Ian never tasted defeat in dark blue against England
ENGLAND are the strong favourites to beat Scotland when the teams clash at Wembley on Friday night.
The Tartan Army can only hope that Gordon Strachan’s men find the courage to conjure up an unlikely victory.
It happened in 1967 when Scotland swept aside the World Cup holders and recorded a memorable 3-2 success.
Manchester United’s Denis Law was on the scoresheet that afternoon.
The Lawman was arguably involved in an even more unlikely triumph six years earlier during his time with Manchester City.
He was the only Anglo-Scot in the Under-23 side that took on England at Middlesbrough’s Ayresome Park in 1961.
Scotland had never beaten their oldest rivals at that level and were forced to field a depleted side.
Rangers and Motherwell were involved in a Scottish Cup replay on the same night, ruling their players out of the squad.
Two members of the Scotland team were forced to play two games in 24 hours.
St Mirren full-back Ian Riddell and Dave Hilley of Third Lanark were in direct opposition on the night before they represented their country.
Ian recalls his surprise that he’d been picked to play for Scotland.
He said: “I was a part-timer and worked as a PE teacher during the day.
“On the Wednesday night, I went to play for St Mirren in the Scottish Cup replay at Cathkin Park and I bought a newspaper at Glasgow’s Central Station.
“To my surprise, I saw I was in the Scotland team to play England. “We then beat Third Lanark 8-0. “It was a great boost for me, although not so good for my Scotland team-mate Dave Hilley.
“We’d both been students at Jordanhill Teacher Training College, where we studied under Craig Brown’s father, Hugh.”
The Scotland Under-23s beat England 1-0, with Denis Law hitting the net.
His header from a Pat Crerand cross was saved by Gordon Banks but the striker followed up with a left-foot shot.
Ian Riddell was widely praised for his performance.
He had played against England at Ibrox the previous year in a game that ended in a 4-4 draw.
Scotland had been 4-1 ahead before Jimmy Greaves hit a hat-trick.
Ian went on: “The England side we beat at Middlesbrough contained future World Cup winners Gordon Banks, Bobby Moore and George Cohen.
“Having Denis Law in our team was a great advantage.
“He was always available to take the ball in a tight corner and had a tremendous eye for goal.”
The match was the last appearance at Under-23 level for Ian, Denis Law and Partick Thistle’s Joe Hogan.
While Law would collect 55 full caps for his country, Riddell and Hogan never represented their country at any level again.
Ian reflected: “I was just proud to have worn the famous dark-blue shirt on two occasions.
“There were plenty of players better than me who never got the chance to play for Scotland.
“And being in a team that beat England was something special.
“I think we displayed a mental strength that made all the difference against a team who were expecting to win.”
Ian, now 78, was involved in another upset six years later as part of the Berwick Rangers side that knocked Rangers out of the Scottish Cup.