Belgians’ admin blunder blew Dennis’ chance
Scotland will face the world’s top-ranked nation when Belgium come to Hampden tomorrow night.
The Belgians haven’t always been so strong. They failed to qualify for any major tournaments between 1954 and 1970.
And in the 1960s, they looked to British football for inspiration.
That led to Royal Antwerp signing a Scot who came from Arsenal, via Holland, and later became a stalwart for Forfar Athletic.
It was quite an adventure for Dennis Milne. “I had been playing with Heracles Almelo in Holland after leaving Arsenal in 1965,” he recalled.
“After a season there, I got an offer to move to Royal Antwerp in Belgium.”
The club known as “Great Old” were changing tack by deciding to look overseas for players.
Their manager was Englishman, Harry Game, having a second spell with Antwerp after winning the Greek title as boss of Panathinaikos.
He became the youngest trainer to win the Belgian League and Cup during his first stint.
As well as recruiting Dennis, there was also New Zealander Maurice Tillotson arriving from Stockport County and Iwan Frankel of Surinam, who had been playing in West Germany.
Dennis played just twice for Antwerp, making his debut against Royal Racing White in August, 1966.
“The football was different. Maybe a little more technical,” he said.
“I picked up a little of the language, but it could be a challenge when you met people who didn’t speak any English.
“I would have liked to have done better there but everyone was very welcoming.”
There was another Scottish connection for the club that season – they were thrashed 7-3 on aggregate by Kilmarnock in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
Fellow central defender Tillotson recalls Dennis being desperately unlucky with the way things worked out for his team-mate.
He said: “I met up with Dennis on my first season with Royal Antwerp.
“We stayed together in the Hotel de Sport in the city centre, and he also stayed with my family for a few weeks until he settled in.
“Dennis was very unfortunate that some administrative blunder meant that he missed the transfer window, and consequently could not be considered to play more in the first team.
“After that he had to spend most of his only season at the club playing reserve-team football, and he was released at the end of the season.
“We were good mates and I was sad to see him go. He was also very popular with the Belgian players at the club.”
Dennis was lured south from under the nose of hometown team Aberdeen in 1962.
He recalled: “I was playing for Torry Former Pupils when a scout from Arsenal offered me the chance to go there on trial.
“I ended up spending three years at Highbury and was one of a number of Scots they recruited.
“George Eastham was also signed at the same time, but he was an established first-team player.
“Brian Tawse, from Ellon in Aberdeenshire, was a team-mate who got a few games.
“There were three teams below the top side, and we had matches at some of the big English grounds.”
Arsenal were twice winners of the Metropolitan League during Dennis’ time with the club.
The bright lights of London didn’t distract the 16-year-old from making sure there was also a life outside football.
He said: “When I left school in Aberdeen, I went to work as an apprentice joiner with a firm in Alford.
“I was part-time during my early days with Arsenal, working in a wood shop so that I could finish my apprenticeship.
“When I came back to Scotland, I spent four seasons with Forfar and then finished my professional career after a year at Brechin.”