England and Scotland renew their fierce rivalry on the football field on Friday at Euro 2020 as the Scots look to shock one of the tournament favourites on home soil at Wembley.
AFP Sport looks at five clashes that have fostered the animosity between both nations.
1937 – Scotland 3 England 1
— The crowd for Friday’s clash will be limited to 22,500 due to coronavirus restrictions, but there was no social distancing when a British record 149,415 crammed into Hampden Park 84 years ago. Scotland came from behind to win 3-1 thanks to two late goals from Rangers’ Bob McPhail, but those not lucky enough to be among the huge crowd missed out on hearing about it. A request from the BBC to broadcast the match on radio was declined by the Scottish Football Association due to the lack of a rights fee. “We certainly have refused the BBC permission,” SFA secretary George Graham told a report in The Times. “If they want to talk business we are prepared to do so.”
1961 – England 9 Scotland 3
— England were on cloud nine when they inflicted their record victory in the fixture in the Home Nations Championship of 1961. Legendary striker Jimmy Greaves scored a hat-trick, but it was the performance of Scottish goalkeeper Frank Haffey that went down in folklore. Haffey’s display is credited with a general distrust of Scottish goalkeepers that lasted in the English game for decades afterwards.
1967 – England 2 Scotland 3
— A year on from lifting the World Cup, England were humbled at Wembley in a glorious year for Scottish football. Four of the victorious side would go onto help Celtic become the first British side to win the European Cup a month later. Scottish fans and media declared themselves unofficial world champions, while Jim Baxter’s ball juggling late in the game went down in infamy as the ultimate gesture of embarrassment for England.
1977 – England 1 Scotland 2
— Jubilant Scotland fans stormed the pitch at Wembley after seeing their side win 2-1 thanks to goals from Gordon McQueen and Kenny Dalglish. The turf was destroyed as supporters tore up momentos to take home, while the crossbar collapsed under the weight of celebrating Scots. Victory for Ally MacLeod’s side emboldened the exuberant Scottish boss to declare his side would “win a medal” the next year at the 1978 World Cup. But it was England who had the last laugh as Scotland failed to beat Peru and Iran to crash out at the group stage.
1996 – England 2 Scotland 0
— The only previous meeting between the sides at a major tournament came at Euro 96 when a man playing his club football in Scotland was the star of the show for England. Paul Gascoigne had just finished his first season at Rangers and had been much-criticised in the English press for his off-the-field antics during a pre-tournament trip to Hong Kong. England players were pictured on a night out being fed bottles of spirits in a dentist’s chair. Gascoigne was quick to remember his critics with a mocking celebration of the dentist’s chair, this time with water bottles, after he flicked the ball over Colin Hendry’s head and fired past club teammate Andy Goram.