Following wins in 1962 (see yesterday’s Six of the Best offering), and at Wembley in ’63, Ian McColl’s Scotland tackled England seeking a third successive victory for the first time since the 1880s.
Although this turned out to be a dour contest, not helped by the greasy conditions, Scotland did not disappoint, in terms of the result.
Roger Hunt had the first real opportunity, but was blocked out by Campbell Forsyth in the Scotland goal.
Slowly, Scotland took control of the game through John Greig and Jim Baxter, although there were few chances.
Read more: Neil Cameron: England look down on us Scots so let's send them homeward for a think
Gordon Banks managed a fingertip save to touch an Alan Gilzean header onto the inside of the post, the ball deflected back into play off the old square upright rather than into the net, and half-time arrived goalless.
Scotland continued to press, and were twice denied penalty claims, firstly when Jimmy Armfield, the England captain, brought down Gilzean on the edge of the penalty area, then when Bobby Moore tangled with Denis Law.
Eventually, however, Scotland’s persistence gained reward. With 12 minutes remaining, Davie Wilson flighted over a corner kick from the left that Banks made a charge for, but he and centre-half Maurice Norman were beaten to it by the head of Dundee striker Gilzean who glanced his effort home.
Wilson, who minutes earlier had blazed over having worked an opening with Baxter through the inside-left channel, then volleyed high after Gilzean flicked on a Henderson cross.
Despite having been suppressed for almost the entirety – “there are no signs yet that they are potential World Cup winners” according to commentator Bob Danvers-Walker of British Pathe News – England still nearly pinched an ill-deserved equaliser in the closing minutes, Norman shaving the timber with a header from a Terry Paine centre.
Read more: Neil Cameron: England look down on us Scots so let's send them homeward for a think
Scotland Forsyth (Kilmarnock), Hamilton (Dundee), Kennedy (Celtic), Greig (Rangers), McNeill (Celtic, captain), Baxter (Rangers), Henderson (Rangers), White (Spurs), Gilzean (Dundee), Law (Manchester United), Wilson (Rangers)
England Banks (Leicester City), Armfield (Blackpool, captain), Wilson (Huddersfield Town), Milne (Liverpool), Norman (Spurs), Moore (West Ham), Paine (Southampton), Hunt (Liverpool), Byrne (West Ham), Eastham (Arsenal), Charlton (Manchester United)
Stewart Weir’s reflections
A wet and windy Hampden – in front of 133,000 fans – was not
the easiest place for Campbell Forsyth to make his international debut. However, in keeping a clean sheet it meant that one, at any time, would be enough for the Scots.
That came through the prolific Alan Gilzean, already on the radar of Spurs and their manager Bill Nicholson before he scored at Hampden that day. However, it was Gilzean’s performance for a Scotland XI – in the most tragic of circumstances – that secured his move south.
Gilzean scored twice against a Spurs XI for the Scottish select in November 1964, in a memorial fundraising game for his Scotland team-mate, John White, killed by a lightning strike while sheltering from a storm at Crews Hill golf club.
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