The World Cup has just been won, but the Tartan Army are still celebrating! Scotland made it into the World Cup for the first time since 1998 this year! And Jacqui, Healthcare Assistant at Highbury House, proudly joined the Tartan Army in Boston to support them.
“After 28 years of not qualifying for the World Cup as soon as we had beaten Denmark I knew that I was going! I wasn’t sure about my partner (who’s English), but I told him he was welcome… if not, I was going on my own!😃”
Jacqui and her partner made the trip together and spent a week in Boston to support Scotland along with the Tartan Army. The mayhem started as soon as they arrived. Not all of it Scottish, though…
“We arrived early afternoon, checked into our hotel then went outside and the sky suddenly went black! We were told that there was a tornado warning in place, so we just stayed in the hotel.”
Neil McCann (an Ex Scottish player) was also staying at the same hotel. Jacqui also ended up at a bar where they met Ex Scottish footballer James McFadden!
“We asked him to sign our flag. I decorated the Saltire with glitter and put ‘Kings Arms Brighton On Tour’ on it.”
The Tartan Army Scottish supporters are widely known for their powerful, lively presence at home and away games. Jacqui and the rest of the supporters showed how true that was.
“On our way to train station to get train out to Gillette stadium, the pipers pipped us to the train. The singing was tremendous! The party had started!”
Of course, the fans couldn’t resist the classic tradition of leaving a few traffic cones on statues.
At the stadium we met a lot of different nationalities and the atmosphere was buzzing! Everyone around us joined in with the Tartan Army! All the service staff at the train station and at the stadium were amazing, singing, laughing, cheering us on. The game was good. Poor refereeing but it didn’t dampen our spirits. We still left the stadium singing and dancing!”
The liveliness carried on through the evening with most of the Tartan Army ending up in the same pub together, having a fun, memorable night singing Scottish songs. Which included, of course, “No Scotland, No Party.”
The Tartan Army also raised a lot of money for local charities. To keep costs down, they hired a fleet of school buses for fans to go and watch the game. They got a rebate back on their initial payment and donated it to local charities. They also cleaned up the fans zones (the area for those who couldn’t get a ticket).
Despite Scotland being knocked out the World Cup, the achievement will be remembered and the support from devoted fans such as Jacqui won’t be forgotten.
