THE Queen’s passion for horseracing was renowned during her long and remarkable life.
After ascending to the throne in 1952, she announced she would continue to race and breed the royal string of horses which had fascinated her since her childhood. She had many noteworthy winners in the subsequent years.
But her knowledge of football proved equally impressive whenever her official duties required her to attend matches.
The players who were selected for the Glasgow FA XI which took on a Football League XI at Hampden in 1977 in an encounter that was arranged as part of her Silver Jubilee celebrations were certainly taken aback by her understanding of the Scottish game.
Alan Rough, the Partick Thistle and Scotland goalkeeper, was honoured to be named in the starting line-up alongside Kenny Dalglish, Danny McGrain, Joe Craig and Roddie MacDonald of Celtic and Sandy Jardine, Tommy McLean, Alex MacDonald and Derek Johnstone of Rangers.
He vividly remembers his brief encounter with the longest-serving British monarch in history before kick-off to this day.
Premier Division champions Celtic had beaten Rangers 1-0 in the Scottish Cup final 10 days earlier to complete a domestic double and Rough was surprised to discover The Queen knew of the Parkhead club’s recent successes.
“It was an amazing occasion,” he said. “The thing I always recall about it was how sharp she was. When she came out onto the park I was standing next to Kenny Dalglish. I will never forget her exact words to him. She came over to Kenny and said: ‘You are doing very well, keep it up!’”
Rough had just helped Partick Thistle to finish fifth in the Premier Division – the Firhill club’s highest top flight placing in 14 years – and he was also gobsmacked to discover The Queen was aware how the Jags had fared in the 1976/77 campaign too.
“She chatted to everybody as she went along the line and knew who everybody was when she spoke to them,” he said. “When she came to me she said: ‘Partick Thistle are just a little club, but you are doing well’.
“As I say, she was so sharp. To be honest, I think she must have been well briefed by somebody beforehand. She also had two or three people walking behind her who must have kept her right as well.
“The other thing I always remember about her was that she had a smile on her face as she walked along. I don’t think she was a football person particularly, she was more interested in horses. But she really embraced the occasion and had a smile for everyone.”
The Queen’s husband Prince Phillip was also in attendance at Hampden that day – and he made something of a faux pas when he introduced the Rangers vice-chairman Willie Waddell to his wife as the Celtic vice-chairman.
Waddell is reported to have jokingly withdrawn his hand after the inadvertent error and there is a famous picture of the three laughing at the misunderstanding which hangs on the wall of the suite which is named after the legendary former player and manager at Ibrox.
Celtic and Rangers had long been bitter adversaries. But the Old Firm giants’ players joined forces with footballers from Partick Thistle and Queen’s Park that day to play in a game which marked the 25th anniversary of The Queen’s coronation.
The strip the outfield players donned incorporated the colours of all of the Glasgow sides – it had green and blue stripes (Celtic and Rangers), a red and yellow collar (Partick Thistle) red shorts (Clyde) and black and white socks (Queen’s Park).
“I would think that strip is a real collector’s item now,” said Rough. “I gave all of my jerseys to my mum and dad and a lot of them went missing over the years. My dad used to have parties, put them on and just give them away to people. I still have all of my World Cup jerseys and all of the jerseys I wore in Scotland games against England. But I don’t think I have that one.
“Celtic and Rangers were fierce rivals off the park and it was unique having a strip with both of their colours on it. But back then all the Celtic and Rangers boys used to go out together. They were all pals. They used to meet up in Glasgow on a Saturday night after their games.”
The hastily put together Glasgow FA team, which also featured Brian Whittaker and Doug Somner of Thistle and Sandy McNaughton of Queen’s Park, had little difficulty gelling and recording a narrow victory.
Dennis Tueart, the Manchester City and England winger, put the Football League side ahead in the first-half of a game which, despite getting underway at three o’clock on a Tuesday afternoon, attracted a crowd of 28,380 supporters.
Jardine scored from the penalty spot in the second-half to level proceedings before Dalglish, who would be sold to Liverpool for a British record transfer fee of £440,000 three months later, netted to clinch a 2-1 triumph.
“It was a tremendous day,” said Rough. “We were presented with a memento of the occasion after the game. I think it was a tankard with Silver Jubilee on it. I will have to look it out.
“But it was something that I have remembered my entire life – being a part of a Glasgow FA Select team with all of those great Celtic, Rangers and Partick Thistle players
“It was the only time that I met The Queen. When Scotland played internationals and royalty was in attendance it was always Princess Anne or the Duke of Edinburgh who we met before kick-off.
“I was a fan of The Queen before that Silver Jubilee game and I certainly was after I was introduced to her that day. But I think everybody loved her didn’t they? She was such a nice person and everybody took to her when they met her. I know I did.”
