Life’s never dull with Ewen on the Real Football Phone In, whether it's the price of pies or the latest transfer rumours, it's a great way to spend a few hours, join us as Ewen Cameron shares some memories.

Lights, Cameron, Action!

Every second summer Scottish fans gather round their TV sets to have their eardrums harrassed by the English media with stories of ’66 and the cries of “England expects” with a few pleas for Scots to get behind their neighbours thrown in. The groans when Lineker and co speak are echoed from Gretna to Lerwick.

However if you think the media boys up here get an easy ride from their critics then think again! Just ask Ewen Cameron. 

The Real Radio Football Phone-In host doesn’t hold back on his opinions and his approach has landed him in trouble with many a player and manager which has led to him on more than one occasion being banned by the SFA. 

One thing you can’t accuse Cameron of though is a lack of passion towards the National team and he took time to share his memories with Tartan Army Magazine. 

Cameron first watched Scotland during the 1978 World Cup when he was just six years old and, as expected for such a young age, his recollections are vivid . He said: “My first early memories was watching Scotland v Peru and I remember the game kicking off around lunchtime UK time. I didn’t quite understand what was going on but I remember sitting with the family in the house round a black and white telly and everyone being disappointed with Scotland getting beat. I have no real memories at all, not even Archie Gemmil’s goal.” 

Whislt Ally’s Army in the Argentine was a blur, Spain 1982 and We Have A Dream were to be more memorable for Cameron which brought his first Scotland heartache,  as he explains: “1982 I remember fondly, everyone at school getting excited about the World Cup in Spain under Jock Stein and the belief we could get out the group stages. The game that really sticks out clearly though was 2-2 draw against Russia (USSR back then) when we needed to win to go through. I burst into tears when we didn’t win that game and that was the first ever time I’d shed a tear for football. We should’ve won on the night but yeah ’82 was brilliant but also very sad at the same time.” 

Coincidentally, the man who was between the sticks during Cameron’s early memories was Alan Rough and, around twenty years on, the two became colleagues at Real Radio; presenting the hugely popular ReakFootball Phone In. 

There have been many laughs and fallouts since the show began in 2003, but Cameron was quick to point out that all is well off air. He said: “We are the best of friends, there is no doubt about it. We have worked together for five years and have had our moments where we – I’ll be honest – have fallen out big style. We’ve nearly come to blows on a couple of occasions during the years where it’s got heated and sometimes personal but at the end of the day it’s only football and the friendship we have will never be broken because of a football match or because we disagree.”

Whilst Roughy puts up with Ewen’s outspoken views there have been many occasions where people have taken exception to Cameron’s opinions – most notably with the SFA during the infamous Berti Vogts reign. 

The situation reached boiling point when Cameron was banned from Hampden for the World Cup Qualifier with Norway in 2004 following a series of outbursts regarding the German’s management of the team. 

He explained: “The Norway game is an interesting one. It all revolved around Craig Brown funnilly enough when we were due to cover the Norway game. I always had a thorny relationship anyway because of my criticism of the SFA. There was also an incident involving David Taylor at Glasgow Airport which didn’t go down particularly well. We had a huge bust up after the 2-2 draw against the Faroe Islands when I cornered him and he wasn’t best pleased at some of my questions. Then the Norway game came up and we had invited Craig Brown to come along as our guest. We then asked for media accreditation for Craig Brown to be our guest and the SFA came back to me and said no, that it was too late, and I took the story to the newspapers and the SFA got a bit upset with that. The reason I did that is because I was at loggerheads with the SFA over Berti Vogts because I’m passionate, I love Scotland and I want to see the National team do well and sometimes I take it a bit too far, but I was so angry and upset with the SFA for not admitting they made a mistake and not biting the bullet in getting shot of Berti Vogts sooner rather than later that we continued to be at loggerheads. To this day, and I’m convinced of it, that the SFA cost us a place at the 2006 World Cup by not acting sooner. I believe that if Walter Smith had been in charge from Day One of that campaign we would’ve qualified for the World Cup.” 

Scotland of course have come on leaps and bounds since those dark days - with pride restored big time during the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign and the media got caught up in the feelgood factor generated by Walter Smith then Alex McLeish.  

Real Radio certainly didn’t hide their passion as the Scots, in the most demanding of qualifying draws ever, were still in with a chance of progressing to Austria and Switzerland up til the very last minute of the final game with World Champions Italy at Hampden - before that ludicrous free kick award led to the killer punch by Christian Panucci. 

After that heartbreaking moment, Cameron broke down live on air: “From a professional point of view you shouldn’t get emotionally involved, but, because I’m so proud to be Scottish, I got caught up in it. I broke down that night and the reason is not because of the emotional rollercoaster we’d been on, as a Scotland fan, but the way it was taken away from us. I turned to my right and I’ll never forget the image til my dying day of a little boy about 10 years old and his dad and he was sobbing his heart out with his dad’s arms around him trying to console him and calm him down. There was a little Scotland fan with the Scotland saltires painted to his face, he had the Scotland tammy hat on, strip and scarf and was stood there proud with the tears running down and thats when I lost it, because that boy turned up at Hampden believing that the dream was going to happen and for it to be taken away from us so cruelly, I think that was harsh. It wasn’t just that image – it was all around the stadium. Everyone that night was proud of the National team, stayed behind to applaud the National team and I hope for that little boys sake he will experience Scotland at a World Cup or European Championships sooner rather than later - and I think he will.” 

With the steady progress of the National team and our clubs refocussing on nurturing homegrown talent, the future is looking brighter for Scottish Football. Off the field however there are still question marks over the way our game is run, although Cameron believes that will change with Gordon Smith as SFA Chief Executive and Alex Salmond as First Minister. 

“Gordon Smith should be allowed to get on with the job and do what he thinks is right for Scottish Football”, he said. “He’s a football man, football through and through, knows what he’s talking about, he knows what’s right for the National team and Scottish Football. He’s a good appointment, but I just fear we’ll lose him if he doesn’t get to do the job he wants to do.” 

Regarding Salmond and the current Scottish Executive, Cameron added: “I have a feeling that Alex Salmond and the SNP are going to take Scotland to another level. I think they’ll come very good in regards to providing facilities for sport for the kids to play football. I think the SNP will come good in the years to come, Alex Salmond is a good man and he knows what’s right for Scottish Football, he knows what’s right for the country and I think he knows what’s right for the kids who we are looking at to be the future of our National team.” 

Ewen Cameron is a man who will not hold back when giving an opinion and, love him or loathe, him he isn’t about to change his ways anytime soon – which is probably just as well given the success of the Real Football Phone In and his passion for the Scotland National Team.