Craig Brown can afford himself a wry grin when he looks at the helping hand the SFA was given in preparing for Thursday’s crucial Euro play-off.
The timing of Scotland’s first leg of the play-off final against England in 1999 could not have been worse with the match coming days after an Old Firm meeting.
Brown wanted the games postponed but his request was denied. He remains in no doubt England’s 2-0 win at Hampden in the first leg would have been oh so different had he got his way.
He said: “When we faced England in the play-off for Euro 2000, I wanted the Old Firm game the week before the first leg at Hampden postponed, but the league wouldn’t help us and Jorg Albertz clattered Paul Lambert, accidentally, but it was enough to rule him out.
“Had Paul been available, he would have been given the role of stopping Paul Scholes and I think his absence was key in Scholes getting the two goals in the first leg.
“We so nearly turned it around in Wembley in the second leg when we won 1-0, but there’s no doubt Rangers playing Celtic the week before a game of the importance we had was a factor.”
