Brownlie was a good player but Mcgrain was world class
Danny Mcgrain’s recent 70th birthday prompted debate over Scotland’s best full-back, with some readers claiming Hibs’ John Brownlie lays claim to the title. Here, fans of Mcgrain have their say.
Danny Mcgrain was a fine right-back. Unfortunately he was often played at left-back for Scotland to allow Sandy Jardine at right-back so that the SFA could satisfy both sides of the Old Firm. Jardine was a good player but not a patch on Mcgrain.
Mcgrain was a fairly ordinary left-back. So the SFA managed to weaken two positions instead of making a choice. This unfortunately led to an attack by Yugoslavia down the Scottish left at the 1974 World Cup not being shut down, resulting in the goal that meant we became the first ever team to be knocked out without being defeated.
Joe Jordan scored what could have been the winner a few minutes later. Our best ever World Cup finals – a long time ago.
IAN LEWIS Edinburgh
Both Danny Mcgrain and John Brownlie were excellent backs. But to me, Mcgrain will always remain one of the best players Scotland has ever seen. His contributions both to Celtic and the national team were outstanding. So Mcgrain shades Brownlie, IMHO.
Me an’ Jimmy
Brownlie was a good player but Mcgrain was a world class one.
He didn’t score many goals but I’ve not seen many fullbacks as comfortable on the ball as he was.
Leaving aside his defensive brilliance, Mcgrain always seemed to be in space and was the base for many Celtic attacks with his passing and movement. In truth, there was quite a gap between these two players.
Charlie Mcguire