Meeting with England highlights decline of Scottish soccer

FILE- In this file photo dated Monday Sept. 7, 2015, Scotland's manager Gordon Strachan looks out before the Euro 2016 Group D qualifying soccer match at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland. The latest instalment of international soccer’s oldest rivalry against England on Friday Nov. 11, 2016, is expected to be a jarring reminder for Scotland of just how far the team has declined, and Strachan decries the standard of young players incapable of improving the situation. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, FILE) FILE- In this file photo dated Monday Sept. 7, 2015, Scotland's manager Gordon Strachan looks out before the Euro 2016 Group D qualifying soccer match at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland. The latest instalment of international soccer’s oldest rivalry against England on Friday Nov. 11, 2016, is expected to be a jarring reminder for Scotland of just how far the team has declined, and Strachan decries the standard of young players incapable of improving the situation. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, FILE)

By Associated Press November 10, 2016 5 min read

LONDON (AP) – The latest installment of international soccer’s oldest rivalry is a jarring reminder for Scotland of just how far the team has fallen – and keeps on plummeting.

The balance of power has firmly been in England’s favor for decades.

And yet thousands of Scotland fans will still travel south to London for Friday’s World Cup qualifier while fatalistic about their team’s chances.

“I feel sorry for the younger fans because the future looks bleak,” said Hamish Husband, a 58-year-old member of a Scottish supporters group. “The reasons are self-inflicted. Not unlike England, we have this belief that because we invented football then somehow we had a right to success.

“We have just been left behind. Modern football has changed and Scottish football has not changed with it.”