SCOTLAND have only been involved in the World Cup play-off they hope to edge closer to with victory over Slovakia tomorrow evening on two occasions; way back in 1961 when they were beaten, ironically enough, by Czechoslovakia after extra-time in a one-off decider and then in 1985 when they overcame Australia in a double header.

The 4-2 defeat in that first tie in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels was no disgrace whatsoever as their conquerors, whose eminent player was the incomparable Josef Masopust, would go on to reach the final in Chile the following year before losing 3-1 to the Brazil team they had drawn 0-0 with during the group stages.

Yet, Pat Crerand, the former Celtic and Manchester United midfielder who turned out for his country both in that encounter as well as in two epic qualifiers against the same opponents leading up to it, can still, all these years later, not help wondering what might have been had the national team not been hit by a spate of call-offs beforehand.

“That Czechoslovakia side was absolutely brilliant,” said Crerand. “In fact, I would even go so far as to say they were the best team I have ever seen. But, at the same time, I think that Scotland team was the best there ever was as well.

“Czechoslovakia got to the final of the World Cup in Chile. But if Scotland had got through and played I think we could have reached the final too. Who knows? We might have gone all the way. Not being involved is definitely a regret. We should have gone further with the team we had.

“But we had five withdrawals through injury in the play-off. Bill Brown of Spurs, who was a brilliant goalkeeper, Billy McNeill, who was great as well, Duncan Mackay, our right back, Alex Scott, the Rangers winger, and Davie Wilson, his team mate, all missed out. It might have been different if they had been involved.”

He has a point. Each member of that quintet had played for Scotland in their final Group 8 match against Czechoslovakia at Hampden two months earlier and had recorded a 3-2 victory, achieved courtesy of a first half Ian St John goal and a second half Denis Law double, in front of 51,590 of their supporters which ultimately ensured they finished level on points with their feted adversaries.

It was a particularly sweet result for Crerand as he had become only the third Scotland player ever to be sent off in the previous meeting with their rivals four months before that – for fighting with opponent Andrei Kvasnak – in a game in the Tehelne Pole Stadium in Bratislava which their hosts ended up winning by a resounding 4-0 scoreline.

“It wasn’t a regular occurrence in international football at that time,” he said. “But it was just a scrap with one of their players. That happens in football. But that result shows just how good Czechoslovakia were. Before they were broken up they were some team.”

Scotland were far from the only side to be turned over by Czechoslovakia during that era. Indeed, the other team in their qualifying group, the Republic of Ireland, lost 3-1 at home and were thrashed 7-1 away by them.

Crerand rates their talisman Masopust, the Dukla Prague stalwart who would be named European Player of the Year in 1962, as highly as any player of that or any other era.

The 78-year-old believes the fact he was, due to the Communist regime in his homeland at the time, unable to move abroad to ply his trade at that time, meant he never quite achieved the recognition his considerable talents merited.

“What a player Masopust was,” he said. “He is probably not as celebrated now as he should be, but for me he deserves to be mentioned alongside Alfredo Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas, George Best. He was incredible.

“He was a midfield player, a left half like Jim Baxter. He could pass, he could dribble, he had a great engine. To be honest, he had everything. Unfortunately, he was held back by the system in Czechoslovakia at the time. He couldn’t get out of country, none of them could.”

Crerand and his team mates, despite the absence of Brown, Mackay, McNeill, Scott and Wilson, gave the Czechs a tough match in a play-off game on November 29, 1961.

Ian St John put them ahead in the first half when he headed home a Jim Baxter free-kick before Jiri Hledick levelled and the striker was on target again in the second half only for Adolf Scheler to once again equalise and make it 2-2 at the end of the 90 minutes.

John White struck the crossbar in extra time, but goals from Tomas Pospichal and Andrej Kvasnak meant that Czechoslovakia went through. The rest, as they say, is history. But that reverse still rankles with one member of the side. “I still say that was the best Scottish team,” he said. “I think we would have done well at that World Cup.”

Crerand, who still works as a co-commentator for Manchester United TV, has been delighted to see his homeland give themselves an outside chance of qualifying via another play-off.

“I always want to see Scotland do well,” he said. “I don’t want England to do well. I am always winding up the United boys who played for England. You never lose that do you? Hopefully they can get the result against Slovakia and get into the play-off.”

If Gordon Strachan’s side come up short tomorrow night or against Slovenia on Sunday it will see Scotland miss out once again and Crerand, like all his countrymen, will be distraught.