Tartan Army fills 300 Providence hotel rooms before Morocco match
About 5,000 tartan army fans are staying in Providence during the tournament, turning Rhode Island into a temporary Scotland base before Friday’s match against Morocco. The move has filled 300 hotel rooms and sent supporters toward cheaper accommodation than they found in Boston.
David Hood and Providence
David Hood, who co-founded the Providence Tartan Army social media group, said Boston hotel prices were "extortionate" after the draw and helped drive fans south of the city. Rhode Island is not hosting any World Cup matches, but Providence is 25 miles away from Boston Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, where Scotland will face Morocco on Friday.
Hood said the group began as a Facebook page after fans started looking for cheaper places to stay. He expected a quiet response. "We saw people on social media saying about staying in Providence, but there was only a dozen or so people on the page. I thought it was going to be dead here," he said.
Robert Copland in Rhode Island
Robert Copland, from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, said the price was "a lot less in Rhode Island and even the beers are a lot cheaper." He also said, "We weren’t sure what to expect staying here, but it feels like a community."
Copland described how that community formed in practical terms. "The community has welcomed us with open arms - the other night a local man stuck my drinks on his tab and we got chatting. We're now going to keep in contact and I've told him to come to Scotland," he said.
Yellow buses for Friday
Mike MacGregor, another co-founder of the Providence Tartan Army social media group, came up with the idea of chartering two dozen yellow school buses to ferry fans from Providence to the stadium on game day. The group has also raised thousands of pounds for local charities, turning the fan base into more than a place to sleep before kickoff.
That leaves Providence with a different role from the one it gets in a normal tournament: not a host city, but the place where the tartan army has parked itself, spent less, and built a Scotland crowd large enough to shape the week before Friday’s match.
