'Always little text message': Steve Clarke pays tribute to unsung Scotland hero as request put in to UEFA

Steve Clarke remembers and appreciates these gestures well. In a moving tribute to former Scottish Football Association president Rod Petrie, the often-taciturn Clarke has expanded on his ties to the man who he revealed he once hoped would hire him.

This wasn’t for Scotland, with Clarke’s appointment in May 2019 coming just prior to Petrie taking over the reins from Alan McRae. Five years earlier, while out of the game following his sacking by Reading, Clarke’s name had been put forward by his former Chelsea teammate Pat Nevin for the then vacant Hibs job. This was prior to the recruitment of Alan Stubbs, who went onto win the Scottish Cup with Hibs.

“I first spoke to Rod when I applied for the Hibs job many years ago and I had a good chat with him,” said Clarke. “He didn't give me the job. I didn't hold that against him!”

Clarke got to know Petrie better with Scotland. “He made me look quite humorous at times,” reflected Clarke. “He was very deadpan.”

He valued his input as negative results started piling up following a 2-1 win over Cyprus in Clarke's first match in charge. These included successive 4-0 defeats to Belgium and then Russia, with some Scotland fans beginning to worry they had got the wrong man. Petrie, however, was unstinting in his support of Clarke.

‘He always looked quite serious’

He was vindicated when Clarke became the first Scotland manager since Craig Brown 23 years earlier to lead Scotland to a major finals following a Euro 2020 play-off victory over Serbia.

“I came in, he was the president when I came to the Scottish FA,” recalled Clarke. “He always looked quite serious and quite formidable, but then you get to meet him and you get to have a chat with him….He was great, he was great for me.

“Obviously it was a really tough start. Maybe some of you don't remember, but I do. We got hammered from Belgium twice, hammered from Russia. It was difficult. But there was always a little text message from Rod: 'keep going', 'don't worry about it', 'we've got your back', 'everything will be fine'.

“He was really, really supportive of me as a head coach coming into the international scene. Even when he stepped away and Mike (Mulraney) took over, he was always at the games. You'd bump into him at Hibs, which was his big passion. He had a great love for Hibs. A really good, a really good football man, a good person. He is a big loss for the Scottish game."

It’s hard to believe that someone who has been such an integral part of Scottish football’s international set up in recent years won’t be present if Scotland make it to the World Cup next summer. It’s likely Scotland will be wearing black armbands in honour of Petrie when they get their World Cup qualifying bid underway against Denmark next Friday night in Copenhagen. A request has been made to Uefa.

After wearing black armbands in a friendly against Iceland in June following Jack McGinn’s death the previous month, Scotland will be paying tribute to a respected former president for the second time in three matches.