MOTSON REVEALS HIS ALL-TIME BEST SCOTLAND-ENGLAND XI
THIS is a team most notable for those left out! Especially Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews. I’m not quite sure how I managed to omit two such marvellous, gifted players. It is a sign of the quality of footballers we have seen in this fixture down the years.
‘Motty, can you pick a composite team from England v Scotland?’
It’s only the oldest fixture in the world. Nothing too difficult then…
They have to be players I have seen, I decided. And all of these fall into that category.
When I handed in my scribbled team-sheet over lunch I was asked: ‘Where is Souness?’ and then ‘Where is Dalglish?’. And ‘What about Kevin Keegan, twice European Footballer of the Year or Gary Lineker, winner of the World Cup golden boot?’ No doubt the questions will come thick and fast once you’ve studied my line-up. I tried to get out of jail by picking some substitutes, which wasn’t in the original brief.
These ideas always create debate and England and Scotland will be looking for new heroes when they play for the 114th time at Hampden Park on Saturday. Let me know who you would include in your team.
PETER SHILTON
‘No Gordon Banks?’ I can hear you say. A World Cup winning goalkeeper… a man whose save from Pele in 1970 is still discussed now whenever there is a great save to compare. But Peter Shilton, for me, was a remarkable goalkeeper. He made 125 appearances for England and played regularly at a time when there were some excellent rivals challenging for the No 1 slot, including Ray Clemence and Phil Parkes. Shilton was an excellent shot-stopper and won two European Cups with Nottingham Forest, even though a World Cup win eluded him.
DANNY McGRAIN
One of the first overlapping full backs and a player you knew would be strong, solid and reliable. An excellent defender for his club and country, he had to shift from right-back to left-back in the early days of his international career to accommodate Sandy Jardine. He didn’t look out of place on either side. He played in the 1974 and 1982 World Cups, missing 1978 through injury. He just gets the nod ahead of Jimmy Armfield in my team.
BOBBY EVANS
A highly-skilled and cultured half back who made 535 appearances for Celtic between 1944 and 1960. He had a lovely touch on the ball, although I saw him towards the end of his career when he played for Chelsea and wasn’t quite as effective, following a £12,500 transfer. He was in Scotland’s squad for the 1954 World Cup and when he retired his total of 48 caps was then a record.
He wore his shirt outside of his shorts — unheard of at the time — which seemed to add to his flamboyant look. I could have picked Billy Wright here but I wanted one Scottish player and one Englishman as my central defensive pairing.
BOBBY MOORE
One pick about which there can be no argument! A player who rose to the occasion, more for his country than his club. An outstanding footballer whose superlative reading of the game meant that supposed weaknesses in the tackle and in the air were rarely exposed on the international stage.
Don’t forget he was involved in two of the goals in the World Cup final too. He kept his head when others around were losing theirs. A beautiful footballer.
ROGER BYRNE
I remember when we were collecting cigarette cards at school, Roger was the one everyone wanted. Captain of Manchester United, he played 33 consecutive games at left back for England and was part of the team building for the 1958 World Cup but — along with Duncan Edwards and Tommy Taylor — he was so sadly lost in the Munich air disaster. He was such a good defender, so cool on the ball. Only Ray Wilson comes close in this position.
PAUL GASCOIGNE
In my commentary career, which started with BBC radio in 1968, he was head and shoulders above every other English footballer I had the pleasure to watch. Incredible balance and ability to drift past opponents. It is ironic that my main memory is of his tears in the World Cup semi-final at Italia 90 when his yellow card would put him out of the final if England had got through. Gazza helped English football to turn a page, quickly followed by the formation of the Premier League
and the explosion of Sky TV. I wonder how good he would have been if it were not for that injury in the 1991 FA Cup final. An absolutely essential pick in this team.
JIM BAXTER
Known as Slim Jim, because he was pencil slim, he was a fantastic footballer who lost only once to England in matches between 1961 and 1967. He retired at the age of 31 but not before dazzling Wembley in a 3-2 win in 1967 when England were the world champions. He was seen juggling the ball and teasing England’s footballers who had so recently won the Jules Rimet trophy. Sir Alex Ferguson said his performance could have been ‘set to music’. Many thought his best performance actually came in 1963 when the 10 men of Scotland won 2-1. He could control a game — the original playmaker.
JIMMY JOHNSTONE
The prototype of a dazzling, dribbling winger. I had Tom Finney here but crossed him out and replaced him with Jimmy — I’m not sure I can offer any better praise. Him and Gazza in the team would take some managing, though. They were both characters. It took the great Jock Stein to keep him in line. I recall ‘Jinky’ taking Leeds apart in the 1970 European Cup semifinal for Celtic, giving both Terry Cooper and Norman Hunter a torrid time.
BOBBY CHARLTON
Can I just say that Bobby is a wonderful gentleman who has been the greatest ambassador for English football. When he was my BBC co-commentator and we travelled the world together, I saw how much he was loved wherever we went. He never took advantage of that and his behaviour was immaculate.
As a footballer, he was magnificent. In this team, he is on the left and that’s where he played in the early days for England. Sir Alf Ramsey used him as an attacking midfielder. He was quick, had a cannonball shot and he epitomised the phrase ‘two-footed footballer’. He was equally brilliant with both feet.
JIMMY GREAVES
Brian Clough, who scored 251 goals from 274 games and knew about the art of goalscoring, once said to me: ‘There is no point talking about comparing goal-scorers, nobody compares to Greaves — he is the best there has ever been.’
Only weeks ago did Cristiano Ronaldo pass Jimmy’s record for goalscoring in the major European leagues. He is the best finisher of all time. My dad took me to a game on Christmas Day at Stamford Bridge — Chelsea versus Portsmouth in 1957 — and Greaves scored four times! I can remember it like yesterday, it was such a treat. An incredible, master goalscorer.
DENIS LAW
I didn’t think about how these two might play as a pair when selecting my team — but they would be something special, wouldn’t they? The Lawman… a warrior of a striker, who was brilliant in the air. A flamboyant, combative, highly-skilled frontman who I am convinced revived Manchester United between Munich and their European Cup win in 1968, although he missed the final at Wembley through injury. He was a fiercely patriotic Scotsman who apparently took himself off to play golf when England played in the World Cup final and then threw down his clubs when he heard the result!
He never played with Greaves, although they played against each other in the 1963 game between England and the Rest of the World at Wembley — and both scored.