Today's hat is burgundy red and white, the colours of Scottish Premier League club Heart of Midlothian (or Hearts) from Edinburgh.
This got me thinking about Scottish football and Scottish football internationals in particular and how many Pompey players have represented Scotland.
The answer is quite small - just six - and the players are as follows:
Jimmy Scoular
Nigel Quashie
Jackie Henderson
Richard Hughes (at the Club today of course)
Jimmy Easson
Alex Wilson
The Home Internationals used to be some of the only live football you could watch on TV back in the 1970s along with the FA Cup Final and of course The World Cup. How different to today when you can seemingly find a live game on TV everyday of the week from all across the globe. The four teams - England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland / Northern Ireland - used to play each other in a mini-tournament at the end of each season.
The England versus Scotland games were always terrific matches, fiercely contested and the Scottish fans were unbelievable, especially when they took over Wembley in 1977.
Personally, I'd love to see the Home Internationals back, but of course it is highly unlikely to ever happen with today's crowded football calendar and the desire of clubs to protect their highly valued assets from injury, especially during a 'meaningless friendly'.
Having said that I was pleased to note that there is something planned for 2011 called The Four Associations Tournament in Dublin with Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland due to take part - England are the 'party poopers' which they may live to regret - how about thinking about the fans for once and what we'd like to see?
See here for more information on this new tournament:
http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3607
And here as well:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7623975.stm
So for now we England fans have to look back with fond memories on games from yesteryear and the occasional European or World Cup qualifier that draws some of the Home Nations together. Wales are in England's current qualifying group for example.
It's never the same though is it? Although, I do recall the last time Scotland and England played each other competitively, back in 1999, it generated quite a bit of interest. England won 2-0 at Hampden Park and Scotland won 1-0 at Wembley.
See this link for more information on post-Home International Tournament matches between the home nations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_in_the_United_Kingdom#Matches_between_the_UK_teams_since_1984
Let's finish with a few facts and figures.
The last Home Championships were held in 1984 after 100 years of the tournament and Northern Ireland were the winners - and so the current holders!
A summary of winners:
England won 54 times (including 20 shared)
Scotland won 41 times (including 17 shared)
Wales won 12times (including 5 shared)
Ireland / Northern Ireland won 8 times (including 5 shared)
Sources
The Portsmouth FC Miscellany, Pompey History, Trivia, Facts & Stats by Roger Holmes
And in addition to the links above see this link also for more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Home_Championship
BlueThruAndThru
