Scotland's 28-year World Cup absence
Scotland had not qualified for the World Cup since 1998, making this their first appearance in 28 years.
Where this was said
The Tartan Army Takes Boston
At 10:19 · chapter starts 9:55
Scotland hadn't qualified for the World Cup since 1998 — 28 years of absence that the Tartan Army was determined to make up for all at once. They descended on Boston and turned the city into a 24/7 party, chanting 'Yankees suck' (the two words every Bostonian could teach them) and working through the city's beer supply at speed. The Bostonians, by all accounts, were delighted. The love affair was so intense that the Boston Globe dedicated a full newspaper page to thanking Scotland's fans for their visit. Tarek Panja explains that this culture of being 'loud, fun, and leaving people happy you were there' was deliberately constructed as an opposition to the hooliganism that surrounded English football and English fans in the '80s and '90s — a piece of history Natalie Kitroeff admits she had no idea about.
The Scottish Tartan Army and Boston's Greatest Love Affair
Scotland hadn't qualified for the World Cup since 1998. Their fans, the Tartan Army, arrived in Boston and turned the city into a 24/7 party, drinking the city dry but leaving everyone happy. Their fan culture was deliberately built as an antidote to the football hooliganism of English fans in the '80s and '90s — and Boston loved them so much the Globe gave them a full front page.
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