APRIL, 1978. Seven weeks before the World Cup in Argentina, and big business is investing large sums in the Scotland squad in its attempt to become world champions.
Indeed, this paper said, the team “must qualify as the country’s most spectacular growth industry”, with banks, breweries and makers of T-shirts, deodorants and piggy-banks clambering aboard the bandwagon.
The players’ pool kitty already stood at £157,000; all 40 members of the pool had a claim, as did the manager, Ally MacLeod, and two trainers.
The figure was likely to be increased substantially between now and kick-off. “In the event that we should actually win the cup,” we added, “our footballers would be so highly rewarded that none of them would ever again feel compelled to kick a ball for a living wage ... Even if the team get nowhere in Argentina, they will make a vast amount of money on top of the secret bonus incentives currently being devised by the Scottish Football Association.
” That month, MacLeod and many of the players went into a London recording studio to record the backing vocals for the Scotland World Cup single, penned by Rod Stewart. That’s Rod, in cut-out form above, surrounded by, amongst others, Joe Jordan, Derek Johnstone, Sandy Jardine and Alan Rough.
The squad flew out with high hopes to Argentina in late May, but the team dropped out on goal difference after losing to Peru, drawing with Iran and beating Holland.
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