Pele comes to town: When the original GOAT visited Scotland

The footballing superstar first stepped foot in Scotland ahead of the 1966 World Cup.

Pele comes to town: When the original GOAT visited Scotland SNS Group

The football world and beyond has been paying tribute to Brazil legend Pele who died aged 82 on Thursday.

The superstar forward and original GOAT made his name on the international stage when he helped the South American nation win three out of four World Cups between 1958 and 1970.

1966: Training at Troon and Kilmarnock ahead of World Cup in England.

The World Champions stayed at Marine Hotel and trained at Troon Juniors’ ground Portland Park before a shock group stage exit when they suffered defeats to Hungary and Portugal.

The samba stars also trained at Kilmarnock’s Rugby Park in a visit that the Ayrshire club say ‘will always be treasured’.

Pele and co then travelled through to Glasgow to take on Scotland at Hampden in a pre-tournament friendly that finished level.

Celtic’s Stevie Chalmers scored the opening goal in the first minute before Servilho equalised 15 minutes later in the 1-1 draw in Mount Florida.

1989: Pele visited again when Scotland was hosting the under-16 World Cup when he took part in a coaching session with youngsters at Hampden.

He also took in a trip to Edinburgh for a visit to Tynecastle stadium while wearing a Scotland tracksuit and met with Hearts player Sandy Clark.

Scotland would go on to reach the final before losing out on a gold medal to Saudi Arabia in a disappointing defeat at Hampden.

2016: The great man arrived in Scotland again 27 years later when he was at the Crowne Plaza in Glasgow for ‘An evening with Peter Martin’ – which was shown on STV2 in 2016.

:Pelé in Glasgow in advance of his only Scottish date during his UK tour. (SNS Group)SNS Group

It was the only Scottish date in his speaking tour of the UK.

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