Graham Ruthven

When England and Scotland take to the Wembley pitch for Friday’s World Cup qualifier much more than just three points will be on the line. This is the oldest, most storied rivalry in international football, after all, with the two countries first meeting in November 1872 (the match finished goalless and was played on what is now a cricket pitch). So why doesn’t it feel like international football’s most storied rivalry?

With the first competitive clash between England and Scotland just days away the rivalry has never seemed so tame. The build up has been low key (perhaps down to slightly more significant things happening elsewhere in the world this week), with the collective imagination left decidedly un-captured at the point of writing.

You’d think it would be rather different given that the best part of two decades have passed since the two nations last faced each other in a competitive setting. Don Hutchison scored a headed winner for Scotland that day in 1999, although it was England who ultimately emerged from the Euro 2000 play-off with an aggregate win.

All the factors are there for this to be one of the fiercest rivalries in the sport right now, with recent political rhetoric between England and Scotland stoking tensions north and south of the border. And yet it has had little to no impact on the sporting contest between the two nations. That much has been highlighted in the run-up to Friday’s game.

Of course, it could be argued that England has always seen their contest with Scotland as a secondary rivalry. The Dark Blues are, after all, the underdogs. with the Three Lions aiming their roars (or more like whimpers in recent years) at those nearer the top of the international football food chain.

But even those rivalries, like the ones contested against Argentina and Germany, have lost something. There is also apathy felt on the Scottish side of the divide, but why? If the most historic of rivalries is suffering in this way then what does that say about international football as a whole, in the wider scheme of things?

Maybe it’s reflective of a growing indifference to the international game. Rivalry is the essence of football, yet national teams have lost that over the past generation or so. Perhaps it’s down to the saturation of the club game, with so much Premier League narrative rammed down our throats it’s difficult to take another gulp of anything else.

Whatever the explanation, rivalry in international football has never felt so subdued. That will be underlined by Friday’s clash between England and Scotland - once the fiercest of rivals, now nothing more than just friendly neighbours. There may be flash-points, there might even be a red card, but the edge that once came with such a fixture has been blunted.

That’s not to say that there won’t be intrigue to hold our attention. Both England and Scotland’s national tams find themselves at existential junctures right now. The hosts on Friday are still searching for a new manager following Sam Allardyce’s dismissal, but the controversy that came with his exit has only masked the greater task at hand for both The FA and English football in general.

From a Scottish perspective too Friday’s game will say a lot about where the national team is heading at the moment. Gordon Strachan has lost the fans, the media and could lose his job should the Dark Blues suffer a heavy defeat at Wembley, with Scotland’s chances of making it to the 2018 World Cup already slim after a disastrous start to the qualification campaign. Not even a point would be enough to revive their prospects.

But in terms of tribal rivalry and the zest that usually comes with that there is something desperately lacking. Maybe it’s purely that with 17 years passed since their last competitive clash both England and Scotland have simply forgotten how to do a rivalry. It could, however, be reflective of something far greater in the international game.