A raucous party atmosphere descended upon London around England’s big Euro 2020 clash with Scotland at Wembley Stadium - which ended with a goalless draw on Friday night.
Thousands of Scotland supporters made their way down to the capital for the game. And despite Covid restrictions and a limited number of tickets being available for the game at Wembley, Scotland fans turned up in their droves and took over parts of central London in the absence of an official fan zone.
During her Covid briefing on Friday, Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon urged her fellow Scots to be “respectful” and said “don’t behave in a way that’s going to make their Covid problem worse.” The Metropolitan Police had advised fans to only travel to London if they had a ticket for the game, and message seemingly roundly ignored.
⚽️The second #EURO2020 England match is tomorrow! But please, only come to London if you have a ticket for a match, fanzone or venue. pic.twitter.com/NWPoJKtfsc
— MPS Football Unit (@MPSFootballUnit) June 17, 2021
Mayor Sadiq Kahn had also encouraged fans without tickets to try and book somewhere to watch the game as they won’t be able to “just rock up at a pub.”
'You can't just rock up to a pub and watch it.'
— LBC (@LBC) June 18, 2021
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's warning to Scotland fans in the capital, ahead of the nation's crunch Euro 2020 game with England.@mrjamesob | @SadiqKhan pic.twitter.com/EaPykxfab6
Despite a distinct lack of Covid protocols being followed the Scottish fans certainly brought a party vibe to England on Friday - combined with a little bit of mischief.
Things got well underway on an EasyJet flight down to London on Thursday where a rendition of ‘Yes Sir, I Can Boogie,’ a song Scotland has adopted, broke out.
Thousands of Scotland fans are ‘boogying’ their way to London ahead of Scotland’s #EURO2020 clash against England at Wembley on Friday. This was the scene on the @ABZ_Airport to @Gatwick_Airport @easyJet flight this morning. #SCO #eng #ENGSCO ⚽️
— Ben Philip (@BenPhilip_) June 17, 2021
[📱Ruaridh MacVinish] pic.twitter.com/LXzaxmvCx1
There were similar scenes in train stations across London on Thursday.
Scotland fans arriving in London! pic.twitter.com/7BuppZssTr
— Raman Bhardwaj (@ramanbhardwajTV) June 17, 2021
🏴 Scotland fans arriving at London Euston station this afternoon 🎶 pic.twitter.com/sIsMsYjS75
— Andrew Maclean (@AndrewMaclean_) June 17, 2021
Scotland fans are getting the party started in London today. 🎉🏴
— Casual Ultra (@thecasualultra) June 17, 2021
More than 20K Scotland fans are expected to travel to London for the England match tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/RrlEzwufLF
Once they’d settled into their surroundings fans took over Leicester Square and had fun by putting washing up liquid in the William Shakespeare fountain and taking a dip.
The Scotland fans have found the fountain in Leicester Sqaure #SCO #SCOENG pic.twitter.com/XZsx27pgMg
— Kevin Jackson (@kevinnjackson) June 17, 2021
Scotland fans in London today… 🤣🏴 pic.twitter.com/ni8BgVJO3j
— The Away Fans (@theawayfans) June 17, 2021
Police later said they were keeping an eye on it...
We want people to enjoy the Euros safely and securely.
— Metropolitan Police Events (@MetPoliceEvents) June 18, 2021
Police are engaging with a large boisterous crowd of Scottish fans in Leicester Sq. to maintain their safety, and prevent the likelihood of crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour.#EURO2020 ⚽
Meanwhile, huge crowds gathered in Hyde Park, where one man somehow lost all of his clothes and was reportedly later led away by police.
Good spirits having a good time #Scotland fans in #HydePark before #ENGSCO at #Wembley #TartanArmy on the pish #EURO2020 #Euro2021 pic.twitter.com/Ab3mCVk087
— #Whistleblower #LulInspectorWBTV Youtube subscribe (@lulinspector) June 18, 2021
How could he be so thoughtless?
— Agent P 🏴🇬🇧 (@AgentP22) June 17, 2021
He's not even wearing a mask.#SCO #ENGSCO pic.twitter.com/qKh6BEomUO
Even as the weather turned and got much wetter, the atmosphere didn’t dampen spirits.
Tartan Army enjoy the lovely London weather in Leicester Square tonight... #ENGSCO #EURO2020 #SCO pic.twitter.com/WvwIkw21cO
— Alex Wood (@AJ_Wood15) June 17, 2021
🎥 Scotland fans are filling London’s bars and restaurants, hiding from the rain… pic.twitter.com/7SotTrkcPS
— Clyde 1 Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) June 18, 2021
One pub in Leicester Square had already run out of food by 10:40 am Friday morning but everyone was still in a good mood.
Breakfast time for Scotland fans in Leicester Square. The pub’s run out of food but no-one seems all that bothered #Sco @BBCScotlandNews pic.twitter.com/QZKhBa4x2l
— Steven Godden (@Godden78) June 18, 2021
As we continue our trip around London, despite the torrential rain, both Scotland and England fans are still singing #SCO #eng #ENGSCO @EustonFlyer pic.twitter.com/cSaE4mgXlu
— Kevin Jackson (@kevinnjackson) June 18, 2021
Michael McClean from Inverness told BBC Scotland: “It’s an amazing atmosphere so far. I think it seems that they’ve underestimated how many would travel down for the game. It feels like a normal football occasion. It doesn’t feel like there’s a pandemic on, which I don’t think is good in a way, but it’s definitely good to enjoy an occasion after a year-and-a-half.”
Emma Best of the London Assembly and the Conservative group’s spokeswoman on health estimated that 20,000 Scotland fans will be in London over the next few days adding that there are concerns given the spread of the Delta variant. “I think it is concerning and we do need to do what we can to control the Delta variant,” she said.
“Like it or not, Scottish fans - and we must say English fans as well from across the country - will be in London in their thousands and so we do need a plan to manage that as carefully as possible.”
Dispersal orders have been issued to give police extra powers to break up any groups deemed to be causing a disturbance.
