England v Scotland: A historic football rivalry struggling to stay relevant in the modern day

Greg Lea previews England's 2018 World Cup qualifying clash with Scotland.

England have an interim manager in charge in Gareth Southgate, left, while Gordon Strachan, right, is under increasing pressure as Scotland manager. Nathan Stirk; Ian MacNicol / Getty Images

• England v Scotland, Friday, 11.45pm, Abu Dhabi Sports HD

It is a rivalry with almost a century-and-a-half of history behind it.

England and Scotland’s first meeting took place in London in 1870, and Friday’s the same city will play host to the 113th Fifa-recognised clash between the two neighbours.

This fixture used to be one of the highlights of the countries’ footballing calendars, but this week’s edition has been treated more like an afterthought by many fans on both sides of the border.

That is in part a reflection of the current state of international football, which has become subordinate to the club game in several ways.

The predictable nature of Uefa’s World Cup qualification process, at least as far as England and other large European nations are concerned, does not help matters either.

Nevertheless, it is impossible to ignore the intelligible argument that these two proud footballing countries have never concurrently been at such low ebbs.

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England’s inability to reach the last four of a major tournament during the so-called “Golden Generation” years between 2002 and 2010, when stars such as Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Michael Owen, Paul Scholes, Ashley Cole, David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand all donned the white shirt, was rightly seen as a significant failure.

The nadir came this summer when Roy Hodgson’s side were deservedly dumped out of the European Championship by Iceland, a nation of fewer than 325,000 whose manager is a part-time dentist.

Scotland did not even make it to the tournament in France, finishing fourth in a qualifying group containing Germany, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Georgia and Gibraltar.

That represented a difficult draw, but the fact that they did not make it to a continental competition that featured more participants than ever says much about the state of the Scottish game.

Their last tournament appearance came in 1998. That means Scotland’s summers will have gone unoccupied for two decades by the time the 2018 World Cup rolls around – their longest such run since becoming a permanent Fifa member in 1946.

The Scots’ chances of advancing to Russia in two years’ time appear slim, with a return of four points from matches against Malta, Lithuania and Slovakia widely seen as the bare minimum of what is acceptable.

Although England’s tally of seven points means they are looking down on the rest of Group H from the summit after three encounters, the mood around their national team is no brighter.

The dearth of managerial candidates means interim manager Gareth Southgate is the overwhelming favourite to be named as Sam Allardyce’s permanent successor in the coming weeks, despite having only taken charge of one club side since hanging up his boots in 2006.

The 25-man squad selected for Friday’s’s game does not include a single world-class player, while England demonstrated at the Euros that they are lacking in the tactical and mental departments, too.

Scotland’s size makes the prospect of them continually churning out top-level stars unrealistic, but it is difficult to envisage a return to the days when they were able to call upon the likes of Alan Hansen, Graeme Souness, Kenny Dalglish, Denis Law, Jimmy Johnstone and Gordon Strachan.

The latter is now his country’s manager, although that could change if the Scots are heavily beaten at Wembley.

Their hopes of an upset lie with the likes of Hull City’s Robert Snodgrass, West Bromwich Albion’s Darren Fletcher and RB Leipzig’s teenage winger Oli Burke, who at least offers a glimmer of hope for the future.

However, in the here and now, there is little for either England or Scotland to get excited about.

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