The victory by Scotland over England at Wembley in 1928 has been described as one of the national side’s best-ever wins. Certainly, a 5-1 win does not come along very often but Scots fans should have been quite confident of their team’s chances against anyone at that period.
Of the first seven Home International Championships of the 1920s, Scotland won five outright and shared another with England, Wales being victorious in 1923-24. Of the seven individual contests against the other Home nations, Scotland’s record read;-
| England | Northern Ireland | Wales | |
| Won | 4 | 7 | 5 |
| Drew | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Lost | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Unfortunately, though, the Championship of 1927-28 started poorly, not only for Scotland but for England too. Against Wales at Wrexham, Scotland were two goals ahead but the Welsh fought back to force a 2-2 draw. Changes were made to the side for the next match, with Celtic’s Jimmy McGrory getting his first cap. Sadly, however, Jimmy – and the rest of his teammates – found themselves up against an inspired goalkeeper in Elisha Scott at Firhill in Glasgow and Northern Ireland snatched a single goal to seal a win.
England had lost 0-2 to Northern Ireland in Belfast in October and then, a month later, were beaten again, this time 1-2 by Wales, at Turf Moor in Burnley.
Curiously, although Scotland had won all seven Inter-League matches to that point of the decade against the Irish League, the similar contests against the English League had mainly gone the latter’s way, the Sassenachs winning five, with the other two drawn. In that season’s encounter, three weeks before the England/Scotland clash at Wembley, the Scottish League side, containing six stars from Celtic and Rangers, had been thrashed 6-2 at Ibrox by the English League before a rather disillusioned crowd of 60,000. Three days later, at Firhill, the final international trial match took place, when a paltry 6,000 turned up, on a bitterly cold evening, to see the Home Scots draw with the Anglo-Scots.
These results, plus the form and promise of the players, would be the determining factors when the nine-man international selection committee met at the Scottish Football Association’s headquarters in Carlton Place, just south of the River Clyde, on 21st March 1928. The meeting took only 40 minutes to choose the side, mainly because after some initial and fairly brief discussions about certain players, the committee would have gone straight into selection mode.
From the comments of a few selectors I met during my own days as a player (not for this match but for ones in later decades), the procedure which was followed was fairly straightforward. The President of the selection committee on that March day, Robert Campbell of St Johnstone, would have opened the meeting with some casual remarks, then stated the business of the meeting.
“Gentlemen, it is our job today to pick the side which will face England at Wembley in 10 days time and we will start with the position of goalkeeper.
Our prospective candidates for this position are Harkness (Queen’s Park), Crawford (Blackburn Rovers), Robb (Rangers), and McClory ( Motherwell).
Hands up, please, for Harkness …. Crawford …. Robb …. McClory.
Thank you, gentlemen, Harkness is selected”.
In the ensuing few minutes, the rest of the players would be chosen in the same manner, position by position.
Then, one of the committee, probably the secretary, would leave the meeting and head through the building towards the front door, outside which the press were gathered, waiting eagerly with pen and paper in hand to hear the side.
“Gentlemen, the committee has just picked the side which will face England at Wembley on 31st of the month. It is;
Harkness (Queens Park), Nelson (Cardiff City), Law (Chelsea), Gibson (Aston Villa), Bradshaw (Bury), McMullen (Manchester City; captain), Jackson (Huddersfield Town), Dunn (Hibernian), Gallagher (Newcastle United), James ( Preston North End) and Morton ( Rangers).
Thank you, gentlemen.”
And he would then head back into the building.
To say the waiting journalists were astonished with the choice was putting it mildly. It contained only three home-based players and of the eight Anglos, two were winning their first cap ( Bradshaw and Law) and one his second (Jackson). At centre-forward was a player who due to suspension had not played in earnest for two months (Gallagher) and the team had an extremely small forward line ( Jackson 5’ 10”; Dunn 5’ 6”, Gallagher 5’ 5”, James 5’ 6” and Morton 5’ 5”) none of whom had much chance of winning a ball in the air.
When the general public heard the make-up of the eleven, there was quite an outcry because of the number of Anglos in the side. Fans of the Old Firm were displeased to note the absence of some of their stars, the Celtic legions in particular annoyed that their hero Jimmy McGrory had been overlooked. By contrast, within a few days, the Scottish press swung round to give the side its complete backing, even our opponents’ London Times contributing to the debate with a considered contribution, observing that Scotland’s team appeared ‘remarkably well-balanced’.
The Scottish fans were thoroughly looking forward to the trip, many having put away a few shillings every week to afford the 3rd class fare of 28s 6d (£1.40 approx) for a special excursion. Trains departed from all the major cities in Scotland; the one from Glasgow left at 10.30pm and the equivalent from Edinburgh at 8.30pm. A special train came down from Aberdeen and at Stanley, just north of Perth, met its counterpart from Inverness. The two then joined up to transport the 600 fans on board down to England’s capital for the match. Including the return journey, this particular train covered 1136 miles in total, understood at the time to be the longest ‘day excursion’ ever organised. All in all, nearly 10,000 fans made the trip.
By contrast, the Scotland party of players and officials travelled down in style on Friday by the rather more expensive Royal Scot, eventually reaching their base, the Regent’s Palace Hotel in Piccadilly Circus, around 6.30pm. It was hardly an ideal location as the fans poured in to the hotel all Friday evening and Saturday morning to see their heroes, with a lone piper outside constantly playing his repertoire.
The evening before the match, a few words of advice would have been exchanged between officials and players about the prospective events of the following day. Certainly, compared to the detail of today, the input from above was miniscule but the players of that era were accustomed to this and, since the fans were still coming in to the hotel, would have been quite happy to retire to their rooms. However, just before they did , the captain Jimmy McMullen apparently gathered his men on the first floor landing, made a few remarks about the importance of the occasion and suggested that they all get off to bed, finishing with the now famous words “put your head on the pillow and pray for rain”.
Unfortunately, when the next day dawned, the weather was fine. As if on cue, however, as the players finished breakfast, the heavens opened and the rain poured down. Even better for the Scots, as kick-off approached, it was still raining, the moisture lashing down on to the already sodden pitch. As most of Wembley at that time was uncovered, many of the fans in the crowd of 80,682 were also soaked although mostly this was forgotten in the vibrant atmosphere, the music of the band of the Irish Guards greatly adding to the occasion.
Just after a quarter-to-three, the players came down the tunnel and lined up on the pitch, to be presented to the Duke of York and his royal guest. After the National Anthem, the royal visitors left the field and referee Willie Bell, originally from Hamilton and his two linesmen, J L Morrison ( Scotland) and S F Rous ( England; in later years he became Sir Stanley Rous, President of FIFA) called the two captains together, provided a few brief words of advice and the teams lined up for the start.
Right from the whistle, England went on the attack and should have opened the scoring in the first minute. Inside-forward Joe Bradford swung a fine pass out to winger Billy Smith on the left touchline. He did a lovely shimmy to swerve past Scotland right-back Jimmy Nelson, then raced towards goal. As Scottish keeper Jack Harkness rushed off his line to narrow the angle, Smith fired in a fierce left-foot drive from the edge of the penalty box. It flew past the Scots keeper but hit the post and rebounded into open play, with no other England forward near it. Scotland had been given a lucky break and shortly afterwards, they took the lead; –
3 minutes; McMullen to Gibson, forward to James, on to Gallagher and then out to Morton on the left wing. He sent a precision cross to the far post and Jackson came rushing in to head home. England immediately stepped up the pressure and pushed Scotland back. Keeper Jack Harkness, though, made several good saves to keep the English at bay and gradually the Scots wing-halves and inside-forwards begin t take control of the play.
44 minutes; England’s left-wing Smith misplaced a pass inside his own half to the foot of James; after inter-passes between Gibson and Jackson, James fired a low half-volley from the edge of the box which left England’s keeper Ted Hufton sprawling as the ball flashed into the net.
At the interval, the Scots fans might have been soaked but their joy knew no bounds and they chanted and sang for the whole of the break. When play re-started, the Scottish players, looking so much more comfortable on the wet surface, took control, dominated the proceedings and got suitable rewards.
65 minutes; Some fine half-back play gave the ball to Morton on the left wing. He beat his immediate opponent Goodall and sent a wonderful cross into the middle where the head of Jackson nodded it into the net for goal number three.
66 minutes; Gallagher went on a run towards goal, weaving in and out of tackles before left-back Bert Jones brought him down with a harsh tackle. The ball broke free, straight into the path or James, who lashed the ball into the net off the body of Jones.
By this time, Scotland were in complete control, the diminutive forward line revelling in the conditions, stringing pass after pass together, making life very uncomfortable for the English defenders. Another goal seemed certain and eventually it did come, described in the press as the best of the afternoon.
85 minutes; Captain Jimmy McMullen latched on to the ball just over the halfway line and sent the ball like an arrow into the path of Morton on the left wing. One yard from the goal line, Morton caught up with the ball and sent a perfect cross into the middle, where, as it came down, was met by Jackson three yards from goal and fairly lashed home.
89 minutes; England were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the Scotland penalty area. Inside-forward Bob Kelly, probably England’s best player on the afternoon, stepped forward and blasted the ball into the net.
England 1 Scotland 5
As the final whistle blew, the ball was actually in the hands of Jack Harkness, who immediately packed it under his jersey and raced to the dressing room. Later, he handed it over to the SFA, who now have it on display at their headquarters in Park Gardens.
The Scots supporters – most of whom were soaked to the skin – were ecstatic at the 5-1 victory. They made their way from Wembley into the heart of London, singing all the way, then packed into the pubs and clubs of the capital, determined to enjoy a well-behaved party until it was time for many to catch the train back to Scotland.
In those days, before the advent of regular radio and TV broadcasts, the written press was the medium that provided news, reports and comment about football matches and on this particular occasion, the Scottish press in particular had a field day.
The Bulletin ‘Each man was playing to the top of his form, the skill and judgement was a delight to watch’.
Glasgow Herald ‘The success of the Scots was primarily another demonstration that Scottish skill, science and trickery will still prevail’.
Even The Times acknowledged the extent of the Scottish triumph ; ‘It was not so much defeat that England suffered but humiliation’.
By the end of their careers, only five of the team which became known as the Wembley Wizards had amassed double figures in the number of ‘caps’ they had won; the numbers for the side were Harkness (12), Nelson (4), Law (2), Gibson (8), Bradshaw (1), McMullen (16), Jackson (17), Dunn (6), Gallagher (20), James (8) and Morton (31).
PS The unusual mode of transport which dropped into the FA Cup Final of 1930 between Arsenal and Huddersfield at Wembley was the airship, the Graf Zeppelin. Newspaper reports gave conflicting accounts of the crowd’s reaction. Some said it was ignored, others that it was booed and a few said it was cheered.
PPS I mentioned above that the Duke of York was accompanied at the England v Scotland match of 1928 by a ‘royal visitor’. Who was he?
Cairney's Corner 