US URE ALL
Don’t suffer the same pain as class of 67 against Israel
Wembley a month previously when the Sheffield Wednesday man had scored the winner on his debut.
Tensions in Israel were rising when the Scots arrived as war in the Middle East loomed – and McCalliog, who partnered Alex Ferguson in attack, revealed it wasn’t any less hostile on the park.
He said: “This was the first of nine games we played in a month as we went all over the world to Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and then Canada.
“It was quite a young squad but we managed to win all our games which was great for our confidence.
“But when we landed in Israel it was quite intimidating with pol ice everywhere and the whole place in a state of high alert. We were under armed guard.
“The match had been downgraded to an unofficial international but it was still competitive with both sides getting stuck in.
“Ian Ure of Arsenal was our captain and he ended up getting a massive whack to the face and breaking his jaw.
“It was some target to start with – he always reminded me a bit of Bruce Forsyth with that big chin – but you could see he was in some pain afterwards.”
Ure had to be sent home from the tour but not before he had joined the rest of the squad in a nightclub run by Mandy Rice-Davies, famous for her involvement in the Profumo scandal. McCalliog recalled: “It was difficult getting big groups of guys into bars, so someone had contacted Mandy in advance to say the Scotland squad would be in town and could we all come out for a drink.
“She was happy to let us all drop by after the game.
“Ian actually came out with us but his face was all swollen up so he had to use a straw with his pint.”
The tour nearly never happened due to a wrangle between the players and the SFA over cash. McCalliog added: “They were only going to pay us £ 250 for the whole six-week tour and no spending money, so a lot of the boys decided they weren’t going to go.
“The SFA then backed down and agreed to pay us £2 a day so at least we could afford to go out on our days off.”
McCalliog, who runs a B& B in Ayrshire with wife Debbie, hopes Alex McLeish’s men find the going a bit easier at Hampden this week.
He added: “We saw how dangerous Israel were in the game over there but I hope we can get a result. “And I’m sure the Israelis won’t be as physical as they were back in 1967!”