(Left to Right) Rob Baxter, Mark Singer, David Singer
For 31-year-old Mark Singer from Port Seton, a Tartan Army member since 2018 who followed Scotland as it competed in the Nations League and Euros it was seeing the team on the World stage felt to him “truly unbelievable”.
For the first time in 28 years, the Scottish Men’s Football team qualified for the World Cup, leading to a flood of cones, kilts, and plenty of Irn Bru, arriving to the shores of North America. Singer was one of the lucky Scots to see all three group games, which he says, “football was probably the worst part of the trip”.
“The national anthem for the Haiti game was spinetingling. I can’t think I’ve ever experienced something like that before,” says Singer. Though the game was “nervous especially through that second half… while it was great to pick up a win, it didn’t feel great given the performance and the damage that just a positive one goal difference could do”
The Morrocco game felt as though it would be the opportunity to remove the threat of goal difference and take the extra point likely needed for progression. “The Moroccan and Brazil fans were all really friendly but equally extremely confident about their team’s chances against us. They had this idea that they would easily blow us away, which was so different to how we think about our team,” recollects Singer.
“Moroccan fans were great though, it felt so unique and cool that we were two very different groups of fans, us having the reputation for drinking, and them of course mostly sober due to their religion, yet we were all just having a great time and enjoying it together.”
While this Moroccan confidence didn’t prove to match the actual performance, Scotland still lost the game 1-0. “That game was really frustrating to lose… Such a stupid but small mistake cost us that game, plus some terrible refereeing. I think it’s the case that we were lucky not to draw against Haiti but unlucky not to against Morrocco”. Unfortunately for the Tartan Army, results only declined from here.
Scotland suffered a 3-0 loss to Brazil in Miami, meaning Scotland would only finish on three points, which was not enough to qualify for the next round. Yet even if the team had managed to get to the next round, the feeling of disappointment was strong towards the team’s performances “we don’t deserve to go through… it’d be glorifying failure”.
This failure ultimately led to the departure of Steve Clark as Scotland manager. “Its hard to have a go at Steve Clark after what he has achieved… but I think he made the right decision to step down.”
Yet disappointment on the pitch did not mean disillusionment of it. The overwhelmingly welcoming hosts helped Scotland fans make the east coast of the USA feel like home. “Boston was crazy… Boston just got it. The fact we were there for so long helped us really connect with the place, the locals were so excited to have us… they loved the kilts and all of the cones,” says Mark.
As together with his brother David, Mark visited New York in between the Boston games found not the Rockefeller center or Brooklyn Bridge to be the most amusing but the sight of the Scottish fans in “Alloa and Clyde shirts”
Driving minivan to Miami, with a stop overnight in Raleigh, North Carolina. Unexpectedly they got to join in a celebratory parade and party taking over the city after the local NHL team, the Carolina Hurricanes, had just won the Stanley Cup. “I caught a drumstick that was thrown into the crowd by the marching band, a pretty different souvenir to bring home,” says Singer.
Once in Miami, the group also attended a Miami Marlins Major League Baseball Match, with the stadium taken over by Scotland fans (similar to a scene at Boston Red Sox’s Fenway park).
Yet it was often outside the stadium that Singer relished his trip most. “The experience of meeting different fans and engaging with all the cultures was great. I had so many great fan encounters with all sorts of people, some short – randoms would just come up to you out of the blue and wish you good luck – while other were tangible connections.
“American’s (at least most) didn’t really get it [the significance of the tournament] but it didn’t really matter. That actually made it kind of great and fun, they were great!.
“It was very different to what you see about America, if you read the news you’ll disklike Americans but if you meet them you kind of love them… they were all so friendly and to be honest some even came up to us apologising for Trump, and even those who supported him were far more reasonable and chill than they are perhaps made out to be”.
But it wasn’t at all the American dream, “The cities were so smart and so clean, it felt almost a bit fabricated or false like we were only seeing the nice stuff and got to enjoy it in a bubble.
“Given everything going on internally in America, and what the country is doing globally in places like Iran, it felt somewhat uncomfortable and had me feeling that while we were getting this great American experience, it maybe wasn’t the most genuine or pure”.
What’s more, “financially it was a lot,” says Singer. “I probably spent close to £100 a day, disregarding my tickets, accommodation, and flights”.
Spending in total £400 for his tickets, Singer still got a pretty good deal. “People around me at the games and outside the stadium were talking about paying close to £1000 for a ticket, that’s close to £10 per minute,” says Singer. “That’s truly insane.”
“Lots of the real fans were priced out and I think that was felt in the stadium support which wasn’t as strong as the Euros in Germany,” Singer added.
Singer also found the organisation and functionality of the tournament patchy in parts. Many fans struggled with ticketing and travel issues as fans felt they “could only get excited when were sat in the stadium”.
Indeed, he claimed the train service from Boston to the stadium, ran specially for the Haiti game, cost him $60. Yet his carriage was without functioning air conditioning meaning “it was so hot someone passed out”. In response to this Keolis Commuter Services (who ran the service) stated that “a few coaches had issues with air conditioning on the trip to Foxboro as a result of high passenger volumes and high temperatures. The issues were addressed once the trains arrived at Foxboro. No HVAC issues were reported for the return trip to Boston or at any subsequent matches”
Would Singer do it again? “To be honest I’d have to really think about it. Don’t get me wrong it was great, but it was a lot, it was so full on. Saying that I’m already getting organised for the Nations League matches coming up in autumn… Ill be there supporting the team in North Macedonia which should be good.”
The Tartan Army may be looking towards its next adventure, but Scotland’s relationship with the USA looks set to outlast the summer, following Boston’s recent announcement to become a twin city of Glasgow. With calls for the Scottish team to play an annual match in the north-eastern city, it looks unlikely that Scotland’s tournament exit will signal an end to this newfound friendship.
Special thanks to Mark Singer for providing an interview and images.
Hi, I’m Neil Highlands Singer, a third-year student studying Media and Journalism alongside Social Policy. As Deputy Editor-in-Chief, I get to spend my time working across a range of topics and holding a varied range of responsibilities. This is exciting as I enjoy a range of interests and hobbies outside of Uni, with a special spot for film, sports, and the wider creative industries.
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