Reid’s Food Service Ltd
Every single time Scotland reaches an international tournament, it’s not the team itself, but the Tartan Army that somehow manages to make the whole country even prouder.
No fighting. No vandalism. No trouble. Just harmless chaos, humour, music, flags, kilts, bagpipes, bubbles in fountains, cones on statues and thousands of Scots turning every city they visit into a celebration.
Wherever they go, the locals love them. They are welcomed, praised, filmed, photographed and remembered. They take Scotland’s culture, humour and warmth out into the world - and the world loves them for it.
In Cologne, they left such an impression that over 50,000 people signed a petition wanting Scotland and Germany to play each other every year. One Scotland fan was even featured on public transport posters after helping an elderly woman through the rain.
That is not normal football fan behaviour. That is something special.
And it stands in complete contrast to the reputation of some of our neighbours across the Scotland-England border, whose travelling support has too often been associated with fights, damage and disorder.
The Tartan Army are the opposite. They sing Flower of Scotland so loudly that, in Boston, they reportedly hit 125 decibels - the loudest noise ever recorded at a World Cup match.
They turn streets into parties. They make people laugh. They help strangers. They remind the world that Scotland is not just a country on a map, but a people, a culture and a spirit.
And wherever they go, they raise tens of thousands for local charities, party with the best of them, then clean up after themselves before they leave. No damage, no trouble - they leave a place better than they found it
This is Scotland - the country that gave the world modern football, the oldest nation in Europe, and the home of the oldest national flag on earth. A country with history, identity, culture and character far bigger than its size.
And every time the Tartan Army travel, they prove it all over again. They are not just football fans - they are ambassadors. Loud, daft, proud, generous, respectful and completely impossible to ignore.
And now, because of the Tartan Army, the Governor of Massachusetts has actually legalised the sale of haggis - after it had been banned in the United States since 1971 - and is the first state to do so!
Boston is famous for St Patrick’s Day. That’s their thing. But somehow, Scotland has turned up, filled the streets with pipes, songs and flags, and taken over.
Only Scotland could go to a football tournament and end up charming cities, inspiring petitions, appearing on transport posters, breaking sound records, and getting haggis back on the menu.
That is how much pride, personality and culture we carry with us.
If our football fans can travel the world and be such a brilliant example of who we are - proud, funny, warm, respectful and impossible to ignore - then surely Scotland itself should have the same confidence.
So proud of them.
