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 have been letting their hair down in Boston ahead of their second World Cup match against Ghana.
The Three Lions kicked off their campaign with a statement 4–2 win over Croatia in Dallas, leaving many supporters confident about the team’s prospects in the tournament.
Off the field, however, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. The 14,000 fans expected to have travelled to the Massachusetts city for the match have had to contend with steep ticket prices, costly transport and expensive parking.
Despite that, the England faithful were in fine voice on Monday evening in downtown Boston, with former Three Lions winger David Bentley leading hundreds in a rendition of Wonderwall by Oasis.
A popular venue called The Greatest Bar saw a sea of red and white shirts chant and dance with inflatable unicorns and beach balls as the city’s heavy rain failed to dampen England’s spirits before Tuesday’s match – with one fan even sporting a mohawk akin to that of David Beckham from the early 2000s.
At the same event, comic character and Sunday league football manager Steve Bracknall, whose real name is Chris McClure, encouraged supporters to join in with a chant of ‘we’re on our way’ – alluding to England’s potentially successful route to the World Cup final.
England fan Andy Milne, known as ‘That World Cup Guy’ was among the thousands of supporters partying in Boston on Monday night
Former England winger David Bentley leads the fans in song at The Greatest Bar in Boston
How Bostonians will respond to their new visitors remains to be seen, though it may be difficult for England’s fans to match the popularity of the Tartan Army.
According to social media, the Scotsmen who made the trip to the east coast have been a major hit with the American locals.
Hundreds of young women from Boston flooded to TikTok this week to share videos of them drinking, dancing and partying with the kilt-wearing Scots.
One blonde woman even organised a dating event, and called on all Scots to visit a bar where 100 single US women were desperate to meet them.
Another lady, who posted a video of her in a Scotsman’s arms, wrote on the app: ‘I may not be happily married but at least I’m single while the Scottish are in town for the World Cup.’
A separate video, which racked up more than 70,000 likes, showed a fan carrying a woman on his back through the streets of Boston, with the caption reading: ‘If he won’t, a Scottish man will.’
While one more TikToker hailed the ‘kindness’ of the travelling Britons, urging American men to take notes.
The woman said: ‘If I was a single girly living in Boston right now… you need to go by the bars. If you don’t go, you’re doing something wrong because you could find a nice Scottish man.
‘They seem very nice. They wanted to pet my dog. So I’m just saying, you should all go (to local bars).’
Others praised the Scottish tourists for ‘bringing the vibes’ to Boston as World Cup fever well and truly hit the city.
Videos posted to TikTok showed local woman hailing the Scotsmen for ‘restoring their faith in men’
One lady even organised a dating event encouraging Scots to go and meet ‘100 American’ women
Meanwhile, The Greatest Bar has experienced a surge in sales, recording its best week in 22 years and already exceeding its World Cup sales projections within just one week. According to CBS, the venue would typically be closed at this time of year due to the usual lull in major sporting events.
Bar manager of The Dubliner, Brian McDonnell, told LBC that his bar has ‘deliveries arriving every day’ to keep up with fervent demand.
‘We’re going through so much beer, and we have only a decent-sized keg room,’ McDonnell said.
‘We’re still going through so much that we had to rent a couple of mobile fridge units that we have out in the back alley so we always have beer rotating through – it’s always cold, it’s always flowing.’
Meet Boston, a tourism organisation in the city, said The Dubliner and The Haven – another popular bar in the city – reportedly served more than 300 kegs of Tennent’s beer between them.
Last night in downtown Boston, The White Bull Tavern closed early after Three Lions fans were standing on furniture and knocking chandeliers, according to a staff member.
Members of the UK’s football policing unit were present on Boston’s Union Street and could be seen in conversation with officers from the city’s police department (BPD) after the bar shut its doors.
A line of around 20 BPD officers stood outside the premises as England fans made their way out of the venue and onto the street.
The staff member, who saw around 200 supporters at the bar on Monday evening, predicted a ‘crazy’ night following the match and said he believed the venue, alongside other pubs and bars, would close earlier on Tuesday.
On the eve of England’s second game, fans said the journey to Boston for the game was worth it despite the high prices.
The city has faced widespread criticism for transport ticket prices – with trains now costing fans 80 dollars (£60.40) rather than the usual 20 dollars (£15.10).
Supporters have also said the price of parking has left many with an ‘expensive day out’ – as one fan described paying 180 dollars (£135.89) to park near the Gillette Stadium in the nearby town of Foxborough.
The Greatest Bar in Boston’s West End had stocked up on beer to cope with England fans
Supporters stripped off and downed American beers – in the same bars loved by Scotland
England fans have been warned they face early closures and travel difficulties today
Ahead of the match Adam Parkinson, 32, from Barnsley, said: ‘It’s a once-in-a-lifetime type of thing, it’s England at a World Cup.
‘We saved up – we kind of had it in mind to come.
‘My brother lives in Canada, so we thought “the World Cup’s there, we’re going to go, let’s think about it” and then we priced it up and we thought “OK, that’s going to be a bit more money than we had in mind.”
‘It’s one of them, right? You’ve just got to do it sometimes.’
Despite the high costs for those travelling from the UK, Three Lions’ fans based in the US said the game was their first opportunity to see the team at a World Cup.
Rhys Thomas, 31, originally from Birmingham, who travelled to the city from Connecticut and is going to the match with his wife and friends, said: ‘This is actually the first England game I will have been to.
‘I live in the States and now the World Cup is here, so I was just like “we’ve got to go”.
‘It’s never been this close to us, I’ve never been this close to the World Cup. I’m excited.’
He said tickets cost him $490 (£370) but admitted he had ‘heard a lot worse’ from others.
‘For four of us, I jumped on it – it took three times of trying to get through the lottery ticket system and I was ready to probably pay thousands last second, but luckily we just got on it so not too bad,’ he said.
