England fans kick the Tartan Army out of Boston! Thousands of supporters party in the pubs that fell in love with Scotland – but face travel nightmare and closures tonight for Ghana game
England fans let their hair down in Boston ahead of their second World Cup match against Ghana.
The Three Lions defeated Croatia by a score of 4-2 in Dallas in their tournament opener, leaving many fans confident of the team’s chances in the tournament.
Things didn’t go so well off the field due to high ticket costs, transportation costs and parking fees for the 14,000 fans expected to travel to the Massachusetts city for the game.
The England faithful made a splash in Boston city center on Monday evening as former Three Lions winger David Bentley led hundreds of people in a rendition of Wonderwall by Oasis.
At a popular venue called The Greatest Bar, red and white shirts were seen singing and dancing with inflatable unicorns and beach balls as the city’s heavy rain failed to dampen England’s spirits ahead of Tuesday’s match; One fan even sported a mohawk similar to David Beckham’s from the early 2000s.
At the same event, comic book character and Sunday league football manager Steve Bracknall, whose real name is Chris McClure, encouraged fans to attend with the slogan ‘we’re on our way’, referencing England’s potentially successful route to the World Cup final.
England fan Andy Milne, known as ‘That World Cup Man’, was among thousands of fans partying in Boston on Monday night
Former England winger David Bentley leads fans in song at The Greatest Bar in Boston
It remains to be seen how Bostonians will react to the new visitors, but it may be difficult for fans in England to match the Tartan Army’s popularity.
According to the news on social media, the Scots who went to the east coast attracted great reaction from the native Americans.
Hundreds of young women from Boston flocked to TikTok this week to share videos of themselves drinking, dancing and partying with kilt-wearing Scots.
One blonde woman even organized a dating event and invited all Scots to visit a bar where 100 single US women were eager to meet them.
Another woman, who posted the video showing herself in the arms of a Scotsman, wrote on the app: ‘I may not be happily married but at least I’m single while the Scots are in town for the World Cup.’
A separate video, which has garnered more than 70,000 likes, showed a fan carrying a woman on his back through the streets of Boston, with the caption: ‘If he doesn’t, a Scottish man will.’
Another TikToker praised the ‘kindness’ of traveling Britons and urged American men to take notes.
The woman said: ‘If I were a single girl living in Boston right now… you’d have to go to the bars. If you don’t go you’re doing something wrong because you might find a nice Scot.
‘They look very nice. They wanted to pet my dog. That’s why I say you should all go (to your local bars).’
Others praised the Scottish tourists for ‘bringing the vibe’ to Boston at a time that captured the World Cup excitement well and hit the city squarely.
In videos posted on TikTok, a local woman was seen saluting the Scots for ‘renewing their faith in men’
One lady even organized a meet-up event encouraging Scots to meet “100 American” women.
Meanwhile, The Greatest Bar has experienced a surge in sales, recording its best week in 22 years and already beating World Cup sales forecasts in just one week. According to CBS, the venue would usually be closed this time of year due to the usual lull in major sporting events.
Brian McDonnell, bar manager of The Dubliner, told LBC that his bar was ‘coming in deliveries every day’ to keep up with peak demand.
“We drink so much beer that we only have a decent-sized keg room,” McDonnell said.
‘We’re still going through so much we’ve had to rent a couple of mobile fridge units in the back street, so we always have beer on tap – always cold, always flowing.’
Meet Boston, a tourism organization in the city, said The Dubliner and The Haven, another popular bar in the city, serve more than 300 kegs of Tennent beer between them.
The White Bull Tavern in downtown Boston closed early last night after Three Lions fans stood on furniture and stole chandeliers, according to a staff member.
Members of UK’s football policing unit were based on Boston’s Union Street and could be seen chatting to officers from the city’s police department (BPD) after the pub closed its doors.
About 20 BPD officers stood outside the facility as UK fans exited the venue and took to the streets.
Staff saw around 200 fans in the bar on Monday evening and predicted a ‘crazy’ night following the match, and said they believed the venue would close along with other pubs and bars in the early hours of Tuesday.
On the eve of England’s second match, fans said the trip to Boston for the match was worth it despite the high prices.
The city has faced widespread criticism over transportation ticket prices; trains now cost fans $80 (£60.40) instead of the usual $20 (£15.10).
Supporters also said the parking fee was leaving many people facing an “expensive day out”; One fan said he paid $180 (£135.89) to park near Gillette Stadium in the nearby town of Foxborough.
The Greatest Bar in Boston’s West End had stocked beer to cope with UK fans
Supporters whipped out American beers in Scotland’s favorite pubs
Fans in England today warned they will face early closures and travel difficulties
Ahead of the match, Barnsley’s Adam Parkinson, 32, said: ‘This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, England’s situation at the World Cup.
‘We saved; In a way, we were keeping in mind to come.
“My brother lives in Canada, so we thought, ‘The World Cup is there, we’ll go, let’s think about it,’ and then we upped the price and thought, ‘Okay, this is going to be a little bit more money than we had in mind.'”
‘One of them, isn’t it? Sometimes you have to do this.’
Despite the high costs for those traveling from the United Kingdom, the Three Lions’ fans in the United States said the match was their first opportunity to see the team at the World Cup.
Rhys Thomas, 31, originally from Birmingham, who came to the city from Connecticut and went to the match with his wife and friends, said: ‘This is actually the first England match I’m going to.
‘I live in America and now the World Cup is around the corner, so I said ‘we have to go’.
‘I’ve never been this close to us, I’ve never been this close to the World Cup. I am excited.’
He said the tickets cost him $490 (£370) but admitted he had heard “much worse” from others.
‘I jumped into this for the four of us; “It took me three tries to get around the lottery ticket system and I was probably prepared to pay thousands at the last second, but luckily we did it, so it wasn’t too bad,” he said.
