Archibald Gemmill (born 24 March 1947) is a Scottish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

. During his career, he won the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

and three English league titles, and captained his national side. Gemmill scored the third Scotland goal in a 3–2 win against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by ...

. It is regularly cited as one of the greatest goals in the history of the World Cup.

Club career

Early career

Gemmill was born in

Paisley, Renfrewshire Paisley ( ; sco, Paisley, gd, Pàislig ) is a large town situated in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Located north of the Gleniffer Braes, the town borders the city of Glasgow to the east, and straddles the banks of the White Cart Wa ...

. His early career at St Mirren was ruined by a succession of injuries, not least a broken ankle in early 1966. He was sent on to replace

Jim Clunie Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim' ...

on 13 August 1966 in a

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existe ...

tie at

Shawfield Shawfield is an industrial/commercial area of the Royal Burgh of Rutherglen in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located to the north of the town centre. It is bordered to the east by the River Clyde, to the north by the Glasgow neighbourhood of Oa ...

to become the first tactical substitute in Scottish football history. Gemmill was sold for £13,000 to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

Derby County

He came to the attention of Peter Taylor, Derby County's assistant manager. Taylor then told Derby manager,

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engli ...

, about Gemmill who had been considering signing for the reigning champions Everton. Clough saw him as a player who could pass well and had the type of energy that would drive an attack forward. Clough drove to Gemmill's house. When the player refused to sign for Derby (who had never won the league title), Clough told him that he was going to sleep outside in the car. "But my wife invited him in and he stayed the night," Gemmill said. Clough, eventually, got his man for £60,000 over fried eggs the following morning. Gemmill scored only three goals for the Rams that season, but they became Football League champions the following year. He was suspended for the 1973 European Cup semi-final, but he became club captain in place of the injured Roy McFarland when the Rams won their second title in 1975. He made 324 appearances in total for the club and scored 25 goals. He left Derby after playing five times for them early in the 1977/78 season."Archie Gemmill Nottingham Forest FC, Sporting Heroes
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Nottingham Forest

Gemmill joined Nottingham Forest for £25,000 in September 1977 becoming the third ex Derby title winning player of Clough's to join him at Forest.

John O'Hare John O'Hare (born 24 September 1946) is a Scottish former footballer. O'Hare's clubs included Sunderland, Derby County, Leeds United and also Nottingham Forest and was part of their European Cup victory in 1980, coming on as a substitute in t ...

and John McGovern were the other two. He played 58 times for Forest in the league, scoring three goals. At the end of the 1977–78 season he had picked up a winners' medal as Forest won the First Division, but was ineligible for the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, which they won, as he had played for Derby earlier in the competition. He was integral to the success of the club in the late 1970s, but was dropped for the

1979 European Cup Final The 1979 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Olympiastadion, Munich, on 30 May 1979. Trevor Francis scored the only goal of the match, as Nottingham Forest of England defeated Malmö FF of Sweden 1–0 to become European champion ...

. Gemmill referred to the decision later:

Later career

He signed for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

debuting on 18 August 1979 in a 4–3 defeat at home to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswor ...

. He played 97 League matches for the Blues, scoring 12 goals. In early 1982, Gemmill crossed the Atlantic to play for the Jacksonville Tea Men of the NASL. He only stayed for one season playing 32 league games. In September 1982, he joined up with former teammate and club manager Larry Lloyd at

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

but only stayed for 11 matches. He returned to Derby County as player-coach to become Peter Taylor's first signing for the club in 1982. He retired from playing in 1984.

International career

Gemmill played 43 times and scored eight goals for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, and captained the team on 22 occasions. The most famous moment of Gemmill's career when he scored a goal against the

in a Group D fixture at the 1978 World Cup, which is regularly rated as amongst the greatest goals ever scored in a World Cup match. Scotland needed to win the game by three goals to qualify for the next stage of the tournament, having had very poor results in their first two games. With his team leading 2–1 in the 68th minute, Gemmill scored a goal which was described by ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...

'' as follows: Three minutes later, Johnny Rep scored a second goal for the Netherlands, which was deflected off Gemmill's outstretched leg and flew past

Alan Rough Alan Roderick Rough (; born 25 November 1951) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He won 53 caps for Scotland and played in two FIFA World Cups. He also had a long club career, principally with Partick Thistle and Hi ...

's dive. The game ended 3–2, denying Scotland a spot in the second round. The goal is referenced in the film '' Trainspotting'', in which characters Tommy and Lizzie decide to make love while watching a homemade porno film, only to see it has been replaced with a football tape called "100 Great Goals" which features Gemmill's strike. At the same time, Renton ( Ewan McGregor), who had switched the tapes in their cases and borrowed Tommy and Lizzie's tape, says after climaxing during sex, "I haven't felt that good since Archie Gemmill scored against

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former Provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

in 1978!" Gemmill first saw ''Trainspotting'' on a club outing with

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

, and his reaction was:Archie, Archie Gemmill!
BBC. "I got absolutely slaughtered by the lads... to be fair I was a bit embarrassed by it."

After playing

Gemmill returned to Nottingham Forest to be a coach alongside

in 1984. Later he managed Rotherham United for two seasons in the mid-1990s. His son

Scot Gemmill Scot Gemmill (born 2 January 1971) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player, who is the head coach of the Scotland under-21 team. As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Nottingham Fore ...

became a

player in the 1990s. In 1970, Archie drove his pregnant wife back to Scotland to ensure that Scot would be born there.Grant, Michael
Scotland: Scot Gemmill; 'If it was up to my dad I wouldn't be here
'' Sunday Herald'', 31 March 2002. Archie became unhappy that Scot was selected for squads but was rarely used in games. He eventually told Scot to stop making himself available for selection, but Scot disagreed and continued to play for Scotland until late in his career. Gemmill managed the

Scotland national under-19 football team The Scotland national under-19 football team is the national football team representing Scotland for players of 19 years of age or under at the start of a European Under-19 Football Championship campaign. The team, which is controlled by the Sc ...

that finished second in the 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship and thereby qualified for the

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the sco ...

in Canada.

Career statistics

International appearances

International goals

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first''

Honours

Player ;Derby County * First Division: 1971–72, 1974–75 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier L ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

;Nottingham Forest * First Division: 1977–78 *

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...

: 1978–79 * FA Charity Shield 1978 *

: 1978–79 Manager ;Rotherham United *

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL ...

: 1995–96

References

*Archie Gemmill, ''Both Sides of the Border'', 296 pages (12 September 2005), Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd () *John Hodge and Irvine Welsh, ''Trainspotting: Screenplay'', Faber and Faber, 2000 () {{DEFAULTSORT:Gemmill, Archie 1947 births Living people 1978 FIFA World Cup players Birmingham City F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Association football midfielders Jacksonville Tea Men players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Footballers from Paisley, Renfrewshire Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Preston North End F.C. players Scotland international footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Scottish footballers St Mirren F.C. players English Football League players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Scottish Football League players Derby County F.C. non-playing staff Scotland under-23 international footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Scottish expatriate footballers UEFA Champions League winning players