 17pts , while the bottom two Peru and Chile draw 0-0.
Matchday 12 was the last of 2024 and saw leaders Argentina move clear on 25pts ahead of Ecuador who had an impressive 1-0 win in Colombia to move into 2nd place on 22pts.
Colombia were joined on 19pts in third place by Uruguay who drew 1-1 in Brazil, with the 4 time World Cup Winners who stayed in 5th place on 18pts.
Paraguay stayed in 6th place on 17pts after an injury time equaliser gave them a 2-2 draw in Bolivia.
Matchday 13 & 14 – March 2025
Argentina continued their quest to finish top by winning 1-0 in Uruguay, while second placed Ecuador beat Venezuela 2-1 at home.
Brazil moved into third place with an injury time winner at home to Colombia winning 2-1, while Bolivia suffered a 3-1 defeat in Peru.
Paraguay moved up to 4th place with a 1-0 home win over Chile.
Argentina qualified for World Cup 2026 on Matchday 14 when Bolivia drew 0-0 with Uruguay. Argentina celebrated by thumping Brazil 4-1.
The only other win on this matchday saw Venezuela beat Peru 1-0 at home.
Ecuador stayed in second place with a 0-0 draw in Chile while Paraguay joined Brazil in third place on 21pts when they came from a 2-0 half time deficit to draw 2-2 in Colombia.
Matchday 15 & 16 – June 2025
Ecuador drew 0-0 at home against Brazil to maintain second place as Argentina won 1-0 in Chile.
Paraquay beat Uruguay to move above Brazil into 3rd place om 24 pts, while Columbia dropped to 5th place 21 points following a 0-0 home draw with Peru.
Venezuela pulled 4pts ahead of Bolivia beating them 2-0 at home.
Ecuador ensured their place at World Cup 2026 with a 0-0 draw in Peru on Matchday 16.
Brazil beat Paraguay 1-0 at home to clinch their World Cup 2026 qualifiaction.
Colombia gained an important point with a 1-1 draw in Argentina, while Uruguay’s 2-0 win over Venezuela allowed Bolivia to close the gap to one point behind Venezuela with a 2-0 home win over Chile as the battle for the playoff spot seemed destined to be between these two countries.
Matchday 17 & 18 – September 2025
Colombia secured their World Cup place with a 3-0 home win over Bolivia, while Uruguay also won 3-0 at home to Peru to qualify.
Paraguay also qualified on Matchday 17 with a 0-0 draw at home to Ecuador.
Argentina and Brazil also had 3-0 home wins over Venezuela and Chile respectively.
Matchday 18 saw an incredible game where Venezuela lost 6-3 at home to Colombia and despite going into the final game a point ahead of Bolivia in the quest for the Inter Continental Play off spot , their hopes were dashed when Bolivia beat Brazil 1-0 at home when they converted a penalty in first half injury time.
Final Table saw the six qualifiers
Argentina 38pts , Ecuador 29pts, Colombia 28pts, Uruguay 28pts, Brazil 28pts, Paraguay 28pts.
Bolivia finished on 20pts to claim the playoff spot ahead of Venezuela 18pts, Peru 12pts, Chile 11pts.
Bolivia will play Suriname on 26th March 2026 , with the winners playing Iraq on 31st March
WORLD CUP 2026 – Part 2
Scotland Opponents Qualification – Part Two
MOROCCO
CAF Qualifying saw the 54 countries divided into 9 groups of 6 countries with the 9 Group Winners qualifying for World Cup 2026.
The four best runners up would play two semi finals and final to determine the one country to move forward to the Inter Continental Playoffs.
Morocco were drawn in Group E with Congo, Eritrea, Niger, Tanzania and Zambia.
Eritrea withdrew after the draw was made.
Matchday 1 & 2 – November 2023
Zambia beat Congo 4-2 while Tanzania won 1-0 in Niger on Matchday 1 with Morocco having no game as they due to play Eritrea.
Morocco then got off to a winning start with a 2-0 win in Tanzania.
Niger beat Zambia 2-1 , to leave Morocco with a game in hand on 3pts alongside Niger , Tanzania and Zambia, who all had won one , lost one.
Matchday 3 & 4 – June 2024
Tanzania were due to play Eritrea and following a dispute over the home stadium for Congo , Niger were awarded a 3-0 away win against them.
The only game on Matchday 3 saw Morocco’s 2-1 home win over Zambia.
Matchday 4 saw Niger due to play Eritrea , Tanzania took advantage to match their 6 pts with a 1-0 win in Zambia.
Morocco moved to 9pts with a comfortable 6-0 away win in Congo.
Matchday 5 & 6 – March 2025
With Zambia due to play Eritrea , Tanzania moved to 9pts when they were awarded a 3-0 win over Congo after the Congolese were suspended by FIFA over Government interference.
Morocco maintained their 3pt lead as they moved on to 12pts following an injury time winner to win 2-1 in Niger.
Zambia were also awarded a 3-0 over Congo and with Niger due to play Eritrea , Morocco moved to 15pts beating Tanzania 2-0 at home to move to the brink of qualification.
Matchday 7 & 8 – September 2025
Morocco qualified for World Cup 2026 on Matchday 7 with a 5-0 home win over ten man Niger. Congo with their suspension lifted drew 1-1 at home to Tanzania.
Matchday 8 saw Morocco maintain their 100% record with a 2-0 win in Zambia while Niger won 1-0 in Tanzania.
Matchday 9 & 10 – October 2025
Matchday 9 saw Niger beat Congo 3-1 and Zambia win 1-0 in Tanzania before Morocco completed their campaign with 100% record on Matchday 10 as they beat Congo 1-0 at home. Zambia lost 1-0 at home to Niger.
FINAL TABLE
MOROCCO 24pts, NIGER 15pts, TANZANIA 10pts, ZAMBIA 9pts, CONGO 1pt.
Morocco Qualify as Group Winners
Playoffs – November 2025
Semi Finals
NIGERIA 4 GABON 1 aet
DR CONGO 1 CAMEROON 0
Final
DR CONGO 1 NIGERIA 1 aet
DR Congo won 4-3 on penalties.
DR CONGO move forward to Inter Continental Playoff to play winners of New Caledonia v Jamacia in Mexico on 31st March 2026
WORLD CUP 2026 – Part 1
Scotland Opponents Qualification – Part One
HAITI
Concacaf Qualifying saw 32 Countries compete through qualifying with 3 automatic qualifiers being the 3 Third Round group winners as well as the 3 Host Nations , Canada , Mexico and USA , meaning 6 qualifiers in total. In addition 2 countries progressed to the Inter Continental Playoffs in March 2026.
First Round
The First Round saw the teams ranked 29-32 compete for a place in the Second Round
Anguilla beat Turks and Caicos Islands 4-3 on penalties after 0-0 and 1-1 draws in the two legs
British Virgin Islands also won on penalties 4-2 against US Virgin Islands after their games finished 1-1 and 0-0.
Second Round
Haiti were drawn in Group C with Curacao , Sanit Lucia , Aruba and Barbados, with each team playing 2 home games and 2 away games , with the top 2 qualifying for the Third Round.
The games were played over two windows in June 2024 and June 2025.
Curacao opened with a 4-1 home win over Barbados.
Haiti who are unable to play games at home due to the political situation opened with a come from behind win over Saint Lucia 2-1 in Barbados in front of 88 fans.
A few days later they beat Barbados again in Barbados 3-1 while Curacao won 2-0 in Aruba.
Saint Lucia drew 2-2 with Aruba again in Barbados , to end the June 2024 matches.
In June 2025, Barbados drew 1-1 with Aruba.
Curacao’s 4-0 home win over Saint Lucia clinched their spot in Round 3 while Haiti also qualified with a 5-0 win in Arbua.
Curacao then beat Haiti 5-1 at home in a dead rubber.
Third Round
Haiti were drawn in a group with Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua with the games played over three windows in September , October and November 2025.
September saw the first games with Haiti drawing 0-0 with Honduras , a home game played in Curacao.
A late penalty earnt Nicaragua a surprise 1-1 home draw with Cost Rica.
Honduras would top the group with 4 points after beating Nicaragua 2-0 at home.
Costa Rica raced into a 2-0 lead at home to Haiti before a hat trick by former St Mirren loanee Duckens Nazon put Haiti 3-2 ahead after 86 minutes before Costa Rica grabbed a late equaliser to draw 3-3.
The October window opened with Haiti drawing level with Honduras at the top of the group as they won 3-0 in Nicaragua , as Honduras drew 0-0 at home to Costa Rica. This put both of them on 5pts ahead of Costa Rica on 3 points at the half way stage of the group.
Honduras took a firm grip of the group going into November when they beat Haiti 3-0 to move to 8 points as Costa Rica moved into second place on 6 points after beating Nicaragua 4-1 at home.
November saw Honduras travel to Nicaragua where a win would secure qualification for the World Cup against a team who had taken 1 point from 4 games.
In a remarkable turn of events Haiti beat Costa Rica 1-0 in a game played in Curacao as Nicaragua upset the odds and beat Honduras 2-0.
This left Honduras and Haiti on 8 points and Costa Rica on 6 points going into the final games.
Costa Rica and Honduras drew 0-0 to effectively eliminate both as Haiti beat Nicaragua 2-0 in Curacao to qualify as Group winners.
The three Group winners Haiti , Curacao and Panama qualified with the best runners up Jamacia with 11 points Suriname with 9 points moving into the Inter Continental Playoffs . Honduras with 9 pts and +3 goal difference lost out to Suriname on goals scored.
Barcelona 2006
As I head off on holiday to celebrate my 60th Birthday a look back at 40th trip to Barcelona and the opportunity to take in a game at the Nou Camp.
Ronaldinho opened the scoring after 2 mins with a superb free kick.
Deportivo however recovered and equalised through Juanma after 15mins, and then took a shock lead through Andrade after 28mins.
Barcelona drew level through Henrick Larsson before half time before Samuel Eto’o scored the winner in the second half.
We followed up with a stadium tour the following day.
4th March 2006 –
Barcelona 3 Deportivo La Coruna 2
Jackie McInally & Paul Hegarty
Hamilton Accies 1974/75
My first season as an Accies fan , I witnessed two strikers at the opposite ends of their career spectrums.
JACKIE MCINALLY
Jackie played for Crosshill Thistle and won the Scottish Amateur Cup in 1959 before signing for Kilmarnock.
He was an integral part of the Killie team under manager Willie Waddell between 1960 and 1965 , where they were beaten finalists in Scottish Cup 1960 , League Cup Final in 1961 and 1963.
This Kilmarnock team won the Scottish League in 1965 famously beating Hearts at Tynecastle to snatch the championship from their Edinburgh rivals.
He played for Kilmarnock in a remarkable Fairs Cup game where they lost 3-0 away to Eintracht Frankfurt before going 4-0 down early in the second leg , before going on to win 5-4 on aggregate.
Another memorable European tie at Rugby Park saw Jackie brought down for a penalty against Real Madrid which Tommy McLean converted and although the Spanish giants scored twice , Jackie headed an equaliser to give Killie a creditable 2-2 draw, before losing 5-1 in Madrid.
Jackie scored 86 goals in 212 games for Kilmarnock before moving to Motherwell in 1968.
Jackie scored 37 goals in 134 games for Motherwell helping them win the Second Division in 1969.
Jackie then moved to Accies in 1973 and was part of the Accies team which just missed out on promotion finishing third behind Airdrie & Kilmarnock.
His final season in football saw him team up with a young Paul Hegarty during season 1974/75 before he retired from football.
His son Alan McInally had an illustrious career with Ayr, Celtic , Aston Villa, Bayern Munich, as well as playing for Scotland at Italia 90 and now works in the media.
PAUL HEGARTY
Paul Hegarty signed for Hamilton Accies at age of 17 in 1972 and was part of the Accies team that missed out on promotion in 1973/74. He scored 10 goals in 36 games.
Paul scored 12 goals for Accies in 20 games at the start of the 1974/75 season and this attracted Dundee Utd to sign him as they prepared to sell Andy Gray who would move on to Aston Villa a year later.
Jim McLean then moved Paul from a centre forward to a centre half pairing him with Dave Narey a move which transformed Paul’s career.
DUNDEE UTD
Paul Hegarty
He went to on captain Dundee Utd to their first major trophy the League Cup in 1979 having beaten Hamilton Accies 6-2 in the semi final, then retained the trophy the following season.
He was an ever present in the Dundee Utd team that won the Scottish League Championship in 1983 and featured in many of their famous European adventures.
Overall he made 687 appearances for Dundee Utd and won 8 Scotland caps.
WINTER OLYMPICS
From 1976 to 2026
My first memory of the Winter Olympics was 50 years ago in 1976, this is a look back at the past 50 years as the Winter Olympics has expanded along with Team GB success.
Innsbruck 1976
GB won Men’s Singles Figure Skating Gold, won by John Curry, but my main memory was the downhill skiing won by Franz Klammer
1123 athletes from 37 countries
Lake Placid 1980
GB retained the Men’s Singles Figure Skating Gold , this time won by Robin Cousins.
The highlight of the games was USA mainly collegiate athletes winning the Mens Ice Hockey Gold beating the Russian professionals in the final 4-3, ending the Russian domination having won the previous four editions.
American speed skater broke the Olympic record of most individual Gold medals winning all five men’s speed skating events.
1072 athletes from 37 countries
Sarajevo 1984
GB won Gold in Ice Dancing with the pair of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean at the peak of their careers, with their performance of Balero receiving unanimous perfect scores.
1272 athletes from 49 countires
Calgary 1988
No medals for Team GB in a games where high winds caused major disruption to the outdoor events.
Italy’s Alberto Tomba won two Skiing Gold Medals in the first of his three Olympics.
The games are remembered for the movies Cool Runnings about the Jamaican Bobsleigh team and Eddie the Eagle about British Ski jumper Michael Edwards nicknamed “Eddie” who finished last with a jump of 73.5m
1423 athletes from 57 countries
Albertville 1992
No medals for Team GB and the final time both Winter and Summer Games held in the same year.
Finnish ski jumper Toni Nieminen became the youngest male Olympic champion while New Zealand skier Annelise Coberger became the first Winter Olympic medalist from the Southern Hemisphere.
1801 athletes from 64 countries
Lillehammer 1994
A one off two year gap from the previous Winter Olympics to ensure a Winter or Summer Games each two years going forward.
GB won Bronze medals through Torvill & Dean in Ice Dancing and Nicky Gooch in Short Track Speed Skating.
American skater Nancy Kerrigan was injured on 6th January 1994 in an attack planned by the ex-husband of rival Tonya Harding. Ukraine’s Oksana Baiul won Gold with Kerrigan picking up Silver and Harding out of the medals.
1737 athletes from 67 countries
Nagano 1998
The Final Olympic Games of the 20th century.
GB won Bronze in Four Man Bobsleigh , team of Sean Olsson, Dean Ward, Courtney Rumbolt and Paul Attwood.
United States won Gold in Ice Hockey as the National Hockey League allowed their player to participate for teh first time
2176 athletes from 72 countries
Salt Lake City 2002
GB had a major success winning Gold in Ladies Curling event with the team of Rhona Martin , Debbie Knox , Fiona McDonald , Janice Rankin and Margaret Morton , trailblazing for future GB Curling success
Alex Coomber won Bronze in Women’s Skeleton.
There was major controversy when Alain Baxter finished third for GB in Men’s Slalom Skiing but was disqualified for a failed drugs test due to an over the counter nasal spray having been taken.
2399 athletes from 77 countries
Torino 2006
GB only medal at 2006 Winter Olympics was a Silver medal in Women’s Skeleton by Shelley Rudman
2508 athletes from 80 countries
Vancouver 2010
Women’s Skeleton produced another GB medal in 2010 when Shelley Rudman’s Silver in 2006 , was eclipsed by Amy Williams winning Gold.
Women’s Curling team were skipped by 19yo Eve Muirhead and finished in a dissappointing 7th place
2566 athletes from 82 countries
Sochi 2014
The Winter Olympics of 2014 brought unparalleled success for Team GB with the team coming home with 5 medals.
Women’s Skeleton again produced a Gold Medal as Lizzy Yarnold retained the Gold medal won by Amy Williams.
The Men’s Curling team skipped by David Murdoch, with Greg Drummond, Scott Andrews, Michael Goodfellow & Tom Brewster claimed a Silver Medal after a thrilling 6-5 semi final win over Sweden before losing the final to Canada 9-3.
The Women’s Curling team skipped by Eve Muirhead, with Anna Sloan , Vicki Adams, Claire Hamilton and Lauren Gray lost the semi final to Canada before beating Switzerland 6-5 to claim the Bronze Medal.
Jenny Jones won a Bronze medal in the Women’s Snowboarding slopestyle.
The Men’s Fourman Bobsleigh team of John Jackson , Bruce Tasker, Stewart Benson & Joel Fearon were awarded the Bronze medal after finishing 5th , when two Russian teams who finished 1st and 4th were disqualified as part of a doping scandal across the Russian team.
2873 athletes from 88 countries
Pyeongchang 2018
Team GB again claimed 5 medals.
Lizzy Yarnold again claimed Gold in Women’s Skeleton with Laura Deas winning Bronze in the same event.
Dominic Parsons won a Bronze in the Men’s Skeleton.
There were further Bronze medals for Izzy Atkin in the Women’s Freestyle Skiing – Slopestyle and Billy Morgan in Men’s Snowboarding – Big Air
In Curling the men’s team were eliminated in a tie breaker 9-5 by Switzerland for a semi final place.
Eve Muirhead in her third Olympics was heartbroken as her team lost the semi final to Sweden 10-5 and then the Bronze Medal match 5-3 to Japan.
2833 athletes from 92 countries
Beijing 2022
Eve Muirhead and her team with Jennifer Dodds , Hailey Duff , Milli Smith and Vicky Wright won GB only Gold Medal.
The team failed to qualify automatically as they had done in the previous Olympics and had to qualify through the 2021 Olympic Qualification Event with an 8th place World ranking , they won the event ahead of higher ranked South Korea and Japan.
GB finished the Round Robin with a 5-4 record level with Japan and Canada but behind Switzerland 8-1 and Sweden 7-2.
GB qualified for the semi final and beat Sweden in a amazing game 12-11 after an extra end.
GB completed their Gold Medal success beating Japan in 9 ends by 10-3.
The Mens’s Curling team of Bruce Mowat , Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie, Hammy McMillan and Ross Whyte also had a successful games and were unlucky to only lift the Silver Medal.
They had a superb Round Robin record of 8-1 only losing to USA
GB then beat USA 8-4 in the Semi Final however they were beaten to the Gold Medal in the Final 5-4 by Sweden.
2834 athletes from 91 countries
Summary
The Games have increased over the year in size in terms of Athlete numbers and countries competing until the plateau , with GB success with lottery funding from the odd medal in the 1970s to multiple success particularly in Curling in recent games. It will be interesting to see how 2026 in Italy compares with the talismanic Eve Muirhead retiring from competitive Curling and the the Team GB Chef de Mission.
Football is Academical 