It’s a mystery for the defender why he was never capped for Scotland.
West Brom go into tomorrow night’s derby against Aston Villa with two Scotland internationalists in their ranks.
Midfielders James Morrison and Graham Dorrans also have six-times capped Steve Clarke as their manager.
Scotland, however, are so short of defenders that Villa’s Alan Hutton continues to play for his country despite being frozen out at club level.
It’s a far cry from the 1970s when West Brom legend Ally Robertson was starring for the high-flying Baggies, but was constantly overlooked by his country.
He says: “My one regret is that I didn’t get a full cap for Scotland.
“I look back and wonder if there’s something I could have done better or some way I could have fought my way into the Scotland squad.
“Between 1975 and 1978 I had my best four years in football.
“West Brom were doing well in the First Division and reached the FA Cup semi-final.
“But I couldn’t make it into Scotland’s initial 40-man squad for the World Cup in Argentina.”
The reason for Ally being overlooked remains a mystery.
He was always tipped for big things at international level and had an enthusiastic fan club!
He recalls: “I played for Scotland schoolboys when we beat England at White Hart Lane and Ibrox.
“When we played Wales in Cardiff, my family came down to support me in style.
“My brother-in-law got a Pontiac limousine and drove 12 people down from Linlithgow to cheer me on.”
Ally spent over 20 years as a professional in England, turning out for West Brom and Wolves.
He admits he twice came close to joining Rangers.
He said: “It looked like I was going to Ibrox as a kid but they didn’t really have a youth system and I didn’t want to be loaned out to a junior team.
“So I went to West Brom and kept Jim Holton out of the youth team.
“I had a second chance to join them when John Greig was the manager. I was tapped up by my West Brom team-mate Bobby Hope, but the clubs couldn’t agree on a fee.
“I would have walked up the road to join Rangers. My dad was ill and he would have loved to see me playing for the team he’d always supported.”
Ally still lives in the Midlands where he works as a Business Manager for a BMW dealership.
He remains close to West Brom, but he’s not sure the derby matches are as intense as they used to be.
He says: “They’re different because in my day a lot of the players spent 10 to 15 years with the same club and we became as passionate about things as the fans.
“We’d have a drink with them and chat about the big game.
“That doesn’t happen now.”
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe