Meeting of the Parliament 10 December 2025
Are we sitting comfortably, Deputy Presiding Officer?
I congratulate Keith Brown on getting out of the traps early in lodging the motion and securing the debate. I was going to come along tonight just to listen to the debate, and then I decided, why not bask one more time in the reflected glory of the Scotland team qualifying for the world cup?
As I have said previously in the chamber—unfortunately, the member in question has just left the chamber—I watched the match in the Parliament bar, as we had all just piled out of a committee meeting, with Stuart McMillan, Liam McArthur and the indomitable, the indefatigable, the inimitable and the inflatable Kenny Gibson, who went from the mild-mannered gentleman we all know and love to a complete maniac. The fact that the four of us were jumping about crazy in the Parliament bar—four people who members might not expect to be together—and the way in which we collectively celebrated the result tells us everything about football and about sport.
The other reason why I wanted to speak in the debate was that I knew that George Adam would be speaking, and I wanted to remind him that a Scottish Tory was his childhood hero and that a Scottish Tory also coached his beloved St Mirren. I am taking some of the glory for St Mirren—that strangled route through St Mirren into the Scotland team.
Those of us who are of a certain vintage reflect back on a time when we always qualified for the world cup. The first world cup that I remember as a kid was in 1974, with Billy Bremner, Peter Lorimer and so on. I got to play golf with Peter Lorimer in Montrose one day—what a gentleman he was. I always remember 1974—as has been said, we came out as the only undefeated team. I always picture, in my head, Billy Bremner sliding in at the back post and knocking the ball against the post, when we could have actually won. I also remember when we had to beat Yugoslavia. They went 1-0 up, and then Scotland gave us hope—as they always do—towards the end of the match when they equalised, but we did not go through.
With Ally’s army, in 1978, we were going to win the world cup. He convinced the whole of Scotland, me included, that we were going to win. I remember Joe Jordan scoring for us to go 1-0 up against Peru, and then they equalised. Don Masson missed a penalty and they went 2-1 up, with Scotland eventually losing 3-1.
However, 1978 gave us one of the best goals that we will ever see: Archie Gemmill’s goal against Holland. Again, Scotland gave us hope—that glimmer of hope—but they never quite get there. I remember 1982, 1986 and 1998—and, now, here we are again, on our way to lift the world cup.
I just want to say, on a serious note, that we have a fantastic summer of sport coming our way with the Commonwealth games and the world cup. I hope that we do not just grasp the opportunity to be Scotland, the passionate watchers of football, but use it to create opportunities for our youngsters, who are inspired to take part by our great athletes and footballers. We have to use these fantastic experiences to give our kids those opportunities. I ask the Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy and Sport if she will tell us, in her closing remarks, how we will ensure that there is a legacy from those fantastic events.
Once again, I congratulate my friend and colleague Keith Brown on bringing the debate to the chamber.
18:19