Just weeks after ending Liverpool’s long wait for a Premier League title, Andy Robertson is now setting his sights on ending 22 years of hurt for Scotland.
Scotland are just two games away from Euro 2020, which will now take place in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Steve Clarke’s side will host Israel at Hampden Park next month, where a win would see them set up a final play-off tie with either Serbia or Norway in November.
Two wins would see the Tartan Army reach their first major tournament since the World Cup in 1998 and the Scotland skipper has revealed the special inspiration behind his drive to end that wait.
“The Scotland team has always been very important to my family as a whole, none more so than my auntie, Vera Murchie, who passed away at Christmas in 2013,” Robertson recalled in his book 'Robbo: Now You're Gunna Believe Us', available here.
“The only times I have worn personalised boots – the play-off final with Hull, the Champions League final in Madrid and an international against Cyprus that I scored in – it has been in her memory.
“I have her date of birth, 27.05.56, on one boot and ‘Cheeky V’ on the other. A Cheeky Vimto was her favourite drink at family parties, she used to mix her own, and it’s something that I remember her by.
“When my mum, dad and Auntie Vera were growing up, Scotland qualified for every tournament, it was like Liverpool winning the league, and now it’s been far too long.
“This team has the potential to right that wrong.”
He added: “Our individual quality is there for all to see but now we have to show it as a team and deliver as a team.
“I have confidence that we will only get stronger and the sooner the better.”
“Having just ended a 30-year wait with Liverpool, I now want to end a 22-year wait with Scotland.
“If that happens, I’ll be having a Cheeky Vimto in memory of my Auntie Vera.”
Robbo: Now You're Gonna Believe Us is on sale Thursday September 17 from reachsportshop.com for 25% off. ebook also available, audiobook coming soon.
