There were three matches that spring, and another five that autumn. Together, they would go a long way towards deciding the winner of the Home Championship (which ran until spring of 1966). But the important part for all of us was the World Cup qualification. To play in the World Cup just next door in England, in front of the fans many of us played in front of week in week out for our clubs, seemed too good to miss.
We had won our first game against Finland at Hampden, and Italy had stumbled already, drawing their second game against Poland in April.
Both Italy and Poland were good teams, but we knew we were at least their equal, and with the promise of a World Cup in England, we were determined to qualify. First up were away games against Poland and Finland again. Then in the autumn, home games against Poland and Italy.
We were told to focus on winning every game up till then. The last game would be away against Italy in December, and if we could qualify before then, that difficult game wouldn’t matter.
Somehow we also had to fit in a couple of Home International games against Wales and Northern Ireland!
The friendly against Spain was a big occasion for us. They were one of the best teams in the world, having won the European Championship the year before, and featured many of the household names from Real Madrid and Barcelona. The team that met us was not their best - quite a few players missing, including the great Gento. We on the other hand had a full team, but I was pushed into the front of attack as part of an experimental tactic. The experiment failed, but somehow we still won the game. I scored our second goal, and we counted ourselves lucky to have got away with it. They all count though!