Council / ‘No Legion, no party’: venue given late licence for Scotland’s World Cup opener
THE FIRST late licence has been issued in Shetland for this summer’s football World Cup – with the Lerwick Legion set to stay open until 4am to allow folk to watch Scotland’s opening match.
The application for the occasional licence, from 1am to 4am on Sunday 14 June, was approved by members of Shetland’s licensing board this morning (Monday).
It means the Legion can stay open late to show Scotland’s opening World Cup game against Haiti in Boston, which kicks off at 2am local time.
It will be Scotland’s first game at a World Cup since 1998.
After the licence was granted board chairman councillor Neil Pearson referred to a famous Scotland football team slogan and said: “No Legion, no party”.
The Legion had initially applied for people aged 12 to 17 to be allowed entry with an adult, but this was withdrawn from the application prior to the meeting.
The Scottish Government has provided temporary guidance on late licences to screen games at the 2026 World Cup, and this said children and young people under the age of 18 should not be admitted during any period of later opening.
The local licensing standards officer had said it was up to the board to decide whether to grant the additional license ahead of the fixture.
“The board may consider this event to be of national significance, as it marks the first time this century that Scotland has qualified for the World Cup,” it said.
Police raised no objections to the Legion’s application.
At Monday’s meeting councillor Moraig Lyall questioned how much thinking had gone into how will people will get home after full-time.
Representatives of the Lerwick Legion said the committee liaises with taxi firm Allied ahead of big events, while they also said supporters who attend the venue are usually good at pre-arranging transport.
The meeting also heard that the capacity for the function room is for up to 200 people, although given it will be seated then it may be more in the region of 180.
The Legion committee will be on hand to cast an eye over the crowd during the game, councillors were told.
Members were advised that if there were no grounds for refusal, then they had to grant the application.
Lerwick North and Bressay councillor Stephen Leask proposed that the application be granted, saying the Legion was a “very well organised club”.
Shetland Central member Catherine Hughson added that the opening game could be put on the “same footing as a special event, as it will be a special event for the whole of Scotland”.
She also praised the work of the Legion committee, as did Shetland South member Bryan Peterson, who said it was a “very well run organisation and a well loved institution in Lerwick”.
Pearson and Lyall also mentioned how they had some concerns over the initial application requesting entry for people aged 12 to 17, but were pleased to see it restricted to over 18s.
The Scotland team kick off their first World Cup campaign since 1998 against Haiti in Boston on Saturday 13 June at 9pm in the United States, with the game beginning at 2am on Sunday 14 June on UK time.
Their second match is against Morocco on Friday 19 June, which kicks off at 11pm UK time, before concluding the group against Brazil on Miami on Wednesday 24 June – again at 11pm UK time.
The Scottish Government assigned Monday 15 June as a national bank holiday to mark Scotland’s participation in the World Cup, but Shetland Islands Council joined a number of local authorities in deciding to keep things business as usual.
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