Rowan Stevenson, 19, was waiting at Glasgow Airport on Monday with a tray of Tennent’s Lager and a few bottles of Irn Bru. His brother Rory and Rory’s friend Callum Hand were stepping off a flight from New York after three weeks at the World Cup, and Rowan reckoned they had earned a proper welcome.
“The boys had been complaining about the beer in America so I thought I’d give them a nice Scottish welcome,” he said. “They’ve had the time of their lives but I thought they might need a bit of help to re-integrate themselves.”
Rory and Callum, both 21, had just graduated from Edinburgh University with finance and economics degrees, and they treated the trip as the party to end all parties. “This trip has been unbelievable, just one long party to be honest,” Rory told the Daily Record. He admitted the pair did moan about the beer. Callum called it “one big graduation party” and said every penny of the saved-up cost was well spent. Rory was already thinking ahead. “Who knows how long it will be before we get a chance to do this again,” he said.
A bruising exit
The football was the sour part. Scotland, back at a World Cup for the first time since 1998, beat Haiti 1-0 in Boston, then lost 1-0 to Morocco and 3-0 to Brazil. That left them third in Group C on three points and out. Manager Steve Clarke told his players at their hotel in Charlotte on Saturday night that he was stepping down after seven years, a month after signing a new four-year contract.
Several players, including Anthony Ralston, Scott McKenna and Nathan Patterson, landed at Glasgow on Monday morning alongside SFA chief executive Iain Maxwell and assistant coach Steven Naismith. Others were expected to make their own way home.
The fans were generous about Clarke. Rory said he felt a bit sad to see him go but added that the manager had done well to get Scotland there. Callum suspected Clarke may have planned to leave if results went that way.
Friends made in Boston
Brothers Elliot Corbett, 28, and Matthew, 29, from Helensburgh, spent 17 days in Boston with their pal Cameron Munro, 23. Strangers kept stopping them for photos. “It was like being celebrities,” Matthew said. Elliot, an accountant, said everyone they met had a story about being 10% Scottish or 80% Scottish, and that some of the Americans they befriended plan to visit Scotland in October and meet up with them.
Cormac Treacy, 20, from Dalgety Bay in Fife, flew home early from a 19-day trip with his parents and brother. He watched the Haiti game in the Anchor in Boston and the other two in fan zones. The upside of Scotland’s exit: he will be back in time for his architecture graduation.
Iain Allison, 52, a land director from Airdrie, saw the Brazil defeat in Miami with his daughters Keira, 22, and Katie, 21. He had last been at a World Cup in France in 1998. “The Tartan Army turned up big time but, sadly, the team didn’t,” he said, adding that Clarke was right to step aside because a lot of rebuilding lies ahead.
Back at the airport, battered strips and kilts were headed for the wash. Matthew and Elliot were due back at work on Tuesday.
Sources
- Scotland players land in Glasgow after World Cup exit – Yahoo Sports
- Scotland players arrive back home after World Cup exit | STV News
- Tartan Army party over as footsoldiers return to reality after World Cup rollercoaster – Daily Record
