William McIlvanney

McIlvanney’s World Cup

William McIlvanney, who died in 2015, left us one of the most illuminating pieces of writing on the experience of being part of the Tartan Army in Argentina for the 1978 World Cup, in Surviving The Shipwreck, a collection of essays by the noted novelist, short story writer and poet. This extract from the chapter Journeys of the Magi was written before Scotland’s final game against The Netherlands.