Thousands of Scotland supporters have descended on Boston ahead of their national side’s first World Cup match in almost 30 years, set for 21:00 local time on Saturday against Haiti.
Edinburgh Airport was awash with kilts and Scotland tops on Wednesday as groups left for the United States, and several fans wearing full uniform landed at Logan Airport in Boston on Wednesday ready for the game. The influx is the clearest sign yet that this long-awaited return is being treated as more than a fixture: it is a homecoming-of-sorts for a generation of supporters who have waited 28 years for a World Cup appearance.
Scenes on arrival ranged from practical to raucous. Christopher Currie celebrated buying match tickets in mid-flight: "We managed to buy tickets at 34,000ft (10363m) so it's been a great flight. We're absolutely buzzing now." Graham Howieson and his two sons wore kilts on the plane: "It's a bit hot and sweaty. It's a bit uncomfortable, but we wanted to represent Scotland." Darren Wilson laughed about the inflight festivities: "We ran out of beer, that was my only complaint" and added that passengers broke into applause on landing — a distinctly Scottish touch by his account.
The emotional heft falls heaviest on long-time fans. Jim Stewart, who first saw Scotland play at Hampden as a 15-year-old in 1972 and attended the famous 2-1 win at Wembley in 1977, said of past trips: "I was on the pitch that day. My dad's got a bit of Wembley turf in his garden somewhere still - but no goalposts." His first World Cup was in Spain in 1982, when he and eight friends covered a campervan in tartan wallpaper and drove to Malaga. Those memories explain why this tournament has pulled so many across the Atlantic.
Not everyone made it easily. Some supporters who spent thousands of pounds on travel and tickets reported being scammed or running into US travel-authorisation problems. Carole McNamara said she lost more than $1,300 after buying tickets online: "We got scammed - is what it is, but we are still smiling." She added the broader sting: "Loads of people spent thousands of thousands of pounds and you can't get your money back" and called the timing cruel: "When you waited 28 years, it's a kick in the teeth." Allan Begg noted ticket-price swings, saying match tickets were about $1,200 when first on sale and later dropped to $500.
Complicating travel for some was the ESTA process. Several fans reported their visa-waiver applications switching from approved to pending or rejected at the last minute. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said ESTAs are continuously vetted and warned that failure to disclose arrests or convictions can lead to denial, revocation or a permanent bar from entering the United States. Justin Longmuir, reflecting on what supporters had faced online, said: "There's been a lot on social media, a lot of people getting knocked back and not getting across and stuff, so it has been a bit of an eyeopener, but we're here now." The unanswered question is how many supporters were prevented from crossing the Atlantic because of those issues.
Practical notes for fans on the ground: Scotland play Haiti at 21:00 local time on Saturday — 02:00 BST on Sunday for viewers back home — and will stage their first two group games in Boston. Fan zones and bars around the city are expected to be busy; McNamara said her group plans to use fan zones and has tickets for a pub. David Wood, another arriving supporter, promised the classic tourist stop: "I'm going to go have a nice whiskey at my digs, then I'm going go about the town. I'm going to find Cheers. That's what I want do. I want to find Cheers. I watched it when I was younger, and I want to find the bar."
When kick-off comes, the mood inside the stadium will show whether the travelling tide of support arrived intact or was thinned by last-minute ESTA denials and scams. Officials have not published how many fans were refused entry; that figure will now matter almost as much as the scoreline when Scotland take the field at 21:00 on Saturday.
