The 2008 European Championship football tournament is underway in Switzerland and Austria, but sadly Scotland is not represented.

Staff at the National Archives of Scotland (NAS) have however identified a government file which records a previous football competition in which Scotland was the UK’s sole representative.

It was 30 years ago, the year was 1978, the venue Argentina, and Scotland was in the grip of World Cup football fever. An all-consuming optimism about the team’s chances had gripped the nation’s psyche, set to the tune of “Ally’s Tartan Army”, the no.1 Pop single of the day.

The Argentina World Cup file was made available a number of years ago as part of a Freedom of Information review of older Scottish Government files, when over 11,000 formerly closed government files were reviewed and their closures lifted. The particular file is available for public consultation in the West Search Room.

This file contains papers primarily about Scottish Office concerns over Scottish football fans travelling to Argentina, their safety, behaviour and possible crowd disturbances. Also discussed were ticketing arrangements and any official representation at the finals by government ministers. The then Secretary of State for Scotland, Bruce Millan, was one of two UK government ministers who visited Argentina during the tournament.

The papers give interesting insights into the popular perception of the day about the Scottish team’s chances before the start of the competition, tempered by the UK government’s cautious approach towards it. Concerns were also expressed about Argentina’s human rights record, as the country was then under the control of a military dictatorship.

The popular belief that Scotland were on the verge of winning the competition is best captured in a foreword to a government newsletter written by Ernie Walker, then Secretary of the Scottish Football Association. He stated "That Scotland should expect to have any chance of winning the World Cup against the likes of Brazil, Argentina, West Germany or Italy is, on the face of it, absurd. However, Scots being Scots and, by tradition, having a strongly developed sense of self, not to say arrogance, the winning of the World Cup Competition is, for many, merely a pleasure unduly delayed and about to be fulfilled in Argentina!"

Sadly, despite this enthusiasm for the cause back home in Scotland, the Scottish team’s performance in Argentina was less than spectacular. A loss to Peru, a draw against Iran, and a spectacular win against Holland, resulted in an early exit from the competition, on goal difference, after the opening group games.

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