Scotland’s Tartan Army left a lasting impression when throngs of soccer fans traveled to Boston for the country’s World Cup matches.
Now, the Scots have left another gift: a $15,000 donation to a Massachusetts charity that helps students in need.
Beyond the outpouring of goodwill and camaraderie between Scottish fans and their Boston hosts during a brief golden stretch last month, the donation was sparked in part by the unconventional mode of transportation for Scottish fans traveling to Gillette Stadium: yellow school buses.
“It was always going to be a good experience,” said Mike Teevan, a Scotsman who was principal organizer of the rides, “but the school buses were just another level.”
They also weren’t in the initial playbook when it came to planned transportation.
Teevan, a construction company estimator who lives outside Glasgow, knew he would come to Boston for the World Cup. And he knew he’d want to arrange transportation to and from the stadium to avoid the cost of a taxi or Uber or having to manage mass transit.
He thought he could find enough traveling compatriots to fill at least half a chartered private bus to make the trek. He underestimated. Word spread and soon he was flooded with requests from Scottish fans wanting to book a ride.
Eventually, he was up to 21 buses booked through two private coach operators. But that hit a snag when one provider pulled out. The companies quoted him extra costs totaling $14,000 to fill the hole. Then, he learned about a separate Scottish fan base based in Providence that was using school buses to get to Foxborough.
At first the passengers who arranged rides through him were dubious. A school bus would not have “creature comforts” like air conditioning or toilets. Plus, they were expecting at least a two-hour ride to the stadium due to traffic.
“Making the change was probably the best thing that could’ve happened to the day,” Teevan said.
They ended up not only saving a lot of money switching over from private coaches to school buses through operator First Student Inc., but having a blast.
More than 560 fans piled onto a dozen yellow school buses departing Boston for each Scotland match: the June 13 game against Haiti and June 19 match against Morocco.
Windows down, the breeze flowed in. Spirits were high, singing broke out and fans made a beer stop along the way — picking up 8,000 cans at a Total Wine across both game days. Even the traffic wasn’t bad: the June 13 trip only took 75 minutes to the stadium (including the beer stop), Teevan said.
“The American school bus is something that everybody knows here [in Scotland] — mainly due to ‘The Simpsons,’ ” he said.
Passengers didn’t request a refund of their $60 bus ticket either, despite the unexpected vehicle switch.
“Because we were on the school buses, I sort of quite quickly had the thought that it would be good to give something back to either the schools or via the schools or giving it back to the kids whose buses we were using,” Teevan said.
And that’s how the idea to donate to The Massachusetts Child clicked. The charity, administered by the statewide union the Massachusetts Teachers Association, offers grants to local school districts to fund items like books, school supplies and clothing to kids in financial need. Last year, the fund distributed more than $60,000 across 50 school districts.
MTA president Max Page praised the donation.
“The Tartan Army showed the world what it means to care for one another, to support one another, and to celebrate together,” Page said in a statement Monday. “We can’t thank these soccer fans enough.”
It’s not the only donation Tartan Army fans made; a separate subset of Scottish fans staying in Providence gave $10,000 to Hasbro Children’s Hospital last month.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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