SAYS JIM McCALLIOG
Celtic playmaker Armstrong helped breathe fresh life into Scotland’s World Cup qualifying campaign at Hampden last month. “But whose debut was better? That’s up to you guys in the press to decide. I’m just happy people are still thinking about me.” But 50 years on McCalliog still bristles whenever the thought creeps into mind that his perfect start did not mark the beginning of a long career in dark blue.
He would earn just four more caps and blames Hillsborough chiefs whom he served while on the books at Wednesday.
He said: “A few different things happened back then. There was a debate about Anglo-Scots – guys playing south of the border – being in the national team and there always had to be so many Celtic and Rangers players in the team.
“There was a lot of competition about while I had a lot of niggly injuries too. But what annoys me is I was told the SFA thought I didn’t want to play for Scotland. There was nothing further from the truth.
“I found out later that whenever Sheffield Wednesday were asked to release me for international duty they said they would only let me go if I was definitely going to play.
“That wasn’t fair as it came back on me. The SFA must have thought there was no smoke without fire and that I had agreed to that.
“But no way. All I wanted to do was to play for Scotland. Five caps is not a very big return and I should have got a lot more.”
It’s no wonder then McCalliog cherishes those rare occasions he was able to pull on a Scotland shirt – with his debut the most prized of all.
In Glaswegian vernacular, the term ‘gallus’ is regularly applied to young men who brim with self-confidence and flashiness.
McCalliog needed that quality in spadefuls as he squared up to the likes of Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Geoff Hurst just months on from watching them hoist the Jules Rimet Trophy aloft.
But while he refused to blink as he stared down these famed Three Lions he admits his swagger had vanished when he came face to face with his own team-mates for the first time.
He said: “Being called up to that side was an amazing experience. Guys like Denis, Jim and the Celtic lads were the creme de la creme.
“These were guys I looked up to. I have to admit just the