Motty by John Motson

Author:John Motson [John Motson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780753521410
Publisher: Ebury Publishing

Chapter 12

Tournament

Football

How I managed without England

I COVERED SIX INTERNATIONAL tournaments without England, and once I got there I did not miss them. In terms of football spectacles, I don't think the quality suffered. And sad to say, the atmosphere was better than when it was poisoned by a section of so-called England followers.

Having watched the 1966 World Cup as a spectator, and worked at the London end of the radio operation in 1970, I was hoping to get my first taste of the real action in 1974. What I had not bargained for was that it would be with Scotland.

Once England's participation was laid to rest by Poland at Wembley in October 1973, the BBC had to revise their plans. Scotland under Willie Ormond had qualified by beating Czechoslovakia in front of a 100,000 crowd at Hampden Park. The Scots were now carrying the flag for Britain, and my boss Sam Leitch – himself a proud Scotsman – set about covering their exploits by sending me on a pre-World Cup tour to Belgium and Norway.

It was an eye-opener in more ways than one. Even before we set out, Celtic's diminutive winger Jimmy Johnstone had to be rescued from the sea when he drifted out off the coast at Largs in a fishing boat. Travelling with the Scottish press party was also something of an initiation. They were boisterous, to say the least, and the coach from the airport to the hotel had to make several stops when some well-known scribes from north of the border needed to relieve themselves.

Scotland lost 2–1 to Belgium in Bruges, and also lost the services of the Leeds United centre half, Gordon McQueen, through injury. Manchester United's Jim Holton was his replacement. But it was when we got to Oslo that the fun really started. The players were billeted on a university campus, and my producer Bob Abrahams and I were sitting in the bar surrounded by students when Billy Bremner and Jimmy Johnstone came in arm in arm.

Perhaps 'swayed in' would be a better description. They were singing a tuneless version of 'The Most Beautiful Girl in the World', which Charlie Rich had recorded earlier in the year and which peaked at number two in the hit parade. They were clearly in no fit state to make the team curfew that Ormond had set. They escaped with a warning about their future conduct, but the fact that they could have been sent home made for a great story.

Not surprisingly, Ormond banned the whole team from the bar and Bob Abrahams felt sorry for them. We knew some of the English-based players quite well, so he bought a crate of beer and decided to take it up to their floor. As the lift doors opened, standing there in front of Bob was Willie Ormond. 'I think I had better take care of that,' he said.

There was also a dispute over the Scottish players' pool. Their agent, Bill Bain, had been appointed by the Scottish FA, who had decided they would take ten per cent of the players' perks themselves.

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