INTHE NAVY
Sink pink strip and hail Scotland heroes:
WEMBLEY hero Jim McCalliog has expressed sorrow at the failure of the SFA to pay tribute to the greatest day in the history of the national team.
But he reckons Hampden powerbrokers can still get themselves off the hook by agreeing to Record Sport’s calls for a one-off kit to mark Bobby Brown’s class of 1967.
Dark Blues skipper Darren Fletcher voiced his disgust at the prospect of the Scots turning out for the crucial World Cup qualifier against England on June 10 in their unpopular pink shirts.
The West Brom star revealed he was so against the garish change strip he even begged SFA bosses to produce a special shirt for the match against Gareth Southgate’s side last November.
His pleas fell on deaf ears and the Scots were routed 3-0 at Wembley to leave our qualification hopes hanging by a thread.
The nightmare scenario could be repeated for the match in Glasgow after England recently changed their away kit to all blue which could see a colour clash with the Hampden home shirts.
As a result both countries could be forced to wear their away kits but that can be avoided if Scotland are granted permission to wear a shirt commemorating their finest win.
McCalliog was part of the side that beat the world champions 3-2 on April 15, 1967, scoring the third goal but the SFA have made no plans to mark the 50th anniversary.
It’s a baffling oversight but McCalliog has long believed the achievement of team-mates such as Denis Law, Jim Baxter, Billy Bremner and Co has long been overlooked by Hampden bosses, although never the Tartan Army.
However, he reckons the SFA can put themselves back in the good books of the fabled squad by liaising with FIFA and giving the new shirt the go-ahead.
McCalliog said: “It’s a great idea and as it’s a sporting statement based purely on the achievement of the Scotland football team it could not be deemed political. I sometimes feel the 1967 game has been ignored by those in authority within Scottish football. “If you go to the Scottish football museum at Hampden for example there’s little if anything related to the match. It’s as if it didn’t happen, it was just another game. “Maybe the fact it wasn’t played at Hampden is a factor, fair enough. But it would be nice to see the SFA honour a side that was performing so well in such a competitive era for football. “We defeated the world champions and the game was buzzing. Celtic, of course, won the European Cup that year and Rangers also made the Final of the Cup-Winners’ Cup. Kilmarnock were flying high in Europe and clubs such as Aberdeen were beginning to emerge again. “A commemorative shirt would be fabulous because I