Scotland v Australia: Ian Black may be first player to represent Scotland from bottom-tier for 53 years

Published on 14/08/2012 00:00

IAN Black, who was handed a call-up to the Scotland squad this week, will be the first player in the lowest league to be capped for the national team for 53 years if he plays against
Australia at Easter Road tomorrow night.

Not since Falkirk star John White played in a 4-0 win over Northern Ireland in October 1959, just days before he moved to Spurs for £22,000, has a player from Scotland’s bottom tier represented his country.

Black would also be the first Scot in the lowest division to make his international debut since East Fife’s Davie Duncan in 1948 against Belgium. Duncan scored on his debut in a 2-0 win.

The last player outside the top flight in Scotland to play for his country was Dundee United’s Billy McKinlay, who played in a 2-0 defeat by Sweden in October, 1995, just two days before he sealed a move from the First Divison to Blackburn Rovers.

Prior to that, Raith Rovers striker Stevie Crawford played and scored on his Scotland debut in the Kirin Cup in Japan against Ecuador earlier the same year, with the Kirkcaldy club still in the First Division, although they had already clinched promotion.

Other examples include Alan Rough, who won four caps in 1976 despite playing for First Division Partick Thistle and Clyde’s Tommy Ring, who was capped five times in 1957 with the Shawfield side in Division Two.