Soccer-Bye Bye Boston: Scotland’s Tartan Army bids farewell to sleepless city

By William Schomberg and Karolos Grohmann

BOSTON, June 20 (Reuters) – Scotland fans flooded out of Boston on Saturday as the Tartan Army decamped for Miami, leaving behind a city short on sleep, high on fun and flush with bar receipts.

Supporters in the dark blue shirts of their football team and some in kilts wheeled suitcases through the city as they headed for buses, trains and planes to take them south.

“I wasn’t sure about the States hosting the World Cup but they’ve done us proud really. From the police to the bar staff and the locals, it’s been a really beautiful experience,” Karl Johnston, a 57-year-old civil servant from Glasgow, said.

Tens of thousands of Scotland fans packed into Boston for their team’s return to the World Cup after a 28-year absence, outnumbering — and out-partying — the visiting fans of other teams that have played in the city.

Friday’s 1-0 defeat by Morocco did little to dampen the spirits of the Tartan Army with Scotland still looking likely to qualify for the tournament’s first knockout round thanks to their 1-0 win over Haiti in their first Group C match.

Fans packed into bars and were out on the streets singing loudly in the small hours of Saturday. Bleary-eyed Bostonians woke up to the now familiar sight of statues of historical figures wearing traffic cones on their heads — the traditional calling card of Scotland supporters.

Conversations among one group of fans at Boston’s South Station on Saturday morning focused on the different types of painkillers available in U.S. pharmacies.

BOON FOR BUSINESSES

While hotels in parts of the United States and airlines have complained that they have not reaped the World Cup dollars they were expecting, reflecting the high prices for tickets and hospitality at the tournament, the visit of Scotland’s fans to Boston has been a boon for local businesses — especially those selling beer.

“We knew the city was going to be busy but we didn’t realise that they were going to drink so much,” said Adam Romanow, founder and chief executive of Boston-based Castle Island Brewing Co.

Sales of the company’s beer in June at the landmark Cheers bar — made famous by the hit TV series of the 1980s and 1990s — were 75% higher than in the same period last year, Romanow said.

Martha Sheridan, chief executive of Meet Boston, which promotes tourism in the city, said bar staff had been getting tips totalling almost $1,000 a day and tax revenues for the city and the state of Massachusetts would get a boost.

“But none of that compares to just the pure joy and camaraderie that we’re all experiencing right now,” Sheridan said. “I feel like we have a new lifelong friend in Scotland.”

For fan Johnston, who was about to take a bus to New York and then a flight to Orlando in time for Scotland’s last group game in Miami against Brazil on Wednesday, leaving Boston offered the prospect of moving the party to somewhere new.  

“Miami Beach, palm trees, samba, Tartan Army,” he said. “It’s football heaven isn’t it?”

(Writing by William Schomberg, editing by Ed Osmond)