This as-told-to essay is based on several conversations with Rory Phillips-Hunter, a 37-year-old estate and maintenance manager at a farm in North West England. Born in the Scottish Borders, he is a Scottish national soccer fan, known collectively as the Tartan Army.
I was at the game when Scotland beat Denmark and qualified for the World Cup.
I was 9 the last time we qualified for the World Cup, so it was just an outpouring of emotions after 28 years. I started crying.
I turned to my fiancée at the time, as soon as the full-time whistle went, and I said: “We’re going. I don’t care what it takes. We’re getting across to America.”
But hotel prices in Boston were beyond what I could afford, and my tickets were already going to cost over $1,000.
That’s when I joined a WhatsApp group that changed everything.
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I decided to stay in Providence
I saw that two of Scotland’s games were at Gillette Stadium. So, the first place we had looked at for a place to stay was Boston, but unfortunately, hotels had raised their prices.
For my fiancée and me, eight days in Boston would have cost about £6,000 ($8,000). With those prices, I just wouldn’t have been able to go.
I had even considered going to the US, not getting tickets for the games, and instead watching them at a bar. But it would have been pointless.
It was at that point that I thought we needed to look for an alternative. That’s when we stumbled across Providence, Rhode Island.
It was a fraction of the price, and it’s actually closer to the stadium than Boston is. It quickly became a no-brainer.
The Providence Tartan Army
I found this WhatsApp group, called the Providence Tartan Army. It was a very small thing when I joined — around 25 people casually discussing hotels and transport to the stadium.
Then it snowballed. Many of us follow the Scotland team all over the world, so it was inevitable that there would be a big number of us heading to the World Cup.
The WhatsApp group is well over 1,000 people now, and there are thousands more staying in Providence to see Scotland play.
We’ve not only found ways to keep costs down, but also raised thousands of dollars for charity.
Public transport to the stadium was very expensive, costing almost $100 for a round-trip ticket. So we organized yellow school buses, which came out nearly $40 cheaper per person.
We reached out to hotels and local government departments to help organize cheaper accommodation. The Marriott offered us a deal, so I’m spending $288 a night for two people for my stay in Providence.
It’s still a financial stretch
I’m spending about $6,000 total on the trip, including travel and accommodation for my fiancée and me.
To afford to go to the World Cup, I sold my pickup truck to get a BMW, as it’s a cheaper-running car. I maxed out a credit card, and I’m on a shoestring budget.
I earn about £33,000 ($44,000) a year in my day job. Without the Marriott deal and school buses, it would have been extremely touch-and-go whether I could go. I would’ve found a way to go, but it would have left me in financial peril, far more so than I already am.
But it’s worth it. For Scotland, Scotland fans, and Scottish people all over, this is a love story 28 years in the making.
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