Rowdy Scotland soccer fans took a fleet of yellow school buses to their team’s first World Cup game just outside Boston.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Picture this – a line of more than 20 school buses rolling down the expressway – inside, not students but rowdy Scottish soccer fans. That was the scene in New England over the weekend when more than a thousand Scots crowded into a fleet of yellow buses to see their team take on Haiti at a World Cup contest just outside Boston. Riding along was reporter Jeremy Siegel of member station GBH.
UNIDENTIFIED SOCCER FANS: (Chanting) And the ambition of his (ph).
JEREMY SIEGEL, BYLINE: It’s about 1 in the afternoon, eight hours before kickoff, when a sea of Scots flood the streets of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, ready to board their school buses. Annie McKay downs a beer.
ANNIE MCKAY: I have never been in anything like this.
SIEGEL: McKay is 87 years old and a lifelong member of the Tartan Army, the chosen name of Scotland’s traveling fan base. They’re staying in Providence instead of Boston to save on hotel prices. Sam Donegan tells me people across Scotland have blown their life savings and taken out loans and second mortgages to travel to the event.
SAM DONEGAN: We have no money left. The coffers are empty. The coffers are empty, all right?
SIEGEL: To cut down on costs, one fan suggested renting yellow school buses instead of paying the high price for public transport. Yellow buses are an American novelty, unfamiliar to most Scots, and they were shocked to find out it was a realistic option.
SCOTT GILLAN: We spoke to a few bus companies, and the prices were incredible.
SIEGEL: That’s Scott Gillan, one of the organizers. After doing the math, they found the total cost for the ride – 38 bucks per head, and that includes onboard libations.
GILLAN: So we’ve now got about $16,000 of beer.
SIEGEL: Gillan also says a portion of the money they saved on the school buses will go to local charities, including $10,000 for Providence’s Hasbro Children’s Hospital.
(SOUNDBITE OF BAGPIPES PLAYING)
SIEGEL: The Tartan Army boards the buses in true Scottish style, led by a bagpipe band. A long line of bright yellow buses, all sourced from local schools, meet them outside the Statehouse. Driver Paula McFadden jumped at the assignment when the Scots contacted her district.
How does it feel to be driving this bus?
PAULA MCFADDEN: Oh, it’s very exciting.
SIEGEL: Yeah.
MCFADDEN: They’re going to be a lot of fun to drive.
SIEGEL: On board, it is a raucous ride.
UNIDENTIFIED SOCCER FAN #1: (Shouting) Back of the bus, get inside. At the back, get inside.
UNIDENTIFIED SOCCER FAN #2: Get your heads inside the bus.
SIEGEL: The beers flow. The chants are constant. Flags wave out the windows as we drive up Interstate 95. Midway to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough – temporarily renamed Boston Stadium for the event – I’m handed a tallboy of beer and taught how to say cheers the Scottish way – Slange Var.
UNIDENTIFIED SOCCER FANS: (Shouting) Slange Var.
(LAUGHTER)
SIEGEL: Somehow, we arrive at the stadium in one piece. Empty cans are everywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED SOCCER FANS: (Chanting) Whoa, and chase (ph)…
(SOUNDBITE OF BAGPIPES PLAYING)
SIEGEL: The Scots are elated as they exit their yellow chariots and march on to their seats, not knowing that by the end of the night, they’ll have witnessed their country’s first win at the World Cup in more than three decades.
For NPR News, I’m Jeremy Siegel in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
(SOUNDBITE OF BAGPIPES PLAYING)
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