Boston, Providence and the Tartan Army - A Perfect Match

Boston, Providence and the Tartan Army - A Perfect Match

Scottish Football Blog

Boston/Providence and the Tartan Army - A Perfect Match

How We Got There and How It Might Not of Happened?

Well, where to begin? How about at the start when the FIFA World Cup draw was made when Scotland were drawn into a group containing Brazil, Morocco and Haiti. That draw was on the Friday, it took a long time...I mean, a very, very long time. But that was just the teams, the day the second draw came out of where the games were going to be held and at what time of the day was kick-off going to take place.

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The eye-catching one for most, if not, all the Tartan Army was the final group game against Brazil in Miami. It seemed like the most appropriate place in America to host a match against the two nations.

As for the other two opening games against Haiti and Morocco it was revealed that both matches would be getting held in Foxborough's Gillette Stadium, to be renamed the Boston Stadium for commercial reasons. It seems like an ideal scenario for the Tartan Army as, for the lucky few who would make the trip over all three games, they could stay in Boston or be as close to the stadium. For some they would stay elsewhere within Massachusetts; Springfield, Cambridge, New Bedford, Salem, Newport, Marlborough all within the state would be the base for some. For others it would be the Big Apple New York City, where some of the Tartan Army where videoed singing with the Brazil supporters in Times Square just days before the opening game v Haiti.

The unofficial base camp for many was in Rhode Island where they chose Providence as the Gillette Stadium was actually closer to the city than to the now renamed 'Boston Stadium'. Approximately 6,000 Tartan Army members eventually would be based there throughout the course of twelve days.

However this perfect match might never have happened in the first place. Foxborough, the town hosting the matches at the Gillette Stadium, was refusing to grant a license to FIFA due to a dispute over security at the venue during the World Cup. Without the agreements of all three parties; the local town, FIFA and Robert Kraft who is the chairman of the Kraft Group who know both the New England Revolution MLS team and the New England Pariots NFL team, then the matches at the ground could not have taken place and a possible reroute of venue could have occured.

This would have raged, not only the Tartan Army, but all the fanbases of Haiti, Morocco in Group C but also the fans of England, Ghana, Iraq, Norway and France who all had matches in the group stage base of the tournament. They all would had booked hotel rooms, flights and match tickets after spending over the odds to get to America in the first place and a possible reroute elsewhere would not have pleased anyone at all. However the dispute was officially over in March when all three parties agreed terms and the security licences and the green light to travel to Massachusetts for the games.

The Tartan Army Arrives

With a go ahead of games finally secured, the Tartan Army started arriving in their numbers, not long after Scotland's win over Bolivia in New Jersey. The first wave arrived as early as the 9th of June; still four days from the opening game against Haiti, a slow turnout at first but eventually more came and more came and even more after that. They arrived from everywhere, staying in Boston whilst approx. 6000 stayed in Providence, Rhode Island throughout the first weeks of the tournament.

Some were already starting to work the Tartan Army magic out on the Boston Police Department at the Dubliner where an officer struggled, I mean very much struggled to put a Scotland shirt over his unform.

It would be hard to estimate how many Scotland fans were actually in the two cities or in the stadium on Group C's opening night, but it was way over the original allocated numbers given out. Hundreds and hundreds arrived to the ground in yellow school buses, all of which were named after Scotland players; so whilst you could have been on the John McGinn bus, your friend might have been on the Lyndon Dykes bus.

Game one at end, Scotland 1-0 winners over Haiti and the Tartan Army witnessed their first major tournament win since defeating Switzerland at the European Championships in 1996 and for the first time at the FIFA World Cup since defeating Sweden in Italy in 1990. They weren't at their best, by a long way, but Scotland very rarely cope with being favourites in any scenario and especially in a major tournament; ghosts of the likes of Costa Rica and Iran and Peru were probably on the minds of all who attended the match or were a part of the 1.8m who stayed up late at 2am on a Saturday Night to watch the game on television, so the Tartan Army were more than delighted with the three points that officially took the monkey off the back for the players.

Game One Is Done...So Now What Do We Do?

The question next though was, what's next? Saturday to Friday is a long time to wait for the next game especially when you are away from home for a long time.

For most they went and watched another ball game, America's favourite pastime Baseball. The sight which greeted the locals on Sunday night was unbelievable, the Boston Red Sox turned the game into a Scottish Heritage Night and marched through the streets and parks of Boston towards Fenway Park with the bagpipes and the kilts.

Scotland fans were rewarded with free items including a Boston Red Sox home shirt which had the traditional Scotland colours of dark blue and white. 5000 was expected at Fenway Park but the NBC Sunday Night Baseball commentators believed there was much more; commentator Jason Benetti called the Tartan Army overwhelming joyous as they sang the traditional Tartan Army songs along with some new favourites including ABBA's Dancing Queen and The Killers' Mr. Brightside.

The baseball was a favourite throughout the week for the Tartan Army, whether that was at Fenway Park or, for some, at Yankee Stadium. For others they brought the Glasgow tradition of putting cones on the statues around the city. The look of the confused locals was a joy to watch and they went along with it, they even joined in on the antics as well, why not? It's only a bit of fun. There was playing bagpipes on the streets, the local police could also not wait to join and have a lesson with the pipers in town. And the same occurred whilst playing football on the streets, one officer even went viral whilst doing keepie-uppies.

And of course there's the drinking, some bars were left totally spare of beer and alcohol whilst some said all they had left was Bud Light, which most actually refused. The Tartan Army like beer, but just not Bud Light beer.

Most bars in the cities made three times as much as the last St. Patrick's Day celebrations in the city in one night. Some reported to have made historic record sales, beating the likes of the Super Bowl and the World Series. One bartender in a Boston, who worked the Saturday shift whilst the first game against Haiti was taking place, said she was the only one who was on shift for the night and made around $1,000 in tips alone.

And with the drinking came the singing, I wonder if there's now anyone in Boston or Providence who before didn't actually know who Steve Clarke or John McGinn were who now know all about the players and the supporters. Scotland's party anthem of 'Yes Sir I Can Boogie' was probably unheard of in America before the Tartan Army came to town, it's probably now their state anthem now that the Tartan Army are on their way to Florida. They probably have been asked why a random song by Baccara is the unofficial party anthem of Scotland and they still wouldn't believe us if we told them it's all to do with former Aberdeen defender Andrew Considine's stag-do, that's a bachelor party to anyone from Massachusetts and Rhode Island reading this. And there's Loch Lomond, the sound of the song in the stadium on Saturday night might have topped the last few times it has been played at Hampden Park at half-time.

The locals have joined in on all aspects Scotland and of Scottish culture; on Sunday night, whilst in an Irish bar members of the Tartan Army were having a drink celebrating the win the night before, what happened next turned into some quite excellent and brilliant, the bar was holding line dancing sessions and they joined in. So much so they taught the locals the favourite Scottish dance of all time...the Slosh and they even found the song to go with it, Daniel Boone's 'Beautiful Sunday'. Throughout the week the instructor has been going bar to bar with his classes and has now brought it into his lessons, this was something that he had never heard of before in his life and by Wednesday night he had become an expert on the dance. Don't tell me that we Scots aren't cultural people.

It's What We Do

There's generosity too, where ever Scotland and the Tartan Army go we leave behind legacies and donations behind for the locals. In most countries it's been unheard of what the Tartan Army do but the donation in America is the Tartan Army Sunshine Appeal's 112th donation in a row and plans are already underway for 113 when Scotland face Slovenia in the UEFA Nations League.

The supporters have raised over $10,000 to the cancer unit of Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. $10,000 to set up a setup a football programme to get underprivileged children into sport, there's $6,500 going towards Rhode Island's Highlanders Pipe Band plus there's the amazing Craig Ferguson who raised over ยฃ1million for Scottish mental health charities after walking from Santa Monica to Boston which took over 110 days. Plus there's so much more donations given out both at home and in America as a result of Scotland being in the World Cup.

How Football Can Unite Us

Scotland and the Tartan Army has created a special bond and affection with Boston, and the locals back to them. It seems perhaps something was in the works of being announced in legacy of Scotland's arrival in Boston and Providence.

Sports journalist Henry Winter said on Sky News earlier in the week that "Boston has Twinned with Glasgow", perhaps Henry knew that something was about to be announced in the upcoming days.

And it was as on Thursday Boston mayor, Michelle Wu, signed a deal to announce that Boston and Glasgow will intent to be twin cities. The document was officially signed and Boston and Glasgow should be twinned on Tartan Day on the 6th of April next year. An unbelievable source of what football and supporters can do.

Time To Go

With Scotland's defeat to Morocco on Friday it's packing up time for the Tartan Army as they travel down to Florida to face old World Cup rivals Brazil. But most locals in Boston and Providence are begging for them to stay for longer and keep them forever. There is some hope for the locals who are asking for this, as there is still a chance that Scotland COULD return to Boston in the tournament as, at time of writing, Scotland are predicted to face Germany in the Round of 32 at the Gillette Stadium. If the locals think that we've drank the place dry and partied long into each night, then just wait till they see what would happen if we come back with the German supporters to the city.

But if it should not go according to plan then it's goodbye to our new home away from home. But there's invitations from locals and senators and politicians and local governors and basically everyone who want to bring the Scotland fans back, Massachusetts state senator Paul Feeney wants to bring them back for annual visit and perhaps arrange a match at the Gillette Stadium against the Republic of Ireland, who also have links to the city. Paul let me tell you personally, we're still waiting for our annual friendly against Germany in Koln to be arranged but thanks for the offer and surely another trip wouldn't hurt if something can be arranged.

Commentator Derek Rae, a proud Scot who is now a resident in Massachusetts, keeps going on about how the Tartan Army are Scotland's best ambassadors the country has. These last few days have proved that he is absolutely right. Win, lose or draw, the Tartan Army is all about having fun with our fellow supporters and the locals, we cannot control what happens on the pitch but we can control what happens off it and once again they have been absolutely remarkable and the locals with it. They have joined in on everything and they had the best time in town. And as such, Boston and Glasgow becoming twin cities is a perfect way to conclude our trip to Massachusetts

We have to admit, that the big drawer to us as Scotland fans in that group draw back in December was that game in Miami. It caught the imagination and the excitement of what the World Cup should be like, but in truth, I don't think it's not going to be anywhere near as fun and joyous as what Boston and Providence was.

So let's not say goodbye Boston and Providence, let's say see you later. Whether that's later in the tournament or whether that's next year for that friendly v Republic of Ireland, or whether that's us on our travels with our friends and loved ones. And the same implies back; Scotland welcomes all here and you are most definitely welcome to our home, make it your home from home as well. Keep looking after your cities, be upbeat and don't be afraid to have fun and enjoy yourselves. You keep saying that we were lucky to have the Tartan Army here, that's not true. We were lucky to have you as our hosts.

Aaron McIntosh
Aaron McIntosh Scottish Football Writer

Aaron McIntosh - Scottish Football Writer at Football Park

Aaron joined the Football Park team after being an a part of the successful Scots Media Collective team which ran the popular X (formerly known as Twitter) page, Everything Scotland. In November 2025, Scots Media Collective officially joined Football Park to create the Football Park - Scotland team, Aaron remains in previous post as one of the social media admins for the X and Instagram Football Park - Scotland pages and has also become writer for the website.

A passionate Scottish football fan; Aaron supports his local football club Raith Rovers, attending his first match in 2006 and has been a season ticket holder at Stark's Park since 2010. Aaron is also a Scotland Supporters Club member for over 12 years and attends many of the National Team matches at Hampden Park, his first Scotland match came in 2013 when they hosted Wales. Aaron also attended Euro 2024 in Germany supporting his country.

Aaron was a part of the short lived 'The Pub League Podcast' team, which launched in 2021 in preparation for Euro 2020 and for the upcoming Scottish football season in 2021/22. He is now a finding member of the Scots Media Collective's 'Scots With A Mic' podcast which now, along with the social media accounts, is a part of Football Park - Scotland branch.

View all articles by Aaron McIntosh →

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