Craig Burley admits that he is as bemused as anybody by Scotland’s continued absence from the World Cup finals.
The 22nd edition of football’s greatest show got under way in Qatar on Sunday and, for the 14th time, the Tartan Army has been forced to watch on from afar.
Not since 1998 in France have Scotland qualified for the tournament. Burley, of course, played in that tournament, starting in the opening game against defending champions Brazil and scoring in the 1-1 with Norway before getting sent off in the 3-0 defeat at the hands of Morocco as Craig Brown’s men exited at the group stages.
That disappointing night in Saint Etienne remains Scotland’s most recent appearance in the finals, with Qatar the sixth consecutive edition to go ahead without them.
Appearing on the latest episode of The bunkered Podcast, Burley – now based in the US – said he is perplexed at the persistent failure to qualify.
“I think eras just change and society changes,” said the 46-times-capped midfielder.
“I’ve got three grown-up kids now and they were never doing the things that we were doing. When I was a kid, you’d be in the street after school kicking the ball about and making goalposts out of anything you could find. There was just a love for the game because that was all you knew.
“I’m not saying this is the reason for it but there’s an argument that, nowadays, there are just many other things in life for these youngsters growing up now that maybe, just maybe, the passion isn’t there for them as much. I don’t know. It’s really hard to put your finger on why that quality of player hasn’t been coming through for us.
“I went to London when I was 16. I left Cumnock and moved down there to start my apprenticeship. I can’t imagine any of my kids leaving to go to another country at 16. They just weren’t ready for it. So, there are loads of things.
“Some things are cyclical but when it’s 25 years, maybe that’s a long cycle. That’s not like seven or eight years and then a new batch comes through like what happened to Belgium.”
Burley added that he continues to get abuse from certain supporters over his sending off in the Morocco game a quarter of a century ago.
He said: “I still get the usual people on social media saying things like ‘you cost your country’ and ‘you let your country down’ and all that but I’m okay with that.
“I’ve got a thick skin. I made a mistake and I was part of a team that played badly.
“I don’t know why I kicked out but it happened. Regret’s a funny word.
“I would rather not have been sent off at a World Cup but I don’t dwell on it. It is what it is.
“A manager said to me many, many years ago when I was a teenager, ‘A man that’s never made a mistake has never made anything’.
“I can still remember the headline the next day in one of the newspapers: Moroccans 3, Morons 0.
“I try to see the funny side of it, though. I always say to people, ‘What more do you want from a World Cup? You play in the opening game, you score a goal and you get sent off. It was a different kind of hat-trick!”
Craig Burley was appearing on the latest episode of The bunkered Podcast. Listen or download now from all good podcast providers.
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