More Than 10,000 Scots Fill Fenway Park for Next World Cup Night
More than 10,000 Scotland fans turned Fenway Park into a next world cup gathering after Scotland beat Haiti, turning a summer Sunday night in Boston into a loud Scottish Celebration. The turnout blew past the roughly 4,000 fans Travis Pollio expected for the event.
Fenway Park had 32,000 people inside as the Red Sox played the Rangers, and the Scotland crowd sang Yes Sir, I Can Boogie while dancing on the jumbotron screen. That came after Scotland’s World Cup win against Haiti drew the Tartan Army across Boston for the special night.
Travis Pollio at Fenway Park
Pollio, the Red Sox director of ticket strategy and promotions, had said about 4,000 Scots were expected at the corner of Jersey Street and Van Ness Street. Instead, the Scottish Celebration night filled a far larger share of the ballpark and made the crowd impossible to miss from almost anywhere in the stands.
The scale stood out even by Fenway standards. The park has been home to the Boston Red Sox since 1912, and on this night the Scotland section brought a different kind of noise, with supporters singing Flower of Scotland after the Star Spangled Banner and special edition blue tartan Red Sox jerseys handed out to fans.
Boston’s Red Sox Game Shifted
The baseball game itself was moving in the other direction when Scotland supporters took over the mood. The Red Sox were trailing by three going into the seventh inning against the Rangers, but the larger story in the park was the sea of Scotland colors and the reaction to a World Cup result that had already pushed the celebration into Boston.
A few weeks earlier, one supporter said fans had come to watch with bags over their heads, they were that disillusioned. This time, the same ballpark had more than 10,000 Scots singing and dancing under the lights, and the turnout left the organizer’s estimate looking small beside the real count.
Tartan Army in Boston
Two mascots in Highland dress, Tessie and Wally, appeared near first base as the Tartan Army settled into Fenway’s long night. The scene fit the wider Scotland invasion sweeping across Boston for the World Cup, with the city’s reception helping the celebration spill beyond a single match and into one of baseball’s most familiar buildings.
For fans who made the trip, the immediate next step was simple: keep following Scotland’s World Cup run, with Boston already having shown how quickly a single result can fill a landmark venue. Fenway’s Scottish Celebration night ended as a crowd of 32,000 watched a baseball game and more than 10,000 of them were there for Scotland.
