WINS THAT LIFTED A NATION

It was an unprecedented afternoon in the history of Scottish sport – and one which will almost certainly never be repeated.

But on April 13 1946, as Britain continued to celebrate the end of the Second World War, Scotland, for the first and only time, met England in football and rugby on the same day at Hampden Park and Murrayfield – and won both contests.

More than 200,000 spectators packed into the grounds for these Victory Internationals and, whether in saluting the likes of Wallace Deas, Doug Elliot and Russell Bruce, who orchestrated a record-breaking 27-0 success in Edinburgh or unleashing a Hampden Roar of truly gargantuan proportions, following Jimmy Delaney’s 89thminute winner in Glasgow, there was an outbreak of national exultation.

The Sunday Post splashed the story with the headline: “A Great Day for Scotland” and related how young children pushed prams, packed with pies, outside the ground and vendors advertised “three corned beef sandwiches for a shilling”, while 139,000 fans, many of them carrying bottles of alcohol, stood, squeezed together in a Hampden huddle.

The late Scottish broadcaster Bob Crampsey said: “It was a terrific atmosphere, and there was no hint of trouble, because you have to remember that most of these men had been fighting side by side against the Germans just a few months earlier.

“We had been thrashed 6-1 by the English in Glasgow the previous year – many of our best players were out in the Far East or Africa, whereas a lot of theirs seemed to be stationed at places like Aldershot – so there were no huge expectations, but the longer the match progressed, the more dominant the hosts became.

“Then suddenly, Jackie Husband flighted a free kick out on the left across the Mount Florida goal end, Willie Waddell touched it into the box, and Delaney crashed it into the net behind Frank Swift.

“Well, the whole auditorium erupted. In the minutes afterwards, you couldn’t hear yourself think and I recall one jubilant wee punter rushing on to the field to congratulate the home players.

“Two policemen nabbed him and led him back to his seat, but not before he had thrown his hat in the air half a dozen times, and danced a jig with the constabulary.

“It basically summed up the occasion – intrinsically innocent, laced with humour and this from a crowd who enjoyed their drams at the interval. One Englishmen lent a bottle opener to a Scot, who responded with the offer of a biscuit.

“And there wasn’t a single arrest, although there was plenty of joshing of the coppers with one Glaswegian asking a chap on a white horse whether he couldn’t have found a tartan cuddy for a few hours.”

Similar delight was evident at Murrayfield, where the Scots, led by Deas, produced a magnificent performance.

Shortly before his death, Scotland’s Russell Bruce spoke about the contest where the home pack was in almost complete control from the outset, eventually racking up half-a-dozen tries, three conversions and a penalty (if the match been fought out under the current scoring system, they would have prevailed 39-0).

“It was a pretty convincing demolition and amply compensated for the fact we had lost 12-8 at Twickenham just a month earlier,” said Bruce, a Glasgow Academical, who was part of the Anti-Aircraft Command, who campaigned across Europe in 1944 and 1945.

“But, to be honest, that was a pretty strong Scottish side, and we were supremely fit, and the big lads in the mould of Wallace, Doug, Frank Coutts and John Orr snaffled ball from their opponents so regularly that chances were served up on a regular basis.

“We were in their faces from the outset, and an audience of more than 60,000 offered us incredible support, so it was an uplifting afternoon. “We tackled as if our lives depended on it, we varied our angles of attack, and we never allowed them to develop any pattern, and we kept putting points on the board.

“We were only in front 9-0 at half-time – I scored a try – but we never relented for a second, to the stage where they were out on their feet.

“It was all Scotland in the second period and there were tries for Ian Lumsden, Gordon Watt, Billy MacLennan and Billy Munro and the last of these was an absolute beauty.

“At the climax, the supporters stood to acclaim us, then we heard the news from Hampden and it capped a remarkable day for Scottish sport.

“We went on to win the unofficial championship, including a victory over the New Zealand Army side, who were effectively the All Blacks in everything but name.”

Back at Hampden, on that special evening, his contemporaries were understandably triumphant. Their line-up featured the Shaw brothers, Jock and Davie, and Frank Brennan, all of whom were born and brought up in miners’ cottages within 100 yards of one another, and they also boasted Scot Symon, a dual internationalist in football and cricket and subsequent Rangers manager.

“In their next match a month on, Scotland beat Switzerland 3-1, so it wasn’t as if the England result was any fluke,” said Jim Guy of the Scottish Football Museum.

“On the contrary, these men had been brothers in battle and brought the same camaraderie and commitment to the football pitch.”