Steve Clarke will match Craig Brown's record 71 games in charge of Scotland against Greece - live on the BBC
World Cup qualifying: Scotland v Greece
Venue: Hampden, Glasgow Date: Thursday, 9 October Time: 19:45 BST
Coverage: Watch live on BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer; listen live on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Scotland; follow live updates, goal clips and be part of conversation on BBC Sport website & app
While on the brink of making his own history as Scotland head coach, Steve Clarke was taken down a bizarre route talking about global pop star Katy Perry.
Against Greece in the nation's crucial World Cup qualifier on Thursday, he will take the side for a record-equalling 71st time as they seek to move closer to ending a 27-year wait to reach a World Cup.
But while fielding questions about all of that in his media conference, the left-field subject of the California Gurls singer somehow cropped up.
The UK leg of Perry's world tour kicked off in Glasgow on Tuesday and it turns out the American singer found herself staying in the national team hotel. Not that he would recognise her even if he saw her.
"I've heard the name," the 62-year-old said.
"I'm sure if you played a couple of her songs, I'd say 'oh I recognise that one', but I couldn't name you one song.
"No disrespect to Katy, but I'm from a different generation."
Suspending obvious Perry puns of Hampden Roars, Fireworks and Scotland blowing Hot 'n' Cold, Clarke's focus is arrowed in on rinsing one more achievement out of his tenure as boss.
The 62-year-old has led the Scots to back-to-back European Championships, but a World Cup appearance is the one achievement that has eluded them during his six-and-a-half year spell.
Scotland made a fine start to the campaign last month with four points from two away games against Denmark and Belarus, and he wants to "cement that" with two wins this week.
The head coach, who was asked to reflect on the milestone of games managed - which will be met and then surpassed against Belarus live on the BBC - said: "I haven't thought about it.
"I don't think I've finished yet, let me finish and then I'll tell you exactly how I feel about it.
"We've given ourselves a great platform over the two away games.
"We want to cement that by winning the two home games. Picking up as many points as we can this month would put us in a good place to go into November."
- Published9 hours ago
- Published2 days ago
- Published2 days ago
This truncated qualification campaign, which has Scotland playing six games over three months, has enforced different preparations than previous elongated group stages..
Only three weeks on from securing a win against Belarus in Hungary did Clarke name his squad for this month's Hampden double-header.
The head coach admitted the build-up, or rather lack thereof, to the hosting of the Greeks - who tormented the Scots at home back in March - has been "strange" due to the attention given to domestic matters.
"It's been strange in the build-up to such a big game, the national team has not been the main headliner," Clarke said on the week Rangers head coach Russell Martin lost his job.
"That's the nature of football in Scotland. But I don't know, have I been missing something?"
Team news
Clarke called up Max Johnston earlier in the day to "pad the squad out a little bit" and assured everyone is "fit and ready" for the home match of Greece.
Johnston, who came on in both games last month, was "unlucky not to be in the initial squad" admitted Clarke.
The head coach added it's "probably the most consistently strong" batch of attacking options he's had during his time, highlighting "it's pretty strong if somebody like Lawrence Shankland can't get in."
Match stats
Scotland and Greece have met twice in 2025, with the away side winning in the Nations League games in March (Scotland 1-0, Greece 3-0).
Greece have won their last three away games against the Home Nations, beating Northern Ireland in June 2022 (1-0), England in October 2024 (2-1) as well as Scotland in March.
Scotland have lost just one of their last 18 World Cup qualifiers (W12 D5 - excluding 2022 playoff), staying unbeaten in each of their last eight (W7 D1) since a 2-0 loss to Denmark in September 2021.
Greece lost their most recent game 3-0 to Denmark. They last lost back-to-back matches in September 2023 but have only won one of their last five World Cup qualifiers (D1 L3).
Scotland have won just one of their last nine home games (D3 L5) and could lose three home in a row for the first time since September 2018. They last lost three straight at Hampden in November 2000.
Steve Clarke will take charge of his 71st game against Greece, levelling Craig Brown for the joint-most matches managed in the nation's history.
