With September now upon us, it means the return of international football to our thoughts and it’s an exciting time there across both the men’s and women’s games.

First up is the men, and the continuation of the quest to qualify for the European Championship in Germany next year. We’ve already been doing some extraordinary things, winning our opening four fixtures for the first time in our history being the one many have focused on for one thing. But it’s all the more astonishing when you look at the detail of those four games. Beating Cyprus and Georgia at Hampden was always a must if we want to qualify, but no one will ever forget the late, late finish against the latter due to the waterlogged pitch!

But the other two is where the real achievements can be found. After the Cyprus win came the home victory over top seeds Spain, a game where Scotland never even really looked like letting it slip if we’re honest, and the irony of Spain being the ones to complain about how gamesmanship given how they played that night was laughable at best.

Then came the amazing late drama away to Norway to turn defeat into victory. When the draw was made, Norway were seen as the main threat to finish in the top two qualifying spots. With a true star talent like Erling Haaland in their squad, among others plying their trade at the top level it should be noted, Norway expects and it looked like they might deliver a huge blow to our aspirations. But then they took a shotgun to their own foot for the equaliser before Kenny McLean finished off one of the best moves I think I’ve seen from a Scotland team in many years.

All that means that a place in Germany next summer is ours to lose. We could even qualify as early as this month – with three games to spare – if other games go our way. First up in any calculation though is to win in Cyprus. They made it tough for us at Hampden before Scott McTominay’s two late goals made the scoreline look far more comfortable, so expect even more difficulties when they host and I’m sure the September heat could play a part too.

But let’s imagine we win that match and make it five wins out of five. If, on the same night, Spain beat Georgia then a draw between Georgia and Norway on the same night we celebrate the SFA’s 150th anniversary with the match against England (no chance I’m calling that a friendly) would see it mathematically impossible for us to drop out of the top two. Indeed, there are mathematical permutations for England that could see them qualify that night as well – not bad for a game that isn’t even officially a competitive match!

The sooner we can get qualification in the bag, the better. The way the fixtures have fallen has seen us burn through three of our four home matches already. The remaining one is against Norway, and I would much rather see us get to enjoy seeing a talent like Haaland in the flesh knowing the result doesn’t matter to us! But given after Cyprus we have trips to both Spain and Georgia – and I’m getting flashbacks thinking about previous trips to Georgia – this Cyprus game becomes all the more important to get that win.

As much as the men are facing England in that celebration match, it’s actually the women facing England that matters far more. Just ten days after the men meet at Hampden, the women will meet at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland in the opening match of the inaugural women’s Nations League. While the men have had to work their way up from Nations League C to reach Nations League A when the next campaign comes around, the women have been ranked high enough that they’ll start out in Nations League A.

The draw for that could have been kinder though!

As well as the reigning European Champions and recent World Cup runners up – who also happen to be the Auld Enemy – there’s also the Netherlands and Belgium. The latter will face Scotland at Hampden a few days after the trip to England and are arguably Scotland’s best chance of avoiding relegation. England will be favourites to win the group, and probably the Nations League as a whole, but the Netherlands also had a very good World Cup and impressed many (myself included) until Spain took extra time to see them off in the quarter final on their way to winning the tournament.

Belgium, like Scotland, had to look on and wonder what might have been. They also reached the playoffs having finished second behind Norway in their qualifying group, but whilst we got past Austria in the first round only to come unstuck against the Republic of Ireland in the second, Belgium lost out to Portugal in the first round. So if Scotland are to make any mark on this Nations League, that Belgium game at Hampden has to be targeted for the three points. But you never know, maybe we can shock a few and take a big scalp in this group.

Personally, I’m excited about this whole month. I may not be fortunately enough to be heading over to Cyprus to catch some sun as well as some football action, but I’ll be able to take my son to his first England game – something I didn’t get to do myself until we faced them at Celtic Park in 2014 in what was kind of the return fixture after the 150th celebrations of the FA at Wembley the previous year. Somehow I know this month’s game won’t match the absolute highs and lows I felt when we faced England at Hampden in 2017 when 0-1 became 2-1 became 2-2.

But if anything I’m even more excited about what follows. As a Celtic fan, I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to quite a few European venues in the past. But I’ve never done a Scotland away trip. So when I found out the women were going to be playing in Sunderland on a Friday night I figured it was about time I changed that. So I’ll finally get to tick that box, in what might actually be the easiest way possible! And of course I’ll be back up the road to be at Hampden to not only see the women play for what will be only my second time after the aforementioned Austria playoff match, but all being well I’ll also be there with both my son and my daughter – and she’ll be making her Hampden debut!

Yes, it’s safe to say this is going to be an exciting month ahead for the Scottish national team, but it’s going to be just as exciting for me and the next generation of Scotland fans too. And hopefully when September ends, we’ll be looking back at some more wonderful memories across all four of these matches.