Restore Home Internationals is the call as auld enemies meet

MEMORY LANE: A goal is smashed and torn down as thousands of Scottish fans run wild on the pitch at Wembley Stadium after Scotland's 2-1 victory over England in the Home Championship back in 1977.

John Barnes has called for the Home Internationals to return as England prepare to face Scotland north of the border for the first time in 15 years.

The 112th meeting of international football’s oldest rivals will take place on November 18, with Celtic Park the setting for the mouth-watering friendly.

It is the first time the auld enemies have locked horns in Scotland since 1999 – something which rankles with former England international Barnes.

The winger faced them three times, with his first taste of the rivalry coming in a tense 1-1 draw at Hampden Park in 1984 – the last time the Home Championships were contested before the 100-year-old competition was abolished.

An attempt to recreate a similar competition three years ago, the Nations Cup, failed to entice, but Barnes believes there should be a new attempt to resurrect the Home Internationals.

“The Scotland game is there to give them a reminder of the old days when England used to play Scotland on a regular basis,” he said.

“It will remind them of the old animosity when they go to Celtic Park – it’s probably something they have never experienced before.

“I liked the old Home Internationals when England played Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. It was good.”

The return to more regular encounters with Scotland would certainly be welcomed by many Three Lions supporters, who will not only be travelling to Glasgow in numbers but so, too, for the Euro 2016 qualifier with Slovenia which precedes it.

A crowd in excess of 80,000 is expected for a match which will not only see captain Wayne Rooney win his 100th cap but offers the chance for England to win a fifth successive match.