Scottish supporters will have beer in their bellies and hope in their hearts as they make the long arduous journey to London this Friday. For many who envision such a sight, it may appear rather grim. Yet, for David Moyes, it was such memories which he holds so dear decades on.
The Sunderland boss spoke to the Northern Echo about his past trips from Scotland to England as a member of the tartan army;
We lived in a part of Glasgow called Anniesland, in the West End, and we would all get on the buses. My dad let my pals come, so there were three or four of us, and we all went down.
Everybody had a kilt on, and everybody was completely ‘tartaned’ up. I didn’t wear a kilt, I probably had my Bay City Rollers trousers on, that was more what I was like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIZpaiUX-D8
In many ways, it's a heartwarming scene. A young David Moyes free from stress - dressed as a member of a Scottish pop rock band - downing cans with his mates. A simpler time for a man now under immense pressure in the north-east of England.
We only had one hotel room with four of us in it. I’m sure most lads have done this, they’ve been there – two of us would book in, then the other two would come up to the room.
There were thousands of us going down to London. You couldn’t walk down the aisle (of the bus) – there were two seats either side – because of the cases of beer all the way down. People would get on at Motherwell and Hamilton, and we’d be stopping for a pee every 15 minutes! You would see it running down the floor of the bus, if you know what I mean!
Those stories were legendary. One of the times we broke down just getting into London, off the M1 at Brent Cross, and we’d been on for it for I don’t know how many hours. Everybody got off the bus, and I tell you what – we were just young boys – but all the older men were lifting their kilts up to every car coming past!
Whether or not the Scottish supporters will leave Wembley with a positive result remains to be seen but one thing is for certain; they're going to have a party in the English capital.
