Scotland and England are to meet at Wembley on 14 August 2013 as part of the Football Association’s 150th anniversary celebrations. It will be the first meeting of the two rivals since the 1999 two-legged playoff encounter for the European Championships. On that occasion England triumphed 2-0 at Hampden thanks to a double from Paul Scholes and while Scotland won at the old Wembley courtesy of a Don Hutchinson goal, the English persevered on aggregate.
The rivalry is considered to be the oldest in international football and the two sides first met in 1872 at the West of Scotland Cricket Club at Partick, Glasgow. 4000 were in attendance that day but it seems certain that around twenty times that number will be in attendance next autumn. Both camps are probably anticipating a high octane encounter, with history seeping in around the edges. There was much appreciative purring coming from the respective managers following the announcement.
Scotland manager Craig Levein, quoted in the Sunday Herald, said: ‘I am thrilled that we have reached agreement with the FA to play at Wembley as part of their 150th anniversary celebrations and I am sure the supporters will be there in their tens of thousands.’ Roy Hodgson, the England manager seemed similarly enthusiastic. He said: ‘For us, England v Scotland is one of the finest fixtures in international football and I know what this game means to both sets of supporters.’ He continued: ‘It will be a fitting part of the FA’s 150th anniversary celebrations and the supporters, the team and my coaching staff are all looking forward to welcoming Scotland to Wembley next year.’ Hodgson was possibly minded to add: ‘Now let me get back to the competitive tournament that I’m involved in right now’ but he has to play his role in hyping up the fixture.
The intervening thirteen years since the last encounter have arguably seen the two nations grow apart according to various indicators. England have qualified for the majority of international tournaments while the narrow defeat to England was the closest Scotland have come since the last time they qualified for a major tournament back in 1998. Although the current England squad is widely considered to be on a managed downward trajectory, there is little evidence that Scotland are coming up to meet even this reduced quality. English league football has accelerated away from its Scottish counterpart at an alarming rate, fuelled by massive cash injections from television and global financial titans.
The accumulated evidence of the last decade means England will go into the game as favourites regardless of what happens between now and August 2013. This will not deter the thousands of Scotland fans who will make the pilgrimage and perform the role bequeathed to them by tradition and legend. They will follow in the footsteps of past generations of fans even if they are fainter than they used to be when the Home Internationals were a regular feature on the football calendar. Scotland, as the underdog and underachiever, will probably embrace this match with more enthusiasm than England. It will assume a more central place in the national mindset and its presence will probably become suffocating months in advance in kick-off. At the very least it will be a chance to remind some that we still play football in these parts.
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