Rowan Stevenson, 19, was waiting at Glasgow airport with a tray of Tennent’s Lager and Irn Bru when his brother’s flight from New York landed on Monday. Rory and his friends had spent three weeks grumbling about American beer. “I thought I’d give them a nice Scottish welcome,” Rowan said. “They’ve had the time of their lives but I thought they might need a bit of help to re-integrate themselves.”
All over the arrivals hall, the Tartan Army was drifting home from the World Cup with battered strips, creased kilts and a laundry pile to match. Scotland had lost on the pitch, and manager Steve Clarke had resigned, but the fans were already talking about the next tournament.
Rory, 21, and his pal Callum Hand, also 21, had just graduated from Edinburgh University with finance and economics degrees. They had saved for the trip and reckon every penny was well spent. “This trip has been unbelievable, just one long party to be honest, but it has been an incredible experience,” Rory said. Callum called it “one big graduation party.”
The football was the weaker part. “The performances on the field weren’t the best,” Rory said. He felt sad that Clarke had resigned but thinks he deserves thanks for getting Scotland there. Callum was disappointed too, though he suspected Clarke might have been planning to leave if results went as they did.
Boston, 17 days
Brothers Elliot and Matthew Corbett, 28 and 29, went to Boston with their friend Cameron Munro, 23, for 17 days. The trio, from Helensburgh, spent about half their time posing for photos. “We could hardly move without Boston people asking for photos and asking all about our story,” said Elliot, an accountant. Strangers told them they were 10% Scottish, or 80%, or some other fraction. Some invited them to dinner, and others plan to visit Scotland in October and meet up.
“It was like being celebrities,” said Matthew, also an accountant. “There were people stopping us in the middle of the road and sometimes there would be a people queuing after the first guys.”
Elliot said the Tartan Army behaved well and got the same friendliness back. “There will be thousands of Americans heading to Scotland for vacations on the back of this, so it’s going to end up being a pretty important cultural exchange.”
Both brothers were due at work on Tuesday. Cameron, an engineer, had a few extra days. “I think I’m eating into next year’s holiday entitlement but it has been worth it,” he said. The three could not agree on Clarke: one was glad to see a new manager, one was sorry to lose him and one was unsure.
Home early, just in time
Cormac Treacy, 20, from Dalgety Bay in Fife, flew into Edinburgh Airport after 19 days with his parents and brother. They watched the games in fan zones and, for the Haiti match, in the Anchor in Boston. He was gutted when Scotland went out, but staying another week would have meant missing his architecture graduation. “So maybe that’s a bit of a blessing,” he said.
Iain Allison, 52, a building firm land director from Airdrie’s West End Bar Tartan Army, took daughters Keira, 22, and Katie, 21, to Miami for the crunch game against Brazil. “The Tartan Army turned up big time but, sadly, the team didn’t,” he said. It was his first World Cup finals since France in 1998, and he wished Scotland had been less defensive. “I think it’s right that Steve Clarke is stepping aside, as there’s a lot of rebuilding to come.”
