Archie Gemmill nets place in Scottish Sports Hall of Fame as six of best earn accolade

Six of Scotland’s sporting greats were inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame last night in a ceremony at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Scotland football legend Archie Gemmill enters the Hall of Fame with curler Rhona Martin, swimmers Margaret McEleny and the late Belle Moore, rugby great Ken Scotland and golfer Willie Anderson.

• See the full list of inductees into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame here

Louise Martin, chairwoman of sportscotland and of the Hall of Fame selection panel, said: “Scottish sport is currently on a massive high after the amazing performances of our athletes at London 2012 and Andy Murray’s first grand slam victory at the US Open, but it is also important to remember the significant contributions made by our past champions. Throughout their careers, Archie, Rhona, Maggi, Ken, Belle, and Willie have all shown the determination and dedication it takes to succeed in their chosen sports. Each and every inductee is a credit to the country, fully meriting their place in the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.”

Gemmill, undoubtedly one of the most outstanding footballers of his generation, remains an instant national icon after his memorable goal against the Netherlands in the 1978 World Cup when he left the Dutch defence trailing in his wake. As well as winning 43 Scotland caps, with 22 as captain, he also enjoyed a glittering club career. The Paisley-born midfielder started out at hometown club St Mirren in 1964, before going on to star for a host of sides in England, including Derby County, Wigan Athletic, Birmingham City, and Preston North End. But it was at Nottingham Forest where Gemmill enjoyed greatest success and was part of the 1979 European Cup-winning squad.

Gemmill said: “Being inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame is up there with anything that I have achieved in my career because it’s not just for football, but for all sports. And when you look at the standard of the footballers in the Hall of Fame – such as McCoist, Dalglish, Law, Greig, Bremner and Baxter – they are unbelievable players and to be associated with people like that really is humbling.”

Another known for his attacking flair, former full-back Scotland began his international rugby career in a blaze of glory by scoring all six points in a win over France, aged just 20. He went on to represent his country 27 times between 1957 and 1965 and was part of the British Lions tour to Australia, New Zealand, and Canada in 1959, where he amassed over 22 appearances. Scotland also played ten games for the Barbarians, and his clubs included London Scottish, Leicester, Heriots FP, and Aberdeenshire. A talented sportsman he also represented Scotland at cricket.

The 2002 Winter Olympics famously provided Martin’s most notable sporting achievement, as she skipped the Great Britain women’s curling team to gold – the first for Team GB at the Winter Olympics since Torvill and Dean in 1984. Martin, now head coach for women’s curling at the sportscotland institute of sport, is the first curler ever to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Paralympic athlete McEleny, one of Scotland’s most successful female swimmers of recent times with 15 Paralympic medals to her name – including three golds – represented Great Britain at four consecutive Games from 1992 to 2004. The Greenock swimmer, who suffers from paraplegia and epilepsy, still holds the European record for the 50 metre breaststroke and the world record for the 100 metre breaststroke.

Born in Govan, fellow swimmer Moore competed in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. At the age of 17 years and 226 days, she was the lead member of 
the winning relay team and is the youngest British woman ever to win an Olympic swimming gold at a Summer games. She is also Scotland’s only female swimmer to ever win an 
Olympic gold medal. She died in 1975, aged 80.

Legendary North Berwick-born golfer Anderson went on to experience unrivalled success after emigrating to the United States in 1896, aged 16, before his untimely death at the age of just 31.

The first golfer to win four US Opens (1901, 1903, 1904 and 1905) he is still the only man to win three consecutive titles.

To see the full list of inductees, go to www.sshf.co.uk/inductees