The Tartan Army headed off to the Haiti opener in school buses as crafty fans fought back against profiteering in the USA. Hundreds of supporters signed up for the cheap World Cup convoys after the extraordinary efforts of key organisers who worked tirelessly to help get them to the three big matches without bankrupting themselves.
Organiser's Efforts
Mike Teevan, from Cambuslang, managed to sort out one bus in Boston, before becoming inundated with requests from other Scotland fans. He soon hired motors from a local bus company to transport 800 fans, all paying between £31 and £44 for the return trip from Boston city to Foxborough for the matches against Haiti and Morocco.
Mike also organised a function area at Hennessey's Irish pub on Union Street for fans to meet at around 12pm local time on Saturday before the supporters headed off on the buses at around 3pm - some five hours before kick off.
Mike said: “After booking my trip I looked at stadium travel and I realised it could be an expensive nightmare. I knew enough fans for half a bus for the Haiti match and put word out to fill the bus, which quickly became 3 buses for Haiti and is now 14 buses for the two games at Gillette Stadium!”
Fan Atmosphere
Hundreds of fans were drinking in the Union Street area on Saturday afternoon as Scots spilled out of the many local boozers onto the street. Before boarding the buses fans posed for pictures with local police officers before pinning their flags to the side of the vehicles. There were then cheers as they left for the match, as those on board hung out of windows singing, "Cheerio, cheerio, cheerio!" Soon enough another school bus headed off towards the Gillette Stadium with fans this time chanting "We'll be Coming!"
Additional Organisers
Elsewhere, Davie Hood, from Balloch, and Gregor Cowan, from Ayr, helped 1,000 Scots make the road trip from Providence to the stadium. Enterprising Davie hired out the entire fleet of yellow school buses - with 21 going to the Haiti game and 20 to the Morocco match. Instead of coughing up the exploitative fees for official Boston 2026 buses run by the city - which are costing $95 - the Tartan Army paid just £38pp ($51).
Davie said: “Providence launched buses for $95 after initially informing us that they could not facilitate transport for 1,000 Scotland fans. The profiteering has to be seen to be believed. So we got in touch with local councils who were happy to help us with the school buses and rented them out to us.”
On their first appearance at the tournament finals since 1998, Steve Clarke’s side will next take on Morocco at the Gillette Stadium in Boston on Friday, June 19.
