Scotland captain Andy Robertson organised a week-long Traitors game for his squad during their November training camp in Turkey ahead of World Cup qualifiers.
Robertson devised the game himself, complete with blackboards and mini shields, with chosen players reporting to his room each night to vote someone out.
The exercise was his way of keeping spirits high and building team unity ahead of crucial games against Greece and Denmark.
It is a small but telling example of how the 32-year-old shapes the environment around him, both on and off the pitch.
His journey from earning £18 a week at Queen’s Park, working in the Hampden ticket office, to captaining Scotland to their first men’s World Cup in 28 years is genuinely extraordinary.
Robertson recently brought an end to his nine-year spell at Liverpool, where he developed from a raw attacking full-back Jurgen Klopp felt could not defend into one of the world’s finest players at his position.
He departed Anfield having won two Premier League titles and the Champions League, with some supporters labelling him the club’s greatest-ever left-back.
Alex McLeish handed Robertson the Scotland captaincy in September 2018 following Scott Brown’s retirement, despite the defender having earned just 22 caps at that stage.
James McFadden, an assistant coach with the national team at the time, summed up why the decision felt obvious. “He’s just a very humble guy,” McFadden said. “You would never know he plays for Liverpool, top of the league and in the Champions League final. He’s a leader.”
Robertson has now captained Scotland more times than any other player in the nation’s history, accumulating 93 caps with only Kenny Dalglish having represented the country more.
Head coach Steve Clarke has noted his captain’s ability to be both “demanding” and “understanding” at the right moments, a balance that has proven invaluable to the squad.
Napoli midfielder Scott McTominay echoed that assessment, describing his captain in glowing terms. “Top boy, Robbo,” McTominay said. “He’s such a great captain and he’s got that good balance between being one of the senior players and saying you need to wake up if you’re not playing well.”
“Then he’s also got the personable side, organising things with the manager, helping young players and stuff. He’s brilliant with that, brilliant,” McTominay added in a recent Scottish FA documentary.
Robertson helped introduce a tradition where players are presented with a personalised Scotland shirt on their first cap and at other career milestones, recognising achievements that had previously gone unmarked.
Klopp himself described Robertson as a “mood-lifter” and “energy-giver” during their time together at Liverpool, a reputation that has clearly carried into international football.
Robertson was released by Celtic at 15 and eventually found himself posting on social media as an 18-year-old about being broke and needing a job while playing for Queen’s Park in Scottish League Two.
Less than a year later he was featuring regularly for Dundee United, and within another 12 months had joined Hull City in the Premier League and earned his first senior Scotland cap under Gordon Strachan.
His former Hull manager Steve Bruce highlighted Robertson’s capacity to grow into bigger challenges, while Strachan credited his intelligence and rapid learning as key qualities that accelerated his development.
Robertson himself largely attributes his rise to fortune in finding coaches willing to give him opportunities, alongside the work ethic he maintained throughout. “I will give this 100% and, if I don’t make it, at least I can look back and go, you know what, I gave that absolutely everything and wasn’t for me,” he said.
John McGinn, who has known Robertson since childhood football in Glasgow, summed up the wider significance of his captain’s story. “Part-time football to go so quickly to Hull, Liverpool, Champions League winner, Premier League winner, captaining your country at a World Cup. That’s fairytale stuff,” McGinn said.
Robertson is closing in on Dalglish’s all-time Scotland record of 102 caps, and his name will be synonymous with the generation that finally ended the nation’s long wait for a return to football’s greatest stage.
