Ever since the old First Division began in England in 1888, there have been Scottish players who have made the journey down south, hopped over Hadrian’s Wall, and signed up to play for English clubs. In fact, down the years, some of the best footballers to have ever appeared in the First Divison/Premier League have been from north of the border; Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, Alan Hansen, Alan Brazil and Darren Fletcher are just some of the greats who are proud Scotsmen.
While they have always had one or two great players at any one time, the Scots have often struggled as a team at the international level. In fact, between 1998 and 2020 they didn’t qualify for a single World Cup or European Championship. The curse was finally lifted, when after a penalty shootout with Serbia, Scotland made it to Euro 2020 (which, of course, was only held in 2021). They may have finished bottom of their group, and fans who searched for betting odds on them to progress into the knockout stages would not have made any money, but there was no doubting their commitment or passion.
Of the 26 players who were picked in the squad for the Euros, 11 of them played their domestic football in Scotland, for Celtic, Rangers, Hearts, Motherwell and Hibernian. One player, defender Jack Hendry, played for Belgian side Oostende, with the remaining 14 squad members playing their club football in England. 11 of those 14 players represent Premier League. Let’s take a look at some of these players, and see how well they are performing for their respective sides.
Captain fantastic
The most famous Scottish player in the Premier League currently is Andy Robertson, a left-back for Liverpool, and also Scotland’s captain. His career took a while to get going and was relegated with Hull City in 2017. However, since joining Liverpool for £8 million, he has gone on to become arguably the best left-back in Europe, if not the world.
Robertson has been a key part of Jurgen Klopp’s team for five years, and in that time has won the Premier League, the Champions League, the Super League and the World Club Championships. He is almost undroppable for Liverpool, as he is a key part of both their attack and defence. It is safe to say he is the best current Scottish player.
Another left-back who’s making a name for himself
It’s Sod’s law that Scotland’s other best player also happens to be a left-back, meaning when the international team plays, they have to push Roberston further forward, to accommodate Kieran Tierney. Tierney joined Arsenal in 2019, and has played for them 49 times and scored 2 goals. He would have surely achieved even more games and goals had he not had persistent injury problems. At 24 he surely is the future of the Scotland team, and Scottish fans will be hoping his strong performances at club level carry over to the international team.
Strong, combative midfielders
Another area of the pitch where Scotland do have a few choices is in the centre of midfield. Scott McTominay actually plays centre-back more often than not for Scotland, but at Manchester United, he is usually deployed at the base of midfield, there to break up opposition play, and let his more attacking teammates go forward and score the goals. That’s not to say he is incapable of scoring himself, as Manchester United fans will fondly remember his goal against Manchester City, where he saw the goalkeeper off his line and lobbed him from near the halfway line.
Another combative Scottish midfielder who appears in the Premier League is Billy Gilmour. He has only just turned 20 but made quite a name for himself bursting onto the scene at Chelsea, where he was the man of the match in one of his first games. He has since moved to Norwich City on loan to gain some more game time, but will surely be a mainstay of Chelsea’s midfield for years to come.
Short on striking talent
Ever since Duncan Ferguson retired, there hasn’t really been a top-level Scottish striker in the Premier League. A few have come in and scored goals for a while, but never at a consistent level. Che Adams was actually born in Leicester, England, and even plaid for the English at under-20 level. However, he represents Scotland due to his grandmother being born there. Adams is a good striker but probably realised his chances of ever playing for England were limited, so chose to represent Scotland instead.
Adams plays for Southampton, having joined there from Birmingham City in 2019. So far he only has 13 goals in 71 games, which is not a great return. But there is hope that he will eventually come good, and will start scoring consistently for club and country very soon.