Sport / We’ll Be Coming: Shetlanders set sights on US World Cup invasion
SHETLANDERS are preparing to spend up to £10,000 to cheer Scotland on at their first World Cup finals in almost 30 years.
James Milne and 13 more of the Brae Tartan Army contingent raced to book flights to the States after it was announced on Saturday night that Scotland would play their first two matches in Boston next June.
Scotland’s fervent supporters will then descend on Miami for the nation’s final group game, which comes against five-time champions Brazil on 24 June.
After a 28-year wait, Scotland will also face Morocco – who, along with Brazil, they played at their last World Cup appearance in 1998 – as well as Haiti for the first time ever.
The Tartan Army then faced an anxious day-long wait to find out that Boston and Miami would become the temporary home for thousands of Scots next summer.
Milne and the 14-strong Delting delegation were among those frantically searching booking websites for flights and accommodation in the immediate aftermath.
One of the group left his phone behind while they were organising the trip – and returned home to over 900 WhatsApp messages on the subject.
“I was the sole booker for the 14, so trying to find accommodation for 14 people is a bit of a nightmare,” Milne told Shetland News.
“I was trying to book hotels, and you would get through to pay and then it would say ‘this is no longer available’ or the price would go up.
“The frustration of that was unbelievable!”
They are set to fly instead to New York City before arriving in Boston in style ahead of the opening match against Haiti on Saturday 13 June.
“We booked a party bus to take us from JFK [airport] down to Boston,” he laughed.
“So that’s going to take us three-and-a-half hours.”
Some Scottish fans opted to book accommodation and flights out to North America before the draw had even been made, with one fan – as covered by the BBC – booking a hotel in every host city to cover all bases.
However Milne was one of the cohort who were “stung” after trying to get ah
ead of the pack in booking travel out to the European Championships in Germany last year.
“We booked flights out there for the opening day because we didn’t expect to be the opening game of the tournament,” he said.
“Then we had a lot of hassle trying to sort that out.”
Chastened by that experience, this time he and brother Stuart excitedly sat down to watch last Friday’s 48-team draw first.
Milne understatedly described the near two-hour long programme as “very difficult to watch”.
Eventually Scotland were placed in group C alongside Brazil, – the competition’s most successful team – 2022 semi-finalists Morocco and the relatively unknown Haiti.
A day later the Delting delegation were again glued to their TVs as FIFA announced where each nation would be playing their matches.
With Mexico, Canada and the USA all hosting the 2026 tournament, groups have been split up into different geographic regions to prevent too much moving around.
Milne said they were “delighted” to discover that they would be making Boston their home for the first two group games in June.
“It’s a place I’ve always wanted to go and it’s right next to New York so we can go through there,” he added.
“We’re in just the two cities [Boston and Miami] which is a bonus, because it saves a lot of money and travelling.”
That does not mean that travel or accommodation are in any way cheap though, as the Tartan Army discovered to their horror in the minutes, hours and days after the draw.
“We got accommodation in downtown Boston and it was pretty pricey,” Milne admitted.
“We were willing to pay a bit more to get us all together though.
“We’ve paid £4,500 so far, and that’s without tickets, without inter-state flights and without spending any money out there.
“We’re budgeting for about £10,000.”
Milne and three of the group are guaranteed tickets for Scotland’s group games because of the points they have accrued by attending games over the years.
However many of the others are left with the lottery of ballots, or in finding tickets from external sources.
Many are going out simply for the party though, and Milne is hopeful that Scotland will be one of the 32 sides progressing from the groups at the end of the first three games.
Of their group line-up, he said: “I’m glad there’s no European teams in it.
“The ‘cup final’ is going to be the first game against Haiti, but there’s no bad teams at a World Cup so we know that’ll be tough.”
Looking at Scotland’s chances of getting out of the group for the first time ever at a World Cup, Milne said it would be about whether Steve Clarke’s side “turn up on the day”.
“Brazil are obviously Brazil, and Morocco are pretty good,” he said.
“We say every time this is our best chance.
“I’m excited about it though. It depends on how we play, but we always live in hope.
“Topping the group going here has to count for something this time.”
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