Lyon: Scotland may have failed to qualify for Euro 2016 but that hasn’t stopped the Tartan Army travelling to France in their droves.
“It’s been 18 years since we last qualified to a major tournament, and we’ll probably be old men before we get to another one,” said Scott Fenton, 30, from Glasgow.
“What are we going to do? If we don’t come to this one, we’ll miss out for the next couple of years. The next World Cup is in Russia, so we’re not going to that, then the next Euros is spread out across loads of different cities throughout Europe, then the World Cup after that is in Qatar.
“If Scotland qualify it may be a different story, we may travel to those places, but it’s not as though they are going to. Realistically, this was our last chance.”
James Fraser, also 30 and from Glasgow adds: “We obviously planned this a long time ago hoping that Scotland would qualify but they didn’t – it was a close run thing – but we still thought it would be good to go, get out and soak up the atmosphere.
“We are just here for a laugh and a good time, we’re all football fans and we’re enjoying the banter with other fans asking us what we’re doing here. We’ve got tickets to go and see some of the games and we’re backing the underdogs. We are glad to see Wales and Northern Ireland doing well, so it’s all good.”
That goodwill for fellow British sides stops at England though. When asked if they were supporting Slovakia over England, a match which ended in goalless draw, Fraser said: “That would be the diplomatic answer, yes.”
