Wembley weekends to the World Cup (Scotland, behind the journey)

Until last night, I didn’t think I was a member of the Tartan Army.  To be honest (and I suspect the sky will go dark with objects hurled at my head at this point), I have been a bit of a fair-weather Scotland fan when it comes to going to games in recent times.  In the past, yes, I can recollect trips to the old Hampden with 100,000+ in the stadium for games against England, midweek friendlies against the likes of Northern Ireland and a potentially reckless trip to Hampden in 1990 on my wedding anniversary to see Argentina (I have Argentine blood somewhere, which is useful when they win the World Cup) Fortunately, my wife was brought up watching Stoke and Port Vale and (despite that) is a football fan and we’re still married. And Stuart McKimmie scored the only goal of the game.

ATAC meeting ahead of the Euros

Anyway, on Wednesday night I spent a very enjoyable hour interviewing Martin Riddell and Graeme Baxter of the Association of Tartan Army Clubs (ATAC). Martin explained that it’s not necessary to be signed up to a specific club or organisation – basically everyone who sits down to watch Scotland play, whether at a ground, at home or in a hotel bar on the other side of the world, ‘qualifies’ as a Tartan Army member, even thought ATAC is at pains to stress that they don't claim to represent every single one of us..  So, I’m alright then…

Graeme Baxter, ATAC, at the Football Supporters Europe meeting

The reason for the interview was, with the World Cup coming up, to find out a bit more about the work that the guys do in preparing the ground (often literally, including walking to stadiums overseas to see how long it takes from the local station or town centre) for Scotland fans travelling to see our country play.  And while I knew there was a bit of work involved, I didn’t realise just how many hard yards they put in, with meetings with the police, both in Scotland and abroad, local and national governments departments (the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in particular), other national fans’ bodies, their own members and, crucially, the SFA. You might think (I did), that all that is required for anyone to attend a Scotland game is to organise travel, get tickets and then head to the pub and make your way to the ground, but the work that ATAC does behind the scenes if fundamental to the enjoyment that Scotland fans have on trips abroad and also to Hampden. The photos shown here give you just a flavour of what they do, and how we, the fans, all benefit.  They also talk about how Scotland fans avoid getting ripped off by the many people looking to profit from them, what our chances are at this summer’s World Cup, the benefits of having a mutually respectful relationship with the SFA and the realities of commercial sponsorship of Scotland matches on TV.

Route Planning

ATAC is a membership organisation (see their website here).  It consists of c. 3,000-4,000 people, in various local supporters’ groups across the length and breadth of Scotland. As I said, prior to speaking with them, I had no real idea of what they do for us all, but I do now.  Over the days and weeks leading up to the World Cup, we’ll be publishing the video interviews with Graeme and Martin.  They are virtual wee podcasts and I can’t recommend them highly enough so watch out for them on the SFU’s social media (and I expect that many TA groups will share them too).

Alastair Blair, Ops Director, the SFU