& 60 years ago: Shankland has company
JACK (Paisley) asks SportTimes: I was watching Dundee United v Ayr United the other night and Ayr striker Lawrence Shankland scored four goals in a 5-0 win for the Honest Men, an opposing player scoring four goals at Tannadice must be very rare... when was the last time such a thing happened?
A: The last time an opposing player scored four or more goals against Dundee United at Tannadice was back in 1958 when John White, the Ghost of White Hart Lane, scored five goals for Alloa on 16 April in a 7-1 win. Dennis Gillespie scored the other two with Willie McDonald scoring for Dundee United.
Ronnie (Royston) asks: I thoroughly enjoyed James Forrest’s hat-trick against Israel last month – as a Celtic fan it’s wonderful to watch him in fine form for club and country right now! Is he the first Celtic player to score a hat-trick for Scotland?
A: James Forrest’s hat trick was the first to be scored by a GET the lowdown on Scottish football’s fascinating history with a visit to the National Stadium. There’s fun among all the exhibits for every family member. Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sunday 11am-5pm. Adults £6, U16/concs £3, U5 free. Tel: 0141 616 6139 or visit www. scottishfootball museum.org.uk Celtic player in 110 years. The last time a Celtic player scored three goals or more for Scotland was in 1908 when Jimmy Quinn scored four goals against Ireland at Dalymount Park in a 5-0 win for the Scots. Other Celtic players to have achieved similar feats are Sandy McMahon in 1901, Jake Madden in 1893 and Willie Groves in 1889.
The national team has seen a good number of hat-tricks in the past few years – prior to Steven Fletcher’s three goals against Gibraltar in March 2015, the previous player to score three goals had been Colin Stein who scored four goals against Cyprus at Hampden in 1969. Steven Fletcher scored another hat-trick against Gibraltar in October 2015 and Robert Snodgrass put three past Malta in September 2016.
Tam (Pollok) asks: Could you give me the Scotland team that played Uruguay in 1983?. It was my first Scotland game at Hampden.
A: Scotland lined up Leighton, Gough, Albiston, Souness, McLeish, Miller, Dalglish, McStay, McGarvey, Wark and Robertson for this game on 21 September 1983. The game was a friendly, which Scotland won 2-0. Except the Uruguayans weren’t that friendly! They turned in a cynical, physical performance. Three of their players were booked and Barrios was sent off after 20 ,inutes.The goals came from John Robertson and substitute Davie Dodds.