World Cup
The noise of bagpipes, The Proclaimers and decibel-defying chants rang through Foxborough on Saturday night.
Thousands of Scotland fans packed Foxborough on Saturday for World Cup matches. Erin Clark/Global Staff
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FOXBOROUGH — A lot has changed since the last time Scotland took to the field for a men’s World Cup match.
Sunnah? 1998.
Pedro Martinez was in his first year with the Red Sox. Gillette Stadium was still years away from its inception.
And Tom Brady — whose face is now immortalized in bronze in front of said stadium — had just entered his first full season as a starter… at Michigan.
It’s fair to say that Saturday’s game in Foxborough has been a long time coming for the Tartan Army.
It’s a feeling reinforced by a week of kilt-clad fans ingratiating themselves with Bostonians over pints, impromptu backyard cookouts, and paying tribute to cherished local traditions — whether it’s a big Dunkin’ regular Or a perilous trip down the “cop slide.”
This enthusiasm and celebration was echoed on Saturday night as thousands of Scots chanted anthems such as “Rose of Scotland” and “Loch Lomond” at Boston Stadium.
Even on a field that has seen so many victories over two decades in New England, the sights and sounds of Saturday’s game between Scotland and Haiti felt as refreshing as a crunchy Tennent Cup on a warm summer evening.
Because if Saturday’s group stage opener at Boston Stadium is any indication of what’s to come, Boston should be in a great place when it comes to a championship rooted in community, building bridges, and a ringing reminder of what makes the sport so special.
Home for Scotland director Steve Clarke is located an ocean away from Foxborough. But the former Chelsea full-back admitted after Saturday’s 1-0 win over Haiti that Foxborough had temporarily become the center of the Tartan Army for a few hours.
“What don’t you enjoy?” Clark asked. “I walk out onto the field before the game and I look to the far side, about an hour and a half before the game, and I see my family walking down the stairs, and they’re sitting in the stands.
“It’s special…. You just see the Tartan Army supporting us, all the way around the field, having a good time.”
Whether it’s a caravan of school buses plying Route 1 or a procession of trains and trucks rolling in from Boston and Providence, thousands of Scots descend on Foxborough to catch a glimpse of their team’s return to the international stage.
Hours before kickoff, a sea of salmon-colored kits filled one side of the lower bowl at Boston Stadium. With the echo of numerous bagpipes echoing throughout the stadium.
A sustained chorus of cheers and a piercing cacophony emanated from the reeds of several strutting instruments soared over the damp marshes of Norfolk County on Saturday.
That is until Scottish midfielder John McGinn’s shot bounced off a Haitian defender and into the net in the 29th minute.
The Scots – hungry for their first World Cup win in 36 years – broke into a rendition of ‘I’ll Be (500 Miles)’ by Scottish band, The Proclaimers.
The party first took place around the Boston Common, Fenway Park and countless bars throughout Boston over the past week, and it came to a head as Saturday’s game reached full time just after 11 a.m.
“They’re always having a good time. You’ll see a lot of them,” Scotland captain Andrew Robertson said of the Tartan Army ahead of the tournament, adding: “Our outside end is always sold out, it’s always packed. In any major tournaments we’ve been in, they’ve always supported us well and I’ve no doubt it won’t be any different in America.”
“They sing loudly, they sing proudly, and that’s why, for me, they’re up there with the best fans in the world when it comes to countries, and like I said, the locals are going to love them. They always seem to make friends along the way and make people fall in love with them. And yeah, look, the Tartan Army will support us until the end and hopefully we can give them something to shout about.”
For all the talk of Scotland qualifying for Boston and New England, Haiti had plenty to celebrate on Saturday in what marked the country’s first World Cup match since 1974.
The Haitian crowd may have been outnumbered on Saturday, but the ‘Les Grendiers’ supporters made their presence felt in Foxboro.
Boston — home to the third-largest population of Haitians in the United States — celebrated Saturday with a parade of supporters down Boylston Street, while one end of Boston Stadium often moved as one amid a flurry of waving flags that painted the section blue and red.
“It wasn’t easy because we couldn’t play in front of our fans, which is always a big advantage,” said Haitian forward and Massachusetts product Frantzdi Piero. boston.com earlier this week to represent his country. “But it kind of pushed us even more because we knew that even with everything going on, if we stick together and work together, we can make it happen. We can give them hope.”
Boston is certainly no stranger to sports dominating the social sphere, and big-ticket events aren’t the kind of events that leave locals awestruck — besides glancing at deteriorating traffic patterns.
But Boston — like the Scots and Haitians who thronged Foxboro on Saturday — hasn’t seen a scene quite like this in some time.
And while it’s not uncommon for Bostonians to gauge new things with our trademark frank apathy, it doesn’t take a die-hard soccer fan to appreciate what’s happened over the past week within the city and the larger community.
Be it the Scottish and Haitian fan scenes Celebrating with each other before kick-offa Boston cop drawing a crowd of supporters with his juggling skills, or kilt-clad revelers singing along to “Sweet Caroline” at Fenway, last week was a welcome sight for a city already well aware of the power that sports can bring.
A sight worth the wait for countless fans in Foxborough and around the world.
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