The 1945–46 season was the 73rd season of competitive
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
in Scotland and the seventh and final season of special wartime football during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Overview
Between 1939 and 1946 normal competitive football was suspended in Scotland. Many footballers signed up to fight in the war and as a result many teams were depleted, and fielded guest players instead. The
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...
and
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Southern League, operated for Scotland with two divisions (although its membership did not include all the pre-war Scottish league clubs). No country-wide cup competition took place, although a number of regional competitions continued including the
Glasgow Cup
The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rules ...
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the t ...
went on official hiatus, although unofficial games, appearances for which do not count towards the final caps totals of participants, continued.
Scotland faced
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in one such match on 13 April 1946 at
Hampden Park
Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
. In front of 139, 468 spectators Scotland won 1–0 with a
Jimmy Delaney
James Delaney (3 September 1914 – 26 September 1989) was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside right. He had a 24-year playing career interrupted by World War II, his longest spells at club level were spent with Celtic in Scotland and ...
goal in what was dubbed a '
Victory International
The term Victory International or Victory Internationals refers to two series of international football matches played by the national football teams of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales at the end of both the First and Second World Wars. The ...
'. The Scotland line-up featured:
Bobby Brown
Robert Barisford Brown (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Brown, alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, is noted as one of the pioneers of new jack swing: a fusion of hip hop and R&B. Brown started h ...
Jock Shaw
John Shaw (29 November 1912 – 13 June 2000) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a defender, most famous for his time at Rangers, where he was captain between 1938 and 1950.
Career
Rangers signed Shaw, known as 'Tiger' for hi ...
,
Billy Campbell
William Oliver Campbell (born July 7, 1959) is an American film and television actor. He first gained recognition for his recurring role as Luke Fuller in the TV series ''Dynasty''. Then he became known for playing Rick Sammler on '' Once and A ...
Jackie Husband
John Husband (28 May 1918 – 29 April 1992) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. Husband spent the majority of his club career at Partick Thistle, where he made almost 400 appearances in all competitions, and was also cappe ...
,
Willie Waddell
William Waddell (7 March 1921 – 14 October 1992) was a professional football player and manager. His only club in a 16-year career as a player in the outside right position (interrupted by World War II) was Rangers which yielded six major w ...
,
Neil Dougall
Cornelius Dougall (7 November 1921 – 1 December 2009) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as an inside right or wing half. He played more than 350 games in the Football League for Birmingham City and Plymouth Argyle, and won on ...
,
Jimmy Delaney
James Delaney (3 September 1914 – 26 September 1989) was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside right. He had a 24-year playing career interrupted by World War II, his longest spells at club level were spent with Celtic in Scotland and ...
Billy Liddell
William Beveridge Liddell (10 January 1922 – 3 July 2001) was a Scottish footballer, who played his entire professional career with Liverpool. He signed with the club as a teenager in 1938 and retired in 1961, having scored 228 goals in 534 ap ...
.
A second game against England was also played at
Maine Road
Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest atte ...
,
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
on 24 April 1946. This game was neither an official nor a victory international but rather was played as a fundraiser for the victims of the
Burnden Park Disaster
The Burnden Park disaster was a human crush that occurred on 9 March 1946 at Burnden Park football stadium, then the home of Bolton Wanderers. The crush resulted in the deaths of 33 people and injuries to hundreds of Bolton fans. It was the de ...
. A crowd of 70,000 witnessed a 2–2 draw with
Willie Thornton
William Thornton MM (3 March 1920 – 26 August 1991) was a Scottish footballer and manager. Thornton's entire senior playing career was spent with Rangers, and Thornton is considered to be one of the greatest players in the club's history.
...
scoring twice for Scotland. Their line-up featured:
Willie Miller
William Ferguson Miller MBE (born 2 May 1955) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, who made a club record 560 league appearances for Aberdeen. Sir Alex Ferguson described Miller as "the best penalty box defender in th ...
, Davie Shaw, Jock Shaw, Billy Campbell, Frank Brennan, Jackie Husband, Willie Waddell, Neil Dougall, Willie Thornton, George Hamilton, Billy Liddell.
For the first time since before the war Scotland also faced opposition other than England. On 23 January 1946 a crowd of 48,830 at Hampden saw Scotland draw 2–2 with
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, with
Jimmy Delaney
James Delaney (3 September 1914 – 26 September 1989) was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside right. He had a 24-year playing career interrupted by World War II, his longest spells at club level were spent with Celtic in Scotland and ...
Andy Paton
Andrew Paton (2 January 1923 – 8 February 2014) was a Scottish football player and manager.
A centre half, Paton played primarily for Motherwell, with a short spell at Hamilton Academical late in his career, and he then managed Hamilton for ...
Gordon Smith Gordon Smith may refer to:
In politics
*Gordon H. Smith (born 1952), former U.S. Senator from Oregon, and current Area Authority for the LDS Church
* Gordon Elsworth Smith (1918–2005), Canadian politician
* Gordon Smith (academic) (1927–2009), ...
Jimmy Delaney
James Delaney (3 September 1914 – 26 September 1989) was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside right. He had a 24-year playing career interrupted by World War II, his longest spells at club level were spent with Celtic in Scotland and ...
,
Johnny Deakin
Johnny Deakin was a Scottish footballer, who played for St Mirren, Clyde, Linfield and Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scot ...
,
Jimmy Walker
James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Beau James, was mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932. A flamboyant politician, he was a liberal Democrat and part of the powerful Tammany Hall machine. He was forced t ...
. Both the
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...
and the
Royal Belgian Football Association
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA; ; ; ) is the governing body of football in Belgium. It was a founding member of FIFA in 1904 and UEFA in 1954 and was based in Brussels, not far from the King Baudouin Stadium. Since October 2021, th ...
afford this game full international status, although it is not recognised as such by
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
.
In similar circumstances Scotland faced
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
at Hampden on 15 May 1946. In front of 111,899 fans Scotland won 3–1 with two from Liddell and one from Delaney. The line-up was: Bobby Brown, Davie Shaw, Jock Shaw, Billy Campbell, Frank Brennan,
Jackie Husband
John Husband (28 May 1918 – 29 April 1992) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. Husband spent the majority of his club career at Partick Thistle, where he made almost 400 appearances in all competitions, and was also cappe ...
, Willie Waddell,
Willie Thornton
William Thornton MM (3 March 1920 – 26 August 1991) was a Scottish footballer and manager. Thornton's entire senior playing career was spent with Rangers, and Thornton is considered to be one of the greatest players in the club's history.
...
,
Jimmy Delaney
James Delaney (3 September 1914 – 26 September 1989) was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside right. He had a 24-year playing career interrupted by World War II, his longest spells at club level were spent with Celtic in Scotland and ...
Billy Liddell
William Beveridge Liddell (10 January 1922 – 3 July 2001) was a Scottish footballer, who played his entire professional career with Liverpool. He signed with the club as a teenager in 1938 and retired in 1961, having scored 228 goals in 534 ap ...
.
See also
*
Association football during World War II
When World War II was declared in 1939, it had a negative effect on association football; competitions were suspended and players signed up to fight, resulting in the deaths of many players.
League football Austria
The Republic of Austria had c ...