SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell has backed calls for Steve Clarke to be knighted and hailed him as the “greatest ever” Scotland manager after he guided the national team to a third major tournament.
A dramatic 4-2 win over Denmark on Tuesday sealed the country’s place at a men’s World Cup for the first time in 27 years.
Clarke became the first Scotland manager in history to reach three major tournaments, achieving this feat in just over six years since taking charge.
Before the former Kilmarnock boss was appointed, the national team had gone over two decades without qualifying for a European Championships or World Cup.
And Maxwell believes his achievements, in leading the country to Euro 2020, Euro 2024, and now the 2026 tournament being held across USA, Canada, and Mexico, puts him right up at the top of the list.
Despite some backlash following a disappointing Euro 2024 campaign, with two defeats and a draw in the three group games, Maxwell insists the SFA never wavered in their support for the 62-year-old.
He said: “There were never any discussions; we were always fairly confident that Steve would get us there.
“I can’t speak highly enough of him, I am absolutely delighted for him, for the coaching staff and the group of players.
“They have all worked so hard for a long period of time to get to this point.
“When he first came in he made no qualms about wanting players to get a significant number of caps, and we seen the benefit of that on Tuesday, because you don’t get through a game like that without that level of experience and understanding of international football.
“And they’ve done it on a fairly regular basis now, and had some big results in big games when have needed them.
“We have obviously had some disappointing ones as well along the way, which is unfortunate, but that is just the nature of elite sport.”
When asked if Clarke is the greatest ever Scotland manager of all time, he said: “Absolutely.
“Three tournaments puts him higher than anyone else, ‘Sir Steve Clarke’ has been mentioned, and we would very much support that.
“We will just enjoy it now and look forward to what will be a fantastic summer.”
The whole country was on the edge of their seats on Tuesday in an encounter that had everything, including six goals, a penalty, a sending off, an overhead kick and two injury-time goals.
Maxwell described the scenes at Hampden as “the best night in the history of Scottish football’ and he even shared a kiss with First Minister John Swinney, after spectacular strikes in added time from Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean secured the vital win that booked a place in North America next summer.
Scott McTominay opened the scoring with an acrobatic overhead kick with Hearts forward Lawrence Shankland also getting on the scoresheet.
Maxwell said: “It has to be the best night for Scottish football in the history of our game.
“As a stand alone 90 minutes, it had everything; a penalty, red card, unbelievable goals, the highs of being up and the lows of being pegged back very quickly after it.
“The guys did not give up, but it was crazy.
“At the point when the third and fourth goals, it doesn’t matter what job you do or what your role is, you are just a Scotland fan, and you are just bursting with emotion, bursting with happiness, bursting with pride.
“The directors’ box was just as chaotic as every other part of the stadium at that point.
“I was sitting next to the first minister, I’m not sure if I kissed him or he kissed me, but protocol went out of the window at that point and everybody was just lost in the moment.
“Everybody was so caught up in the way the game went and messages have come literally from all over all over the world, UEFA, FIFA colleagues, it’s just been incredible.
“There will be nobody in this country that isn’t aware of what happened, whether they’re a football fan or not, it’s just been incredible.
“Those are moments that will live with people forever.”
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