During his career, he won the European Cup and three English league titles, and captained his national side.
Gemmill scored the third Scotland goal in a 3–2 win against the Netherlands in the 1978 FIFA World Cup.
Taylor then told Derby manager, Brian Clough, about Gemmill who had been considering signing for the reigning champions Everton.
When the player refused to sign for Derby (who had never won the league title), Clough told him that he was going to sleep outside in the car.
He was suspended for the 1973 European Cup semi-final, but he became club captain in place of the injured Roy McFarland when the Rams won their second title in 1975.
In September 1982, he joined up with former teammate and club manager Larry Lloyd at Wigan Athletic but only stayed for 11 matches.
Gemmill played 43 times and scored eight goals for Scotland, and captained the team on 22 occasions.
[9] Three minutes later, Johnny Rep scored a second goal for the Netherlands, which was deflected off Gemmill's outstretched leg and flew past Alan Rough's dive.
The goal is referenced in the film Trainspotting, in which characters Tommy and Lizzie decide to make love while watching a homemade porno film, only to see it has been replaced with a football tape called "100 Great Goals" which features Gemmill's strike.
Gemmill first saw Trainspotting on a club outing with Rotherham, and his reaction was:[6] "I got absolutely slaughtered by the lads... to be fair I was a bit embarrassed by it."
In 1970, Archie drove his pregnant wife back to Scotland to ensure that Scot would be born there.