Sir Alex Ferguson finally honoured for Scotland appearances

Sir Alex Ferguson was one of four Scotland players recognised for their international endeavours at Hampden Park on Saturday.

During the 1960s, players who played for Scotland were only awarded international caps for matches against the Home Nations but the former Aberdeen and Manchester United boss, who took Scotland to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, was among a number of international players identified who never played in such a fixture.

David Holt, along with the families of Alan Anderson and the late Harry Hood, were also recognised with a cap at Scotland’s 3-2 World Cup qualifying win over Israel with Ferguson, a former striker for Rangers, Falkirk and Dunfermline among other sides, appearing at half-time to receive the acclaim of the Tartan Army.

In 1967, Anderson, Hood and Ferguson played in matches against Israel, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Auckland Provincial, Vancouver All Stars and New Zealand Under-23s in a close-season tour but at the time not all those matches were recognised as full internationals.

On further investigation, the matches against Australia and Canada have now been deemed to be full international matches.

On the six-week tour, Ferguson played once against Israel and three times against Australia, scoring on three occasions.

Holt played for Scotland in matches against Austria, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Spain and West Germany between 1963 and 1964.