Scotland’s supporters spent the best part of a week draining Boston’s bars dry, and now England’s fans have arrived with a similar idea in mind.
England play Ghana in Boston on Tuesday, and a win will guarantee a place in the World Cup knockout stage. Their supporters traveled in from Dallas just as the Tartan Army were departing, leaving two sets of rival fans to overlap in the same city at the same time.
What followed was an unexpected show of British unity. The old rivalry was put aside, fans drank together, but the English made one thing clear — they intend to outdo the Scots at the bar, even if much of the city’s beer has already gone.
Scotland fans drank their way through Boston
The scale of the Scottish occupation has been hard to miss.
At The Dubliner, an Irish bar that became the center of the Tartan Army’s stay, manager Brian McDonnell told The Telegraph the pub had gone through 120 kegs of Tennent’s lager and 160 kegs of Guinness in a single week — close to 20,000 pints of Guinness from one venue alone.
The Boston pub, staffed largely by Irish employees, flew a Scottish flag in place of its usual tricolor during the occupation — predictably, no England flag was allowed to be hoisted.
McDonnell said: “This has been the biggest business we have ever done. This was St Patrick’s Day every day level for more than a week. People were queuing three hours on Saturday just to get in.”
By Sunday night, with both sets of supporters in town, several bars began closing four hours early after running out of beer.
The figures behind how much Scotland fans have drunk at the tournament have stunned bar staff across the host cities.
England fans ready to take on the challenge
England’s supporters arrived in no mood to back down.
Steve Barrett, a 65-year-old retiree from Radcliffe, summed up the visiting mindset: “We drank Dallas dry and we will give the Scots a run for their money in Boston.”
Mike Jennison, from Stockport, was pictured hugging a kilt-wearing Glaswegian. He said: “Although he is Scottish, he is actually really nice. But we can outdrink the Scots.”
Nick Soutar, a banker from north London, had spent the build-up playing street football with Scottish supporters and locals.
“It was a cracking atmosphere,” Soutar said. “We have a reputation for being old enemies but we’ve been anything but since I arrived — the Scots are great fun.”
England can seal their last-16 place with victory over Ghana, while Scotland’s fans turn their attention to Miami, where the team faces Brazil with their World Cup hopes still in the balance.
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