FOR almost two weeks, Dunoon local David Neilson, his sons and their friends have been living every Scotland supporters’ dream – following the national team across the Atlantic at the World Cup.
From the highs of victory against Haiti to the familiar feeling of despair during the Morocco match, the group have experienced every emotion that comes with supporting the national side.
But as David’s final diary entries reveal, the memories made in America have stretched far beyond the action on the pitch.
While Scotland’s World Cup journey remains uncertain, one thing has been guaranteed – the Tartan Army has left its mark on New England.
From strangers offering beers and backyard hospitality to locals proudly wearing Scotland shirts, the welcome received in Boston and Providence has created friendships and stories that will last long after the final whistle.
As the Dunoon travellers prepare to return home, David reflects on the matches, the people, and a once-in-a-lifetime adventure following Scotland on football’s biggest stage.
Day 8
The news media this side of the pond are showing wall-to-wall stories of the Tartan Army. They say the Scots drank three times as much beer than was consumed on St Patrick’s Day. The warmth and generosity of the New England folk to us is remarkable.
From our own experience, the lady across the road from where we are staying invited us to use her pool anytime, which the boys duly accepted. Last night a Boston cop invited us into his garden pub to watch the Portugal game. Free drinks, home-made beef jerky and music into the small hours. A guy drove by in his red pick-up. Just a stranger. He stopped, came over and handed us two crates of beer then drove off again.
The boys went to play golf while I took the short journey by train down to America’s smallest state, Rhode Island where about 8,000 of the Tartan Army have set base in its capital, Providence. A lovely city, much smaller and quieter than Boston but again, everyone wants to stop you in the street to wish good luck to Scotland.
We have typical Dunoon weather today, the heavens have opened and the fan zone was cancelled so many taking shelter in the bars, as if that was an excuse.
It’s 24 hours to the biggest match of a generation. A point will likely put Scotland in the last 32 but we are all aware how good this Morocco team are. We expect a change in shape of the Scotland team to counter the attacking talents of the opposition. It will be another sell-out, the only tickets available through FIFA are over $1,000.
The night finished at a local Irish bar in Medford where we settled down to watch the Mexico v South Korea game. It’s a very small world, we met an engineer from CalMac who had worked on the MV Argyle and MV Ali Cat.
It’s always the hope that kills us. Barely two minutes into the game with Morocco we concede and the rest of the first half is a brutal watch. Morocco could easily have scored three and are miles ahead of Scotland. A better performance in the second half but it’s not enough. We now have to take something against Brazil, which I fear is unlikely, or depend on that 3 points gained against Haiti being enough to get us through as one of the best third-placed sides.
The travel to Boston was much better organised this time and it appears lessons were learned from the Haiti match, the access to the stadium being much quicker yesterday.
A trickle of England supporters have already arrived in Boston before their game on Tuesday against Ghana. I expect a lot more will start arriving today. As expected they have been met with the usual good-natured banter and the atmosphere in the Boston bars is superb, despite today’s tepid performance from Scotland.
Apparently haggis that was banned in the US since 1971 is now allowed to be sold in the state of Massachusetts and Boston is now twinned with Glasgow. Remarkable what just a few days of having the Tartan Army stay over does for international diplomacy.
Oh, and Gianni Infantino (President of FIFA), was above us during the game… which made me choke on my beer.
The mass exodus begins with Scots heading to the airport to journey down to Miami or to go back home. Boston is still full of Scots but not as many as the last 10 days. No definitive number has been given yet but it’s been suggested upwards of 40,000 travelled to New England and I certainly wouldn’t argue with that number.
Indeed the number of Scotland supporters has swelled since the Tartan Army’s charm offensive and Amazon has been doing a roaring trade selling replica and retro Scotland tops to the locals. It’s great to see American mums, dads and kids walking about with Scotland tops on.
The English invasion has yet to happen, probably because they need the hotel rooms that will eventually be vacated by the Scots in the next 24 hours.
The game on Wednesday against Brazil will determine Scotland’s future participation in the competition. A point will secure a place in the next round, a defeat means we have to depend on others to go through as one of the eight third-placed qualifiers. As is always with Scotland, what we can guarantee is a roller coaster of emotions.
Day 12
The time has come for us to head home. Bank balances emptied but memories to last forever. It would have been nice to have watched our team be a bit more expansive, even have a few more shots at goal, the very least the supporters deserve and maybe that will happen in Miami or further afield, but it’s what happened off the pitch that was more spectacular.
At the turn of the year I had reservations in going to the World Cup. FIFA’s price gouging, a policy they make no apologies for, was particularly unpalatable. The news coming from the States was generally negative and the war in Iran is putting prices up, as we can testify.
However, my reservations were misplaced. This has been a trip none of us will ever forget.
I don’t know if it’s our common language, or that many in this area can trace their roots back to Scotland, Ireland or England or maybe it’s just something the locals have never experienced before. Possibly a combination of all of the above but the impact made on the people of Massachusetts by the Tartan Army is enormous and that was reciprocated by the most fantastic hosts who really loved having us here.
If we had been allowed to hand pick where we would play at this World Cup then there would not be a better place than the cities of Boston and Providence.
Just boarding our plane at Boston and tomorrow the adventure will have ended as we get home to sunny Dunoon.
