Scotland's Tartan Army to invade Boston and Providence for World Cup: "You will see us and hear us"
British have come and gone. It's the Scots who are invading New England now. Their soccer fans will soon swarm Boston and Providence ahead of the World Cup and those cities are getting ready for chanting, drinking, and marching.
"We will be turning some heads I think when we go, definitely," said Mike Teevan, a fan coming to Massachusetts to see Scotland play.
Scotland fans call themselves the Tartan Army. Their hoard of fans once coordinated getting 200,000 people to Germany for a match, and now they will pack 250 fans into Hennessy's bar near Faneuil Hall before their match at Gillette Stadium. Scotland will face Haiti at 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 13.
"They have already sent some promotional stuff and T-shirts for us to wear," said Noelle Somers, COO of Hennessy's Bar. "Their energy is going to bring up the vibe of the whole city. We are glad to have the World Cup here."
Fleet of school buses to Gillette Stadium
Hennessy's is stocking up with beer as Scotland fans are known to drink. They even brought in some Scottish beers.
Fans will be celebrating for three hours, before setting off in school buses to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro that have been chartered by the Tartan Army. The buses will line up outside of the bar with 12 in total for each game. They will be making a pitstop on the ride just, not for gas.
"We're heading on down to the stadium with a stop at an off-license to pick up about 4,500 cans of lager to get us through," said Teevan. "I don't know how much will be back there on the way back. Probably not too much."
Teevan says the explosion in bus interest has actually made travel costs cheaper than using Uber or public transit.
"A fleet of yellow school buses with some pretty boisterous and probably drunk by that point as well Scotland fans," said Teevan. "Heading down, you will see us and hear us."
Marches in Boston, Providence
The same goes for that Sunday, when thousands of fans will march from Back Bay to Fenway Park. Don't expect to hear Sweet Caroline on the march to the ballpark. It's a British anthem that caused a stir at a Scotland game in Germany.
"I don't think the DJ got the memo. He was rightly booed when he played that one," said Teevan who was at the match that day.
There will also be a mile and a half march in Providence, as fans turn to Rhode Island as a place to stay.
"People were seeing it was closer to the stadium, and cheaper for rooms. Good old Scotsman being frugal with their money," said Mike MacGregor, a Tartan Army fan helping with Providence coordinating.
They have a combined 41 school buses scheduled to bring fans to two of Scotland's matches.
"We managed to fill 21 buses for the Haiti game, and we stopped taking [requests] then, so that's over 1,000 people," said MacGregor.
Providence tourism officials say hotel bookings are lower than expected, but that it could change quickly.
"I think we are going to have a lot of last-minute people because we don't know who those last two teams are going to be," said Kristen Adamo, President & CEO of Go Providence. "We are using the Rhode Island Convention Center as a parking and transportation hub."
In Providence, the Tartan Army is using the G Pub as their headquarters. The bar is expected to be packed.
"They are activating G Pub and another called Moonshine Alley, and then they are doing a parade through the streets of downtown Providence," said Adamo.
The Providence area Tartan Army will also be holding their own fan area in a city park, while the city itself hosts a fan zone for all fans. MacGregor says they wanted to host their own party, so they didn't interrupt fans from other countries who are trying to watch their teams play at the fan zone. The Tartan Army will also be presenting a $10,000 check to the Hasbro Children's Hospital.
