THERE’S one word for Scotland’s contribution to the World Cup thus far. Joy.
Yip, us. The nation pilloried for being dour. The nation cast as the perennial doom mongers in cartoons and TV with Groundskeeper Wullie and Private Frazer in Dad’s Army.
The nation castigated by Good Morning Britain hosts for taking a World Cup Bank Holiday, only to find 65% of viewers actually approve. Yip, us.
Our guys and gals on streets, in pubs, in stadiums, in Boston. On social media, TV and radio. Dancing like no-one’s watching. Singing tunefully. Following the pipers. Inspiring a Boston cop to do keepie-uppies. Impressing Boston TV and radio commentators with a slightly baffled embrace of all things Red Sox.
One man said: “I’d pay any amount of money for Fenway (Red Sox home ground) to be like this 81 times a year every year.”
Another said: “Hell, I hope you lose your passports so you can’t go home, this was the most fun I’ve ever had in Boston.”
A group of nuns with wee Saltires sang “we’ll be coming down the road”.
A worker from the Boston Parks Cleansing Department said: “I’m one person cleaning up after them, and it ain’t that bad. They came conducting themselves with class, dignity and they love our city.”
A Texas Rangers baseball player, after experiencing the Scots’ takeover of the Red Sox Fenway Park, said: “That song, No Scotland, No Party … we were listening to it on the bus, on the plane home. I listened to it this morning.”
Scots have swept the board in a city with the highest percentage of Irish ancestry across the Big Pond. Doubtless that Celtic connection warmed up the seat. But right now, it’s Scots who are delighting Americans. Just the way we are.
Not with tummies sooked in. Not with posh voices. Not tidied up or holding back.
Pride in country, hope beyond reason, delight in the moment – that’s the recipe for joy. It’s communicable and contagious. Oh yes, and the team has done well too.
But the Tartan Army has already repeated its Euros 2024 triumph in Munich, bringing its trademark “chaotic exuberance” to a city that hardly knew the World Cup was even on. Thanks to oor ain folk, we are basking in reflected glory.
Now, instead of doom-scrolling, Scots are joy-scrolling. There’s the video of the hoose rented by Tartan Army members who cracked out the bagpipes at 6.30am (time difference and a few beers likely), awakening a neighbour who went across and joined the party. He posted a sad video of the Saltire-free house after the lads had gone.
There’s the dance off with guys from Haiti – and remember, they were the losing team – and more priceless moments of big-hearted cheeriness every time you go online.
It’s taken another set of fans to remind us how valuable that positive reputation really is. By the time you read this, England will have played Croatia. Who knows how that will go, but long before kick-off in Dallas, a different vibe was becoming apparent on social media. A viral video showed a young English chap trying to taunt the Scots by skilfully banging an empty bin and proclaiming: “You can shove your fucking bagpipes up your arse …”
Son, try actually playing the pipes. It takes patience, practice, motivation and skill. Clearly, none of them are your forte.
Oh, and by the way, New York-based media outfit, Front Office Sports report: “Scotland fans have donated nearly $30k to charities in Providence [near Boston] as a thank you for their World Cup [welcome] – $10k to the children’s hospital cancer unit, $10k to soccer for underprivileged kids, and $6.5k to help kids learn bagpipes.”
By contrast, another social media video saw England fans’ chant: “John McGinn is a sex offender.” Wow.
Of course, there are positive, friendly England moments too. But the nasty ones are going viral. Like: “You’re shit, but your birds are fit,” aimed at Croatia fans.
One contributor on Twitter/X posted: “I’m an England fan, but every other country has managed to celebrate without dragging another country’s team/supporters down. England just can’t do that for some reason? They just seem so hostile and volatile.”
Absolutely. But that’s their problem.
Out unofficial national anthem, Flower Of Scotland, does indeed revolve around the Wars of Independence with England 700 years ago, but these days they are not inside our collective heads. We are doing us. Scots are doing ourselves.
The song’s third verse is now most relevant.
Those days [of battle and killing] are past now, but Scots can still rise and be a nation again.
And when there’s a date, a campaign and a moment, these guys will doubtless be there. But many Yessers will be thinking – how do we harness this energy for indy right now? Put bluntly, we don’t. It’s a moment for every Scot – old and new, Yes, No and undecided. We should heed the Bard – you seize the flow’r, its bloom is shed.
But that doesn’t mean Yessers should ignore the Tartan Army’s incredible gift of cultural confidence. Whatever happens tomorrow with Morocco, we can be confident our fans will keep the heid and show respect as they celebrate or commiserate. Even with drink taken.
It’s tempting fate of course, to place faith so publicly in a bunch of guys 1000 miles away. But what the hell.
Our fans are teaching a hesitant, canny, risk-averse country an important lesson. Risk a little. Have faith. Show belief. Demonstrate hope. Feel fully. Have a heart in these cynical times and wear that heart on your sleeve. Dinnae anticipate disappointment. Cross that girny bridge … if you ever actually come to it.
Tartan Army fans have planned, saved and collected money for kids’ charities as they always do. They’ve been canny and careful. But now they are living in the moment. And watching that is infectious.
So, here’s a hope – that this inspires our politicians to dare, push boundaries and chance their collective arm. Never mind phoney rows over the bank holiday and how many Holyrood ministers made it to Boston. The real challenge for the Scottish Government, SNP MSPs and John Swinney is whether they can let this moment inspire them to raise their own game.
Blogger Neil Gilmour identifies “fear of failure and risk aversion in our political classes” as one of the biggest barriers facing Scotland.
He wrote: “If there are sunlit uplands ahead, how do we reach them? What does an independent Scotland really look like? And crucially, if it’s different from our diminished and impoverished neo-liberal present, how do we build this ‘alternative Scotland’ right now?” Good questions.
Scots have been the world’s best losers. But this week proves we can be great winners as well. The challenge is to adopt that outlook off the pitch.
Whatever happens on Friday night, the spirit of Boston must reanimate Holyrood so the Scottish Government acts with unremitting boldness instead of telling us about past obstacles and possible benefits at an unspecified future date.
Take Shona Robison’s remarks about behind-the-scenes UK pressure that stopped the SNP moving on a Land Tax. It’s just not good enough.
There are plenty of bold land measures Holyrood could already have undertaken, and if Westminster pressure really stymied a Land Tax, we needed to see and fight it, not find out, third-hand, years later.
We need confidence, assertion, collective effort and leadership in the new assembly of MSPs to pass power to the people. The Community Wealth Building Bill could be game-changing in this regard, encouraging councils to demand local food for schools, award “repowering” wind contracts to community bids, build their own affordable housing.
The Men’s Team is doing well. The Tartan Army has shown what’s possible with belief, planning and boldness. Time for the SNP to inspire Scotland by doing the same.
