A solitary glimpse at Andy Robertson in full flow is all it takes to conclude that the Liverpool left back is officer material. But when it comes to the notion of captaining his country, you could say this down-to-earth young man never had ideas above Station Park. As Scotland’s new captain prepares to lead his country out for the first time against Belgium tonight, it seems remarkable to relate that the only hands-on experience he brings to the role is a brief stint as junior captain of Cathcart Castle Golf Club and a solitary pre-season match with Dundee United which even he suspects was a bribe designed to keep him at the club.
This isn’t quite a promotion of the proportions of Darren Fletcher, who was made Scotland’s youngest captain for a century shortly after his 20th birthday, long before he would dare dream of doing any such thing with Manchester United, but it is still a bolt from the blue. And for the record, he weighed in with a goal and an assist in a 2-2 draw at the low-key home of the Angus outfit that fateful day back in July 2014. “It is a new thing for me,” said Robertson. “Just before I left Dundee United I captained them for one game, although I think that was maybe to keep me there! It was one of the last pre-season games before the season started and the manager played quite a young team because it was Astro and a few of the older boys couldn’t play on it. I managed to score and get an assist so it was quite a good day for me! Although it ended up being one of my last games for United.
“I do remember when the gaffer [Jackie McNamara] told me I was going to lead them out although of course it will be different to walk out at Hampden on Friday, back where the journey all began for me,” he added. “To kind of go full circle will be nice. It will be something different to lead out your country, something I will be experiencing more often. But I will put on the badge with huge honour and try to lead the country back to where we want to be.” As for the golfing honour, it was hardly the Ryder Cup. “I was junior captain there I think when I was about 14 or 15 but that didn’t bring much responsibility,” said Robertson. “In fact, I was hardly there due to football.”
The 24-year-old inherited the armband from Charlie Mulgrew for the last 15 minutes against Costa Rica back in March but the news of his permanent ascension to the top job in Scotland’s playing ranks was taken with a little surprise and a lot of pride. His partner Rachel was the first to hear the news, then his parents. Before long there was congratulations and an offer of advice from Kenny Dalglish, the last Liverpool player to captain his country, albeit only six times, and his current club boss Jurgen Klopp, in Glasgow this weekend for the charity match for cancer at Parkhead on Saturday. Not to mention Gordon Strachan, the man who handed him his first Scotland cap.
“It probably a bit of a surprise,” said Robertson. “And the day it was released my phone went mental! I tried to get back to everyone, but it’s nice to see people are proud of me and willing to give me advice, which I appreciate. Gordon Strachan messaged me, he gave me my first cap for Scotland so that meant a lot. My manager down the road [Klopp] texted me to say how proud he was that I had been chosen. I spoke to Kenny Dalglish briefly and he told me he was there if I ever needed any advice. But I think the most important ones were my family, to hear my mum and dad and missus so proud was a great thing for me.
"When the announcement was made, you see all the names that have captained this country, For me to go on that list … it’s a special list and I hope by the end of my captaincy that I’m in the same breath as them. I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve played under a lot of very good captains. Just now I’ve got Jordan Henderson at Liverpool, who is a fantastic captain, and I’ve had people like Michael Dawson and Sean Dillon, Fletch and Broony here with the national team. If I can be anywhere near them, I think it will be a success.”
Robertson’s journey is coming full circle, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t come a long way in a short space of time. A posed photograph with Vincent Kompany exists from six years ago, when the central defender visited Hampden with national team boss Marc Wilmots to cast his eye over a Scotland side under Craig Levein which Belgium would defeat 2-0. Robertson, freshly released by Celtic, was playing at Queen’s Park at that time and moonlighting with odd jobs at the national stadium like passing programmes on to visiting dignitaries. Now, after a season operating at the sharp end of the English game, and a European Cup final appearance, he meets Belgium’s cast of world superstars as an equal. And as big as he gets in the club game, the chance to play for Scotland will always burn bright. “I couldn’t have pictured this when I was at Queens Park,” said Robertson. “But I think the stage of pinching myself is behind me now."
So much friends and family does Robertson have in the Mount Florida are that he jokes that “ticket sales probably doubled when the news came out!". He might not be too far wrong but as special as it will be to lead the team out tonight, he knows it would be more still to do so at Euro 2020, as the stadium hosts matches in what could be on our first appearance at a men's major finals for 22 years. “Too long has passed when we have not managed to qualify," he said. "The captains before me would have said the exact same thing. I spoke to Darren Fletcher when he wasn’t playing, near the end, and that was his biggest disappointment - he hadn’t managed to get us back to a World Cup or a Euros. I don’t want that to be me. I want us to manage to get to a championship and lead the boys out." Now that really would be a Mount Florida fairytale.
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