Ordinary: Scotland vs England, May '76
The cameras took a rare look at the reaction of the England bench, catching Don Revie, in a heavy sheepskin coat, his mouth pursed in an ooh of frustration, driving his forearm forward to show how he wished Channon had smashed the ball.
That in 2020 England would still be longing for 1966 could have been predicted within ten years of the World Cup being won. Sir Alf Ramsey was eventually replaced by Don Revie, and by 1976 he was struggling with the task of doing extraordinary things with players who were ordinary at best.
The problems went much further than the manager of the national team could control. A sign of how stale English football had become was a proposal to add a third 'bonus' point for wins in the Football League if teams won while scoring three or more goals — anything to inspire more exciting football. It was voted down, and three points for a win — of any number of goals — weren't introduced until 1981.
The Home Championship offered a little optimism, after a 4-0 win over Northern Ireland allowed positive previews of the weekend's championship decider at Hampden Park. England would be helped by the class of Ray Clemence in goal, who his former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly said was worth ten points a season to the club, while his current manager Bob Paisley was more typical of the pessimistic times, saying he might stop ten goals. "A winger doesn't cross the ball because he knows Ray will catch it," said Paisley. "A striker doesn't shoot because he knows Ray will save." That was also maybe why fans weren't as excited by the First Division as they used to be.
Scotland were risking 24-year-old Alan Rough in their goal, and pundits expected a mistake from him, but the fierce desire to beat England made the Scots slight favourites. But for England, Roy McFarland had recovered from a hamstring strain, and in another example of priorities, was expected to snub the threat from Leeds United's Joe Jordan.
McFarland got England off to the best possible start, first by going in late and hard on Jordan, making his intentions clear. A few minutes later McFarland got the ball at his feet and went storming upfield, passing wide to Peter Taylor then getting the ball back in the penalty area. To cross the ball required an inelegant 270 degree spin, but it worked: Mick Channon arrived to head the ball past Rough.
If only there was more of that. Jackie Charlton was co-commentating for ITV's World of Sport, and late in the second half he was referring back to that goal, created by runners through midfield, as the halcyon days before England reverted to passing to their forwards' feet — Channon, and Manchester United's Stuart Pearson — and getting caught every time by either Scotland's offside trap or their thundering tackles. England had been "getting nowhere fast," said Charlton.