If David Moyes is spotted in the Wembley crowd tomorrow no one should be startled to see the Sunderland manager wearing a pair of Bay City Rollers trousers.
The England vs Scotland World Cup qualifier has brought back memories of the 53-year-old’s youth in 1970s Glasgow. It was the era of the old home internationals and Moyes has vivid recollections of his trips to London to cheer on Scotland.
“My dad, also called David, used to run buses from Anniesland, a part of the west end of Glasgow, down to Wembley,” he said.
“I was a teenager and my dad let my pals come too, so there were three or four of us joining the bus. Everybody had a kilt on, everybody was completely tartaned up but I didn’t wear a kilt – I had my Bay City Rollers trousers on.”
Judging by the crush to follow, full combat gear might have been more appropriate. “We only had one hotel room between the four of us lads – two would book it and the other two would come up and join us,” said Moyes, explaining that, however squeezed, their over-shared room always felt positively palatial after conditions on the road.
“There were thousands of us Scots going down to London and you couldn’t walk down the aisle on our bus because of the cases of beer all the way down it,” he said. “People would get on at Motherwell and Hamilton and we’d be stopping for a pee every 15 minutes. And, later, you would see it (urine) running down the floor of the bus … some of the stories were legendary.
“One time we broke down just getting into London, off the M1 at Brent Cross, we’d been on the motorway for I don’t know how many hours. Everybody got off the bus and all the older men were lifting their kilts up to every car coming past and shouting ‘Arrghhh’.
“I was at the game where the crossbar got broken (when Scotland won 2-1 at Wembley in 1977 and their jubilant fans invaded the pitch at the final whistle). They were great times.”
No one would call this a golden age for Gordon Strachan’s class of 2016-17 and Moyes will head to Wembley fearing the worst.
“I hate saying it but obviously England are big favourites,” he said. “Scotland don’t have many Premier League-level players at the moment. I think we need Kenny Dalglish and a few others – Jim Baxter maybe – to come out of retirement and help us. I think it will be a tough game for Scotland but I’ve got tickets so I’ll get my Bay City Rollers trousers out of the cupboard.” Whatever the result, it is unlikely to be as memorable as that day in 1977 when Moyes found himself consorting with a non-playing member of the enemy squad.
“Kevin Keegan and Joe Corrigan were sitting in the stands near my dad and I,” said Moyes. “Scotland were 1-0 up at half-time and Keegan tapped me on the shoulder and said: ‘I bet you a fiver that England win.’ I was a wee boy and a fiver was quite a lot of money, but my dad said: ‘Aye.’ And as it was, Scotland won 2-1 and he handed the fiver over. He got up and left about two or three minutes before the end and he handed the fiver over.
“I kept that fiver for years! And then I must have had a girlfriend or something and I took her out with it and I spent it. That was it. I kept it for years, Kevin Keegan’s fiver. Or maybe just because I’m Scottish! I’ve spoke to Kevin about it, but obviously he can’t remember me.”