EVERYBODY knows that Scotland crowned themselves world champions by beating England at Wembley in 1967 but that isn't the only Scottish connection to oft-chronicled World Cup win of Sir Alf Ramsey and his wingless wonders, exactly 50 years ago today.
There are grainy shots of Pele and the remainder of the Brazil squad mixing with the Ayrshire public as they underwent their pre-tournament training camp in Troon, while France did likewise in the borders, incorporating a meeting with Gala Fairydean into their preparations.
And then there is the strange case of Joe Baker, the Scottish striker who could quite easily have written himself into football folklore by leading the line for England in the tournament. Born in Liverpool, Baker and his brother Gerry moved north to avoid the blitz to stay with his grandparents in Motherwell, consequently spending pretty much his entire life in the country until the lure of Torino came calling. In those days, players were only eligible to play for the home nation of their birth, which meant Baker being ineligible for Scotland but earning a total of eight caps, scoring three goals, for England. The first came when he was at Hibs, giving him only Owen Hargreaves for company as England players who have earned a cap without playing for a club in the country.
Having played and scored in a signature win for Ramsey's wingless wonders in Spain, Baker featured for England right up until a match against Poland in January 1966. He was called into the preliminary squad of 40 but omitted when Alf Ramsey trimmed it down to 26, with his place going to an England debutant called Geoff Hurst. The rest, as they say, is history.
"Joe considered himself Scottish, and had lived almost his entire life in Scotland, but he was desperate to do well for England," says Tom Maxwell, the author of the Fabulous Baker Boys, the biography of Joe and his brother Gerry. "He got very close but just missed out and like Jimmy Greaves, he was just so disappointed to have missed out on it. Can you imagine how people in Scotland, and England, would have reacted if the guy who scored the hat-trick which beat West Germany has spoken with a broad Scottish accent. Would Scotland be claiming a bit more ownership of that World Cup?"
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