Scotland’s World Cup return has set off a travel rush in Providence, Rhode Island, where an estimated 7,000 fans are planning to base themselves and then ride organized buses to Gillette Stadium. For Rory Phillips-Hunter, who grew up in Hawick in the Scottish Borders, the trip has become a question of logistics as much as loyalty.
Phillips-Hunter said an eight-day stay in the US for two people would cost $8,000 total, a figure that captures why supporters are hunting for cheaper options outside Boston. He works as an estate and maintenance manager on a farm in North West England and earns about £33,000 a year, so the bill is not a small one. Still, like many in the Tartan Army, he is committed to making the journey after Scotland beat Denmark in November to qualify for the biggest event in sports for the first time since 1998.
That qualification has turned Providence into a temporary Scottish outpost. The city’s Department of Art, Culture and Tourism and local organizers expect between 6,000 and 7,000 members of the Tartan Army to be there, with fans choosing Rhode Island because hotel prices in nearby Boston were far beyond what many could afford. Phillips-Hunter found Providence about a 40-minute drive from Gillette Stadium, close enough to make the plan work and far enough from the most expensive rooms to keep the trip alive.
The fan base has grown fast. The Providence group began with about 25 people in late December, rose to 400 members in January and has since passed 1,000. Its Facebook page has more than 13,000 followers. Organizers now plan to use 21 buses to move 1,100 supporters to and from Scotland’s match against Haiti this weekend, and 20 buses for 1,050 supporters when Scotland plays Morocco on June 19, both at Gillette Stadium.
That is the part that makes this World Cup different for supporters before a ball is even kicked. The scale of the trip, the distance to the stadium and the cost of staying near the action are forcing fans to build a transport network around the tournament, not just a travel plan. Phillips-Hunter said simply: “We’re going. I don’t care what it takes. We’re getting across to America.”
What happens next is already set. Scotland’s fans will fill Providence first for the Haiti game this weekend, then do it again for Morocco on June 19, and the size of those bus convoys will show whether this first wave is a one-off burst of enthusiasm or the start of a much larger Scottish takeover on the American east coast.
