Bruce Rioch was born in Aldershot while his father served there with the Scots Guards. Thunderbooted Rioch subsequently played for & captained Scotland when as one of the best in Europe in his position, he could easily have played for England. He became the first man born in England to captain Scotland, & subsequently did so at a World Cup finals. Following our Bob Wilson article & our David Harvey article, Bruce Rioch is the 3rd in our series of Scots who passed up on a genuine chance of playing for England to instead play for Scotland.
Bruce Rioch background
Rioch was born in Aldershot when his dad was based there in the Scots Guards as a Regimental Sergeant-Major. His dad was from Kinneff to the South of Stonehaven, and his mum was from Skye. Rioch lived in six different barracks including in Germany before he was 7. His athletic dad could have thrown the hammer in the 1948 Olympics but was denied by a bout of pleurisy, and was also bayonet-fencing champion for five years out of six in the Royal Tournament.
Luton Town & Aston Villa
Rioch’s pro career started playing lower league football for Luton Town in 1964. His reputation was as an intelligent, tenacious, determined & hardworking midfielder with a great eye for goal. His 47 strikes in 149 games helped earn him a 1969 move up the football food chain to Aston Villa, then in the 2nd tier. Villa signed Rioch for a then club record £100,000, under boss Tommy Docherty. The heroesandvillains website provides this lively summary of Rioch’s attributes:
“Rioch had real pace once he got going. A superb body-swerve, quite the equal of Bobby Charlton’s, would allow him to run free into midfield and once within thirty yards of the opposition goal you wouldn’t bank on him missing the target. The thunderous power of his shot was a matter of record. In a home game against York City, one of his free-kicks was blocked by a brave defender. The game had to be held up while the trainer helped bring him back to full consciousness.“
Shades of Murdo McLeod blocking a free-kick from Branco of Brazil at Italia 90.
Some forums describe Rioch as “ruthless”. Rioch more candidly Rioch more candidly described himself as a player, “I was a dirty so-and-so”. He later regretted that on-field approach & instead when later in management, his teams were contenders for fair play awards.
At Villa he again had a solid strike rate from MF, 34 in a 154 appearances. If Docherty had not played Rioch as DM early in his spell at Villa Park, that goal tally could have been higher. Rioch was runner-up with 2nd division Villa to Tottenham Hotspur in the 1971 League Cup Final.
Bruce Rioch joins Derby County
Rioch transferred to Derby County in February 1974. Derby were among England’s best teams at the time. Brian Clough & Peter Taylor, destined to be renowned as arguably the finest management double act in the history of English domestic football, had joined to boss them in the mid 60s. In 1968 they signed ex-Hearts & Spurs all time great, Dave Mackay, to provide the leadership missing from an otherwise capable group of players. Mackay duly delivered, earning Derby 1969 promotion & despite playing for a club in the 2nd tier, sharing Player of the Season with Manchester City’s Tony Book.
Derby subsequently won the league in 1972 before Clough & Taylor left in 1973 in dispute with the Derby chairman. Mackay had left in 1971 and was brought in as boss after Clough resigned. Mackay later sued Left Bank pictures who in the movie fictionalisation, The Damned United, falsely portrayed Mackay as still on the staff at Derby & betraying Clough when succeeding Clough as boss. It was Mackay who signed Rioch for Derby in February 1974.
Rioch immediately displaced fellow Scot John McGovern, an excellent 2 footed passer, with Rioch instead providing more penetration in attack. Derby finished 3rd that season. It was, though, the season after when Rioch’s signing paid its greatest dividends.
1974-75
That 1974-75 English First Division campaign was refreshingly open. On Boxing Day, Derby were 10th although only 5 points off top spot (2 points for a win), as teams all took points off each other. That same day they started their mid-season surge.
They lost only four games in the rest of the season, 3 in the league & 1 in the FA Cup. That culminated in an unbeaten last nine league games from late March for the rest of the season. Rioch scored 5 of his goals in that unbeaten run. That run took them to top spot for the first time in the campaign, 2 weeks before the league season ended. They finished 2 points above both Liverpool & Ipswich with Everton a further point behind.
Their attacking trio of Roger Davies, Kevin Hector & Francis Lee, in 1974/75 each scored at least 12 league strikes. Rioch though as one of the very best CM operators in the Europe, outscored them with 15 league goals. He notched 20 from 54 games in all competitions with only 4 of those coming from the spot. Rioch was the star turn in a superb midfield triumvirate that also featured the energetic Archie Gemmill, giving them a CM pairing of future Scotland captains.
Why wasn’t Bruce Rioch in the PFA Team of the Season?
Bruce Rioch was the stand out of the 3. Not just for his goals, but also for the nature of his goals, courtesy of that explosive left-foot shooting, blasting in thunderbolts from outside the box. And yet when the PFA Team of the Season was announced, Rioch wasn’t mentioned in a team that further surprisingly only included 1 player, (the excellent CB, Colin Todd), from league winning Derby.
We took Rioch’s omission up with Derby County FC. We received an insightful reply from their club historian, Andy Ellis. To summarise Andy:
- Perhaps decisively, voting for the team of the season was in February & March, before Derby reached their point of greatest prominence with their late season surge
- The PFA Team of the Season was 4-3-3. As Andy summed up nicely, “One suspects that if they had gone 4-4-2 then he would certainly have been selected.”
- The strength of the Derby midfield that season (Rioch, Gemmill & also Henry Newton who did the Paul Lambert type role), could have split votes especially with Gemmill taking votes off Rioch
That league title win in 1975 was Rioch’s greatest achievement in club football. He subsequently had a year at Everton but with his family unable to settle after relocating from Solihull, he returned to Derby County.
Scotland
Called up then withdrawn from the squad in 1972
Bruce Rioch had England schoolboys & youth trials but did not play for either team through injury & then non-selection respectively. However, after the 1970 rule change allowed players the choice to also represent the country of their parents, Rioch had options. Given that at the time playing international age group football would have tied him to England before he had the chance to represent Scotland, he later commented that it was, “a godsend that I missed out,” on selection from those youth trials.
In 1972-73, Villa were fighting for promotion to the English top flight. Rioch’s early season form caught the attention of the then Scotland boss, Tommy Docherty. Docherty knew Rioch well having previously signed him for Villa. Unconventional, outspoken, & sometimes volatile, Docherty called up Rioch up for the 18 October 1972, Euro qualification game in Denmark. Calling up a player from England’s 2nd tier was something of a bold decision by Docherty, given that e.g, it was standard at that time for most teams in England’s top division to have a core of Scottish players. However, whatever else maybe said about Tommy Docherty, lacking boldness isn’t one of them.
Fate plays its hand
However, England’s Football League had a Blackpool v Aston Villa game to reschedule. They did so, with the game to take place on 17th October, the day before the Scotland game in Copenhagen. Hence, within 48 hours of Rioch’s international call up being announced, Villa withdrew Rioch from the Scotland squad to instead play against Blackpool. Docherty, unable to reap the fruit of his bold decision, responded with an “intemperate eruption”, accusing Rioch of lack of commitment and stating that he’d never pick Rioch for Scotland again. Tommy Docherty accusing someone else of lack of commitment? Docherty then demonstrated his idea of commitment by 2 months later, quitting the Scotland job for bigger money elsewhere.
Of that Scotland withdrawal Rioch later stated, “categorically that I wasn’t waiting for England to come calling.”
Scotland debut
Bruce Rioch’s form in the 2nd half and especially the run in of that title-winning Derby season, was unmissable to any manager watching football in England’s top flight. Scotland boss, Willie Ormond, called up Rioch to his squad. As Rioch later said when he received a phone call from Derby boss, Dave Mackay:
‘How would you like to play for Scotland?’
‘I’d be delighted.
‘Good. Ring a Mr Donald as in Duck and he’ll tell you where to be’.
Rioch debuted for Scotland in May at the end of that league winning season with Derby. At the time he was 3 months short of his 28th birthday.
Scotland regular
In the next 18 months as a Derby player, he played 14 times for Scotland, winning 10, drawing 2 & losing only 2. He later commented:
“Depending how the Home Internationals had gone, the first game back at your club was always interesting. If England had won their players would merely smile. If we’d won we were unbearable.”
He transferred to Everton for a year where he & his family never settled. Yet another 4 wins & a draw to his Scotland record followed, with goals by Zico & Rivelino in a 2-0 defeat in Brazil the only loss in 6 games. The Scots opened that South American tour by winning 4-2 in Chile. Rioch didn’t play in the middle of the 3 games on that 1977, pre 1978 World Cup trip to South America. That 1-1 against Argentina combined with the Chile result could have been looked on as quietly encouraging, even with the defeat in Brazil.
There was to be nothing quiet though about the Scotland world Cup build up. Boss Ally MacLeod was one of life’s off-the-charts, natural enthusiasts & optimists. With the country happy to jump on his tidal of positivity, the Scotland team were to head to Argentina with the nation believing they could win the competition. More of that further below.
Bruce Rioch returns to Derby
Rioch returned to Derby in November 1977. He was signed by new Derby boss…. Tommy Docherty. In between the Scotland & Derby jobs, Docherty had been manager at Manchester United. Docherty’s aforementioned advocacy of the importance of “commitment”, didn’t extend to loyalty to his backroom staff. Docherty left United after a tabloid press field day reporting Docherty had been in an extra-marital affair with Mary Brown, the wife of the club physio.
The purpose of this article isn’t to put the metaphorical boot into Tommy Docherty. He played at the 1954 & 1958 World Cups. He lost only 3 of the 12 games in his 12 game stint as Scotland boss. Also, he managed Chelsea to win the League Cup and Man Utd to win the FA Cup. He is a Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductee, Whatever people may say about the affair with Mary Brown, after divorcing from their spouses of the time, they married & were together until his death in 2020. One episode of his career that at least one outlet remembers less than fondly, though, is the Derby Telegraph recollecting his spell managing Derby County. If you wish to read the full article, you can do it separately (and if you’re a Derby fan, be warned, its grim reading).
Rioch & Gemmill both have issues
Picking out only a couple of the key points from that article:
Firstly is that Archie Gemmill, a player who at that point had enjoyed 7 tremendous years with Derby winning the league twice, read the runes of what was to expect with Docherty. Gemmill thus accepted a transfer to Nottingham Forest to re-join ex-Derby bosses Clough & Taylor. There, Gemmill continued his tremendous form, winning the league a 3rd time and was only benched for the European Cup Final because of injury. Gemmill didn’t sub on. Ex-Derby teammate, John McGovern, was Forest’s European Cup winning captain.
Secondly is that Rioch was among many at Derby to fall out with Docherty. This is a pity as Rioch had played his best club football there and from numerous interviews since, clearly has affection for the club. Rioch explains his side of the fall out in this pre 1978 World Cup TV interview. Rioch wanted away from Docherty, but was still there at the time of the 1978 World Cup.
“No doubts at all that I have a preference for Scotland”
That pre-World Cup TV interview is a fascinating retrospective view of Rioch, in many ways a born leader & the then Scotland Men’s National Team captain (the first such captain born in England). The level Rioch was playing at was obviously good enough for Scotland or England. Rioch commented:
“A lot of people say that, they wonder if I made the right decision. And in my own mind I have no doubts at all that I have a preference for Scotland. We are a Scottish family.”
Argentina 78
Then in the same interview is this reminder of the World Cup fever that swept Scotland prior to that World Cup:
“From my point of view, obviously I want to play for Scotland & I want to be in the Scottish team when we participate in the 1st game. But in saying that I’m a mature player, I’ve been in the game a long time. And the one aim of the Scottish team is to win the World Cup. Now I shall be very disappointed if we reach the World Cup Finals & I wasn’t playing. But the 2nd best thing would be for the rest of the players to win it.“
He later reflected on Argentina:
“There were wranglings over finance. That in itself was a disruption. Then several changes were made in the team for the home international championship, and that lost us continuity. And the send-off at Hampden – well, it was like celebrating before the medals are handed out. I don’t apportion blame to any individual, but it wasn’t smooth. For those players who were there who’ve gone into management, it was a very steep learning curve.”
He also candidly later admitted that with the issues he was having with Docherty at Derby, he hadn’t been in his best form & should’ve been dropped from the starting line up. Rioch similarly felt fellow midfielder, Don Masson, should also no longer be in the Scotland starting line-up. Rioch played in 2 games at the 1978 World Cup. Firstly he played in the Scots opening game 3-1 loss to the reigning South American champions, Peru.
Overloyalty
He further recalled of that World Cup:
“Would I, in Ally [MacLeod]’s position, have stuck with me? I don’t think so. He was incredibly loyal to me. Loyalty out in the world is important, it’s crucial. Football’s different. If Ally had picked a midfield of [Graeme] Souness, [Asa] Hartford and Gemmill I couldn’t have complained.”
Injury meant he missed the 2nd game, an uninspired 1-1 draw with Iran. He was recalled for the 3-2 win against Netherlands in which Gemmill scored his with his solo moment of magic. Rioch further recalled:
“I was on the pitch trying to help us pull off the impossible. I don’t think negatively, never have done, and that’s down to Dad.”
He added:
“I had a great view of Archie Gemmill’s wonder goal. Then when Johnny Rep lined up his shot I thought, ‘He’s too far out,’ but he wasn’t. We were close, just not close enough. But my first manager, Alec Stock at Luton Town, told me that you should always go out and play with style and a bit of class and I reckon that night we did.”
In 24 SMNT caps & scoring 6 goals, Rioch won 14, drew 5 & lost 5. His wins included 2 successive victories over England, in 1976 & 77. His last Scotland game was that World Cup win versus Netherlands. He captained Scotland in each of his last 10 international appearances.
Later Bruce Rioch career
From Derby he had loans to Birmingham City & Sheffield United before playing for Seattle Sounders. His form for the Sounders merited his selection for the 1980 NASL All Star team.
He then commenced a lengthy management career starting as player-boss with Torquay United & then managing Seattle Storm. Rioch later managed Middlesbrough to successive promotions before enjoying 2 promotions with Bolton Wanderers. He also managed then 2nd tier Bolton to being runners-up to Liverpool in the 1995 League Cup Final.
He next became the Arsenal boss who signed Dennis Bergkamp, the man deemed Arsenal’s first player worthy of comparison to Scotsman, Alex James who string-pulled them to 4 league & 2 FA Cup wins in 6 years in the 1930s. After Norwich City & Wigan Athletic, Bruce Rioch managed both of Odense & Aalborg in Denmark.
