Ryan Gauld Exclusive: 'Scotland was always an ambition. It still is'

The 28-year-old is a star in the MLS and would jump on a flight anytime to win his first international cap

By Ryan Gauld

There’s this thing called a ‘fitness for duty’ form that the SFA send to clubs before an international window, asking them to confirm whether a specific player is available for selection for Scotland. It goes out before the squad is selected – to a greater number of players, like a shortlist for the final squad.

I know about this, because one of these forms was sent to my club, Vancouver Whitecaps, before the double-header against Spain and France last October. There might have been one for me before, but this was the first time I had been aware of it. The first time in nine years that I had thought: “Maybe there’s a chance…”

I get asked about playing for Scotland so often that I get a bit wary of saying the wrong thing – I don’t want to create a headline. But the true answer is pretty simple. It was always an ambition of mine. It still is.

I’ve felt that way since I started out – as an aspiring footballer and then when I was with the Scotland Under-19s or Under-21s.

Gauld has 21 Scotland caps, but all at either Under-19 or Under-21 level

That hasn’t changed, just because I’m 28 years old now and it’s been 10 years since my one and only senior squad call-up. That dream is still the same.

My call-up in 2014 feels like an eternity ago now. I was 18 years old and still at Sporting CP, and everything felt a bit surreal. I wasn’t sure how any of it worked.

I remember Mark McGhee, who was assistant manager, pulling me aside in training and telling me to give it my all, because that’s what Gordon Strachan looked for.

It was a great experience to be around all those senior pros. The best players in the country – including Andy Robertson, who I’d shared a flat with not long before, when we were both at Dundee United. Now I was in Portugal and he was in the Premier League, with Hull City.

I’ve heard the theory that I shouldn’t have come to the MLS if I wanted to play for Scotland; that I should have stayed in Europe. But I couldn’t base a decision as important as that on a ‘maybe’. I had just finished what I thought had been a really strong season for me in Portugal, but I still hadn’t been anywhere near the Scotland squad. I knew moving to the MLS wouldn’t help my chances, because of perceptions around the league, and I had the chance to play in several different European leagues.

But – as I’ll write about on Monday – Vancouver Whitecaps made it clear from the start that I was an important part of their plans. I would play regularly, and had that not been the case it would have been like a step back for me, regardless of the club or the league I was playing in.

The competition for a Scotland shirt is probably fiercest in my position, and they’re all great players in their own right. But I still want to wear that shirt – even it means jumping on a flight from Canada’s west coast.

The distance wouldn’t put me off. Look at Lionel Messi – at his age, he would still fly anywhere to play for Argentina. I’m exactly the same. If I see another one of those fitness for duty forms dropping at Vancouver Whitecaps, my response will be the same as it was last September: “Maybe there’s a chance…”