WILLIE Waddell, Billy Liddell, Willie Thornton and goalkeeper Bobby Brown were in the Scotland side that took on Switzerland in a friendly at Hampden on May 15, 1946. The players are shown here being introduced to Glasgow’s Lord Provost, Hector McNeill, before the kick-off. It was only the second time that the two teams had met, and, in front of 100,000 spectators, Switzerland opened the scoring but two goals from Liddell and one from Jimmy Delaney saw Scotland win.

The first half, wrote this newspaper’s Special Correspondent, was “crowded with incident” but the second half was “drab in the extreme, with Scotland having an almost monotonous share of the ball.” While Liddell “was sufficient of the opportunist to score two goals,” he had “otherwise an unsatisfactory match.”

Something else did grab the writer’s attention, though - the fact that the referee allowed the Swiss a “very wide latitude” in their tackling. “Pushing and holding of jerseys were a common practice, and a Swiss defender was often seen deliberately obstructing his opponent and, fully realising that he had committed an infringement, immediately retreating into a deeper defensive line.”

The Scotland team was: Brown (Rangers), D.Shaw (Hibs), J.Shaw (Rangers), Campbell (Morton), Brennan (Airdrie), Husband (Partick Thistle), Waddell (Rangers), Thornton (Rangers), Delaney (Manchester United), Walker (Hearts) and Liddell (Liverpool).