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How A Missed Chance Sunk a Nation

Alan Black

It is called a sitter. The ball is right in front of the goal, it’s easier to score, harder to miss, but somehow the ball refuses to go into the net. The player’s face is agape in disbelief. He has missed a sitter. And he will be remembered for it. It might be the only thing he is remembered for. He might wake up in the middle of the night screaming, his form might plunge, perhaps the opposing fans will compose a new song celebrating his disaster, maybe he’ll think he is doomed. His kids may get stick at school, his wife turning a cold back.

Best to look at a horrible example. Billy Bremner (pictured) was a tough, popular redheaded Scottish footballer. He shone in the Seventies, played for his country, and starred at his club. No one messed with Bremner. But then he missed a sitter. It blackened his name forever. No one wanted to buy him a beer anymore. People turned their backs on him and whispered – There’s Bremner. He let us down. Few would have the guts to say it to his face.

Bremner’s doom came in the Scotland v Brazil game during the 1974 World Cup Finals. The ball was 1-yard from the goal line. The Brazilian goalie was out of position. And there was Billy Bremner alone with the ball. The moment that would have made him a national hero beckoned, destiny calling for Bremner to sit at history’s table with William “Braveheart” Wallace; never again would he buy a drink, and he liked to drink. The word goal was shaped on Scottish lips, and roars began to rumble in tartan throats. Scotland stood to slay the World Champions and progress to the second round of the World Cup Finals. But the poetry of pish being Scotland’s curse, the drunk man looked at the thistle. Bremner stumbled. He looked confused, as if he were having a blackout. He fluffed, and trundled the ball past the post. The knock on effect on Scottish history was profound. Bremner’s miss sank like a leaking metaphor. Scotland would never make it out of the first round of subsequent World Cups; now they don’t even qualify. The Scottish media made sure Bremner never forgot it. They played it over and over again on television; so much so, that the fire left Bremner’s hair, and he was snuffed out by a heart attack, aged 54. Cruelly, his death fell on the day Scotland were drawn against Brazil in the opening game of the 1998 World Cup Finals in France. It was the last time Scotland qualified for an international tournament. When will they see the likes again?

Here is the Bremner moment Scotland never recovered from, 1 minutes 40 seconds into the clip