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Tha an Litir an t-seachdain seo mu dheidhinn ball-coise na h-Alba. Seo ceist dhuibh. Cuin mu dheireadh a bha a h-uile duine a bha a’ cluich ann an Cuairt Dheireannach Cupa na h-Alba nan Albannaich? 

Agus am fuasgladh? An gèam eadar St Mirren agus Dùn Dè Aonaichte ann an naoi ceud deug, ochdad ʼs a seachd (1987). Bhuannaich St Mirren 1-0. 

Tha ball-coise ann an Alba air atharrachadh gu mòr bhon uair sin. A’ bhliadhna ron ghèam sin, bha sgioba nàiseanta na h-Alba air a slighe a Mheagsago. Bha sin airson cuairtean deireannach Cupa na Cruinne. Aig an àm sin, bha 97% de na cluicheadairean anns a’ Phrìomh Lìog againn nan Albannaich. 

A-nise, tha e air a dhol sìos gu leth de na cluicheadairean. Agus cha d’ fhuair sinn gu cuairtean deireannach Cupa na Cruinne airson còrr is fichead bliadhna. Saoil a bheil ceangal ann eadar an dà rud sin?

Agus seo ceist eile dhuibh. Cuin mu dheireadh a bhuannaich Alba gèam anns na cuairtean deireannach aig Cupa na Cruinne? Agus cò bha sinn a’ cluich? Uill, bha e ann an naoi ceud deug is naochad (1990) anns an Eadailt. B’ e sin an fharpais far an tàinig a’ Ghearmailt an Iar am bàrr. Agus seo an sgioba a chuir Alba a-mach an latha sin: Leighton, McLeish, Malpas, Levein, McPherson, Durie, MacLeod, Aitken, McCall, Fleck, Johnston. B’ e am manaidsear Andaidh Roxburgh. Chuir McCall agus Johnston na tadhail airson Alba an aghaidh na Suain. Bhuannaich sinn 2-1.

Ged a bhuannaich sinn an gèam sin, chaill sinn gu Costa Rica agus Brasil. An dèidh nan trì geamannan, bha ar cluicheadairean is luchd-leantainn air an rathad dhachaigh. 

Ach bhuannaich Alba rudeigin aig an fharpais mu dheireadh far an do nochd ar sgioba nàiseanta – anns an Fhraing ann an naoi ceud deug, naochad ʼs a h-ochd (1998). Ged a chaill sinn dà ghèam (bha sinn co-ionann le Nirribhidh anns an fhear eile), bhuannaich an luchd-leantainn againn duais. B’ iadsan an luchd-leantainn a bu mhotha a bha gan giùlan fhèin ann an dòigh mhodhail is spòrsail. Tha e math a bhith a’ buannachadh rudeigin!

The Litir this week is about Scottish football. Here is a question for you. When was the last time that everybody playing in the Scottish Cup Final was a Scot?

And the solution? The game between St Mirren and Dundee United in 1987. St Mirren won 1-0.

Football in Scotland has changed greatly since then. The year before that game, the Scottish national team was on its way to Mexico. That was for the World Cup finals. At that time, 97% of the players in the Premier League were Scots.

Now it has gone down to half of players. And we haven’t been to the World Cup finals for more than twenty years. I wonder if there is a link between those two things.

And here is another question. When was the last time that Scotland won a game at the the World Cup finals? And who were we playing? Well, it was in 1990 in Italy. That was the competition when West Germany came on top. And here is the team that Scotland put out on that day: Leighton, McLeish, Malpas, Levein, McPherson, Durie, MacLeod, Aitken, McCall, Fleck, Johnston. The manager was Andy Roxburgh. McCall and Johnston scored the goals for Scotland against Sweden. We won 2-1.

Although we won that game, we lost to Costa Rica and Brazil. After the three games, our players and fans were on the way home.

But Scotland won something at the last competition where our national team appeared – in France in 1998. Although we lost two games (we drew with Norway in the other one), our fans won a prize. They were the fans that best behaved themselves in a polite and sporting manner. It’s good to win something!