Tartan Army is drinking Boston dry – Scotland’s party is just getting started

The flights across the Atlantic have been drunk dry; kilts and sporrans appear de rigueur; and whole Massachusetts’ neighbourhoods have been woken by a dawn chorus of bagpipes. Welcome to a corner of New England that’s been turned Scottish.

On Friday tens of thousands of Scots descended on America’s most historic and educated city – home to Harvard, MIT and now the Tartan Army – ahead of Scotland’s first match at a World Cup in 28 years. The wait has made the excitement and anticipation all the greater. No wonder they’ve turned to drink.

Fans landing at Boston’s Logan airport had only one grouch. “We ran out of beer, that was my only complaint,” bemoaned Darren Wilson on arrival where he was greeted by a phalanx of US television crews. The pilot told WBZ-TV that when the beer ran dry, the fans switched to wine. He had no concerns.

The Haven, Boston’s only Scottish-themed bar and restaurant, flew in 100 kegs of Tennent’s lager for the duration and has been packed out for the past two days. The lager won’t last long. In the bar, a piper heralded the start of the tournament (the Mexico-South Africa opener shown on big screens) while staff wore specially commissioned Boston T Party T-shirts – the “T” standing for Tennent’s.

Iain MacGillivray, the bagpiper who has been hired for the next 10 days at the bar, believes this is Scotland’s time after a litany of failures. Scotland have never got out of the group stage in eight previous attempts. “They’ve been very unfortunate and very unlucky, but I think we’ve got a good chance,” he said ahead of the game at the weekend (9pm on Saturday local time and 2am on Sunday in the UK) against Haiti, on paper the weakest team in a group that includes Morocco, who are champions of Africa, and mighty Brazil.

The Haven’s Scottish owner, Jason Waddleton, surveyed his bar and the “big party on right now” despite the heat of a Boston afternoon where temperatures were reaching 32C (90F) . “Everybody’s enjoying some pipes, everyone’s on the Tennent’s and we’re just warming up for that game on Saturday,” he said. It wasn’t clear if the Tennent’s would make it until then.

Donald Robertson, 54, a food truck owner, who had flown in with his wife Lorraine from their home in Bathgate in West Lothian, was not entirely enjoying the familiar lager. “It’s warm,” he said. But he got through $130 (£97) worth (10 beers as it happens) before moving on to the Irish bars that dominate the centre of Boston. “It’s just a normal night for a Scotsman,” he explained, “I probably had 20 pints but I was up at seven this morning to see the city. It’s super friendly.”

This has already been a poignant trip for the Robertsons. Their son, Louis, had taken his own life in 2024 and they flew in via the Niagara Falls, scattering his ashes there before driving down to Boston. Mr Robertson wore a kilt and a Scottish football shirt with his son’s name emblazoned on it.

On Friday afternoon, the Robertsons will join Craig Ferguson, a Scotland fan, at the end of his 3,000-mile charity walk across the US. Starting in Los Angeles, Mr Ferguson was due to arrive in Boston Common, having walked the entire route in his kilt, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH).

“We scattered our son’s ashes on the way down at Niagara. It was such a beautiful spot and that’s why we want to be at the finish for Craig’s walk.”

The Robertsons are not planning to go to any of the games – the ticket prices are too steep – but being here and watching them in bars with fellow Scots is what this World Cup is about for so many Scottish fans.

The Tartan Army, too, has an extraordinary history of raising funds. A large portion of the fans have decamped to Providence, a city about an hour south of Boston, where accommodation is that much cheaper. As a thank you to the city for hosting them, fans have donated $10,000 to the local Hasbro Children’s hospital. “It’s just a Scottish thing,” said Ally Henry, organiser of the Providence branch of the Tartan Army. “Since 2003, every away game we go to, we donate money to a children’s charity… It’s just a pleasure… making other people’s lives better.”

The Tartan Army has hired more than 20 yellow school buses to transport fans from Providence to the Boston stadium, where Scotland’s first two matches will be played. The stadium, about an hour outside of Boston itself, is expensive to reach.

Stewart Stevenson, 23, a private in the Army who joined up at 16, has taken his entire leave in one go to see Scotland at the World Cup. From Boston, he will drive down to Miami for their third game against Brazil. After that he’s headed for Texas. Unless Scotland gets through, in which case he will follow them onwards. “I’m hoping for a good spanking against Haiti. Three-nil would do us.”

Andrew Goodlad’s father promised him a trip to the World Cup if he got five As in his Highers and Scotland qualified for the World Cup. Both things happening has cost him more than £2,000 in flights and tickets and accommodation for the opener against Haiti. Andrew, who turns 17 on match day, said: “It is either a very good birthday. Or not so much. There’s a lot of excitement and a lot of nerves. This first game is massive. Even at my age I am well aware of our history of failure.”

For the record, his teachers are aware he is bunking off. Just in case cameras catch him on screen. With strict drinking laws in the US, he is one of the few Scots here not enjoying a pint. He won’t mind a jot if Scotland can beat Haiti and lay a ghost or eight to rest.