Scottish football writers break with tradition as annual award recognises 28-year first

For the first time since the inception of the award in 2007-08, the SFWA has honoured the full national team instead of an individual player in recognition of Scotland reaching the finals for the first time in 28 years.

Scotland qualified for the tournament by beating Denmark 4-2 on an unforgettable night at Hampden in November. Steve Clarke's side will now face Haiti, Morocco and Brazil in America this summer and will bid to create new history by reaching the knockout stages for the first time.

Scotland captain Andy Robertson collected the William Hill SFWA International Player of the Year award - won last year by Scott McTominay - on behalf of the squad. The Liverpool left-back hailed the togetherness of Clarke's group and claimed they are determined to make the Tartan Army proud in the USA.

“It means absolutely everything to achieve the country’s dreams of going to the World Cup," he said. “Being able to collect this on behalf of the whole squad is a really nice touch. To pick one player out would have been really difficult. For the whole squad to get recognised is nice."

Robertson has now skippered Scotland to three major finals after back-to-back appearances at the delayed Euro 2020 (due to covid) and Euro 2024. He is also now second on all-time caps list behind Kenny Dalglish after reaching 92 in the friendly defeat by Ivory Coast last month.

"This is the best group ever to lead," he added. "That’s not me exaggerating. It’s full of good people. It’s full of people with no ego at all and we all fight for the same cause.

"We all just want to send everyone inside Hampden home happy. That’s the good thing about it. International squads can be big, maybe a 23 to 26-man squad.

"So you need everyone fighting in the same direction whether you play or don’t play. We’ve got a very rare group who does that. They’re all supportive and that’s why we can achieve what we’ve achieved."

The 32-year-old counts the victory over Denmark as his best night in a Scotland shirt but he now hopes to eclipse those memories by taking Scotland further than they have ever gone before at the World Cup.

"For me, that Denmark game was the greatest I’ve ever been involved in at this stadium,” he said. “The ending of it still brings a smile to my face when I look on to the pitch at that goal. I think a lot of people are like that now.

"But it’s important that we don’t rest on that. We want to go and achieve a lot of good things in the summer as well and give the whole country something to shout about.

"We know people will be in pubs, clubs and houses back home and we’ll be well supported in America. It’s up to us to try and create more memories where everyone can pour beer on each other!”