When the ball came across.

I thought: 'This is a goal'. I was away from my marker. I was free. All I had to do was put my head on it . . .

Joe Jordan

THE mystery remains. Among the debris gathered on the covered terracing at Hampden on the morning of September 27, 1973, did a cleaner find the heel of a platform shoe? If so, it would have been thrown in a skip with the discarded bottles, flags and cans.

It was merely a piece of detritus after a night of glory. It had more significance for this correspondent, though. The absent heel meant I walked home to Busby in the manner of Long John Silver. My shoe was depleted but my soul rejoiced.

Scotland had beaten Czechoslovakia 2-1 and qualified for a World Cup finals for the first time in 16 years. West Germany '74 beckoned. There were many to praise, there were players to celebrate. But I will always remember that Joe Jordan moment.

The enduring story of Scotland's 1974 campaign is that the team returned from West Germany after failing to progress through the group stage despite remaining unbeaten. However, Jordan tells a story that is more poignant and has the capacity to induce the most potent form of nostalgia.

This boy from Cleland grew to become a centre-forward for, among others, Leeds United, Manchester United and AC Milan. He scored for Scotland at three consecutive World Cup finals. Yet, unbelievably, he was not the best we had in that era scattered with extraordinary Caledonian talent. Now Scotland would build a team around such ability.

In the early 1970s, Jordan's main concern was finding a way into the team. He came on for Kenny Dalglish on that night in 1973 and partnered Denis Law up front. There were others who qualify for the term world class. Danny McGrain, George Connelly, Sandy Jardine and Billy Bremner all played that night. The little man the 6ft 1in Jordan looked up to most was not .

"My hero was Jimmy Johnstone. I idolised him," Jordan says. "I thought he was a special player. There were others who were terrific in that era. Denis was a European player of the year and Kenny played for his country more than 110 times. But there was just something about Jimmy. I saw him do things that baffled me. You just said to yourself: how did he manage to manufacture that?"

Yet Johnstone did not play on that glorious night at Hampden and did not start any of the three games in Germany. There should be a pause now for a communal sigh. Johnstone could test the patience of the most forbearing of managers but it is stunning to realise that Scotland could play in three matches in the group stage, remain unbeaten, and leave the wee man redundant.

"The most significant aspect of that team was the depth," said Jordan, now first-team coach at Queens Park Rangers. "For example, we had Peter Lorimer, Willie Morgan and Tommy Hutchinson, who were all excellent in wide positions."

It is this competition for places that Jordan remembers most. "I was always aware that it was difficult to get into a Scotland team. I loved playing for my country but I was relieved when I was picked. There were so many others jostling for position."

His breakthrough came in 1973 but he admits that, at 21, he was possibly just too young to appreciate the full significance of that goal against Czechoslovakia.

"It was immediately more apparent what it meant to the older players," he said, recalling the celebrations on the Hampden turf. "I was a youngster compared with Denis Law, Billy Bremner, people like that who had fought a number of campaigns. They had not achieved what all football players want to do, which is play at a World Cup and prove they are as good a team as any. The reaction on their faces made it particularly clear what it meant to them."

It is astonishing in retrospect that the 1974 campaign is viewed with extreme disappointment by all who took part in it. This owes much to the will of the players and to the aching realisation that the team could have progressed much further.

"I would not like to say I was just proud to be there," Jordan said. "We had a good team and if we'd had the games in a different order I believe we could have got stronger as the competition progressed. Look at the way the Italians go through major competitions. They may not be the best in the group stage but can be there at the business end."

Scotland beat Zaire 2-0, drew 0-0 with Brazil and drew 1-1 with Yugoslavia. Jordan scored against the Africans and Yugoslavs but subscribes to the theory that it was the first game that cost Scotland qualification from the group.

"If we'd had Zaire at the end, I believe we would have gone through. We lost out on goal difference and we were perhaps a little naive in thinking that two goals and a clean sheet against Zaire would be enough.

"Perhaps going into a World Cup after such a long gap made us slightly immature in terms of realising quite what was required to progress. I would have liked to have been there longer and progressed. It was a team that could and should have done more."

There were desperate moments against Brazil when Bremner came close and David Hay almost produced a winner from long range. But Scotland were condemned to return prematurely though Jordan would play – and score – in the World Cup finals in Argentina in 1978 and Spain in 1982.

He does not have one particular memory from Germany, preferring to linger on the whole experience. "I savoured it because I did not know if it would happen again," he said. "It was special from the moment of qualifying, right through the warm-up games and into the competition itself. It was all about a series of opportunities presenting themselves to a young man.

"Everything was an eye-opener. The great players were all there – Cruyff, Mueller, Beckenbauer and the rest – it was a wonderful scene. But, again, there was no feeling of just being glad to be there.

"I believed there was an opportunity to progress and so did all the other players. It is why I can look back with some disappointment. I loved playing for Scotland but the reason we pulled on the jersey was to win. There was a feeling on those nights at Hampden that we were invincible."

There certainly was on September 26, 1973. "As a supporter, it is what you want to do," Jordan said of his great moment that sparked a tradition of qualifying. His goal came at an impossibly dramatic time. Not only had Scotland gone behind, before equalising through Jim Holton, but Hampden was groaning under the blows of repeated missed chances.

Then Bremner improvised brilliantly from a short free-kick. His shot hit a post. "We thought it might be the old story, nearly there but not quite," Jordan said. "But within seconds Willie Morgan found space and clipped the ball into the area off the outside of his right boot.

"When it came across. I thought: 'This is a goal'. I was away from my marker. I was free. All I had to do was put my head on it."

He did. The ball crashed into the net and the Hampden crowd surged forward in merciful release, unalloyed joy. "I'm lucky," Jordan said. "I know sometimes you make your own luck but sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time. And that happened to me."

It happened to more than 89,000 other Scots on that historic night, too.