Soaring at a height of nearly two metres, Scott McTominay’s right boot connected with the ball and sent the stadium into a frenzy just three minutes into Scotland’s deciding qualifier against Denmark on November 18.
The thrilling 4-2 win sent Scotland to their first World Cup in 28 years, with goals from Lawrence Shankland, Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean.
But it’s that iconic moment, a world record-breaking strike, which has been honoured with a photo of it caught by Glaswegian photographer Ross MacDonald, put on display in the Great Hall of the National Galleries of Scotland.
A picture of Scott McTominay’s goal has been put on display in Edinburgh (Image: Stewart Attwood)
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Ross in action at a game (Image: Supplied)
Ross, 29, grew up just a few miles from Hampden in Newton Mearns, and now lives in the Southside.
As a freelance photographer with nearly a decade of experience, focusing on sport, he takes thousands of snaps every match, but he knew instantly that this one was special.
Ross said: “I could just tell something was about to happen… You have an intuition with sports photography that you’ve got to know where the ball’s going to go, and I knew it was heading to the middle of the box.
“It was quite strange how I almost felt it happening a second before it did because I captured the whole sequence of the goal.
“I think being a football fan, you do have a sense of what’s about to happen, but as a sports photographer in general, you do develop, just by doing hundreds and hundreds of games, maybe even thousands, a feeling of what potentially could happen in five seconds’ time.
“You take thousands of images at every game, and you do over a hundred games a season, so to have that split moment, to capture that split moment and have such an iconic split second in time, it’s great.
“It’s really great to see the reaction it’s had, and as a fan of the Scotland football team, it makes it even better.”
Ross has had to brave all weather in pursuit of the perfect pictures (Image: Supplied)
Ross regularly works for the national team and covered the whole qualifying group campaign at Hampden.
He sent 22 images of McTominay’s goal to the SFA and was happy they picked the one they did to hang in the prestigious gallery.
Ross said: “I think it might be to do with the fact that there’s an image of the ball in the moment it connects with his foot, but the one that’s been displayed is maybe about a metre away from McTominay’s foot and there’s bits of grass and bits of water, rain, hitting off the ball, which I think is quite nice just to see the impact of the kick.”
This is the first time Ross has had his work displayed in this sort of environment, and he admits it’s a special moment.
He said: “I’m pretty used to having my images used in newspapers, social media, online, and on TV, but there’s something special about having your work displayed in there for the public to enjoy and observe.
“I’ve had so many people reach out and tell me there’s a queue to see it and people are all chatting about it, which is so lovely to hear.
“One of the biggest compliments has been how many other photographers have praised it and reached out.
“It’s been so nice to have other sports photographers tell me how much they like it.”
Ross’s camera screen after he caught the goal in a burst of snaps (Image: Supplied)
Ross left school and studied photography at City of Glasgow College while working for his lifelong club, Pollok FC, where he cut his teeth.
He heaped praise on the club, saying: “They gave me free rein to do everything for five years.
“They let me get things wrong for a hundred games so that I could learn how to get them right.”
People have been queuing up to view the framed photo in the gallery (Image: Stewart Attwood)
His career has taken him around the world, working for different teams and covering various sports in all kinds of weather.
Scotland fans will be hoping there’s more iconic moments like this one to capture in Boston and Miami next year.
Hopefully, the National Gallery will need to reserve more wall space to showcase the team’s heroics.
As for Ross, he’s got his flights booked and will be following the team as far as he can.