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Scottish Fans Spread Joy in Rhode Island

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 12, 2026| 6 Comments »

Photo: Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images.
Members of the Tartan Army before one of Scotland’s 2026 World Cup games. 

There were many things about the 2026 World Cup that gave Americans a kind of unexpected permission to be happy. Among those things were enthusiastic fan groups that came from abroad. Consider Scotland’s Tartan Army and the fun of having kilts and bagpipes filling the streets.

Adeel Hassan wrote at the New York Times in May, “Fans of Scotland’s World Cup team, thousands strong, will march on Providence, Rhode Island’s capital, next month and local officials will be applauding and cheering them every step of the way.

“Providence aggressively and strategically promoted itself as an alternative to host the parade of fans, known as the Tartan Army. City officials helped broker hotel deals and open up college dormitories to house the Scottish team supporters, a fan said. …

“Many of the approximately 10,000 Scottish team supporters will be staying in Providence-area hotels, college dormitories and Airbnbs, Rhode Island officials said.

“ ‘Our estimate is around 40 percent savings on accommodation compared to Boston rates,’ Ian Cox of the Providence Tartan Army said. ‘The real reasons supporters are choosing Providence are simple: It is actually closer to Gillette Stadium, it is a beautiful and walkable city, and the people here have been incredibly welcoming and helpful throughout our planning.’ …

“The proximity of the two cities presents fans with a choice of where to make a home base for part of the 39-day tournament.

“There are two kinds of fans, international and domestic, said Victor Matheson, a professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., and a longtime soccer fan. …

“ ‘Tourist No. 1 is the soccer fan who is using the World Cup as an excuse to go do other cool things that they’ve always wanted to do,’ he said. ‘That sort of tourist is obviously going to pick Boston over Providence because, from an international tourism perspective, Boston is a place to come.’

“The second fan is here only for the soccer matches, said Professor Matheson, who studies the economics of large sporting events.

“Describing the perspective of a die-hard soccer fan, he said: ‘I’m just not going to walk the Freedom Trail. I don’t care about Paul Revere. I don’t care about Old Ironsides. What I care about is soccer.

“ ‘Those fans are looking for like-minded fans,’ he added. ‘They’re looking for a place with cool bars, and a place that’s moderately cheap, so they can afford tickets to the event.’ …

“The only direct train service to Gillette Stadium is from Boston, though, and most fans from Rhode Island will be arriving by bus.

“The Tartan Army negotiated its own bus contract, and its members will arrive on game day on roughly 40 school buses, at $45 per person, less than half the established rate of $95, Mr. Cox said.

“Plenty of the Scottish fans and others staying in Rhode Island are using short-term housing rentals.

“ ‘Globally, what we’ve heard is that Airbnbs are as, if not more, popular than some hotels,’ because of the nature of how fans are traveling for the games, [Providence Mayor Brett] Smiley said. ‘Visitors seem to be coming in groups.’

“Airbnb housing, he said, distributes fans throughout the city’s neighborhoods, helping other businesses, rather than having all the fans concentrated downtown.

“Airbnb gave $250,000 to Ocean State 2026, the state’s official tournament organizer, to support soccer clinics, community celebrations and cultural programs. It is also giving two dozen World Cup tickets to children through a lottery.

“About a million people are expected to travel through the Providence area, according to Ocean State 2026. … The benefits will be spread out across the state, said James Diossa, chairman of Ocean State 2026 and the state’s general treasurer.

“Central Falls, a majority-Latino city, will be home to Colombia’s large fan base, he said, while Pawtucket and East Providence will be where many fans of the Cape Verde and Portugal teams will congregate. There will also be a fan zone for the Portugal national team in Providence. …

“Scotland’s last appearance in the World Cup was in 1998, and its fans have already left a mark on this one. They have made a $10,000 donation to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence.

“ ‘Part of what makes that possible is the money our supporters have saved,’ Mr. Cox said. ‘Every dollar not spent on overpriced bus tickets, FIFA’s outrageously expensive parking, Boston 2026’s unaffordable train, or Boston hotel rates, is a dollar that can go back into the community.

“Providence has welcomed us with open arms, and we intend to repay that warmth in full.’ ”

More at the Times, here.

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Hooray for World Cup Fan Zones

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on July 6, 2026| 6 Comments »

Photo: Carlos Muñoz.
Cape Verdean fans watched the national team play at the PVD Fan Zone in Providence, R.I.

I’m into the World Cup more than usual this year, mostly because the kids and grandkids are but also because so many fun things are happening close to home.

Carlos R. Muñoz wrote recently at the Boston Globe that the fan zone in Providence, Rhode Island, for example, has not only been fun but a great unifier.

“Since the World Cup began,” he wrote, “fans of international football have flooded into the PVD Fan Zone at Station Park in Providence, turning an underused green space into what Mayor Brett Smiley calls the best display of the city’s ‘rich diversity.’

“The Fan Zone has attracted more than 70,000 visitors, and after the FIFA Fan Festival Boston shut down following the end of the World Cup group stage, the Providence spot is the only remaining FIFA-sanctioned event outside Boston Stadium.

“FIFA required host cities to run fan festivals throughout the tournament, which ends with the World Cup Final on July 19, but relaxed its requirements because of funding, according to the Sports Business Journal.  

“ ‘From the outset, FIFA worked closely with Host Cities and local stakeholders to help shape meaningful fan experiences beyond the stadiums that are community-led, fan-oriented and aligned with the spirit of the FIFA World Cup,’ FIFA wrote in an email. …

“A fan festival costs about $1 million a day to operate, according to Fortune. The PVD Fan Zone costs about a third of that amount, according to Joe Wilson, the director of Art, Culture and Tourism for the City of Providence, and producer of the Fan Zone. City officials have committed to keeping it open for the full World Cup.

“Wilson said that cities struggled to pay for security and to make sure that city service costs were being covered. Station Park is located between the Amtrak/MBTA train station, the State House, and Providence Place mall and is an open area that is not typically used for events.

“ ‘Every city who had some kind of interface with FIFA and the World Cup were grappling with a variety of challenges related to budgets, scheduling, and safety,’ Wilson said. ‘One piece that made us say “39 days” is that we already have infrastructure footprint that we cannot move without using cranes that we’re securing 24/7. If we have to secure it, we might as well be open.’

“Providence did an economic impact assessment of life in the city two years ago, according to Wilson, and found that between 5 and 9 p.m. the city is ‘as international a city as Los Angeles’ with communities that have rich, strong immigrant populations who love football. …

“Wilson said the state’s ‘built-in audiences’ and proximity to Boston Stadium attracted groups like the Tartan Army and Ghana fans to Providence. Ghana’s national football team is staying at the Graduate Hotel [in Providence] and practices at Bryant University [in Smithfield].

“ ‘This is the first time this format of a World Cup is taking place over a continent, so even down to the logistics of this, we’re producing the singularly largest sustained event in the history of the city,’ Wilson said. …

“The World Cup has been a unifying event, Smiley said. ‘In the context of a moment where there’s so much stress and strife and division, this has been a really wonderful moment for communities to come together,’ he said. ‘It’s been entirely peaceful and family friendly, and just a nice and joyful occasion.’ …

” ‘We’re not doing this to make money for the city itself, and if the Fan Zone proper breaks even in terms of city impact, but all our businesses thrive, then it will have been a success,’ Smiley said. ‘We’ll have a full accounting of the city’s investment in the Fan Zone by the time we’re done and I’m optimistic that we’ll cover a lot of our expenses.

“City Councilman John Goncalves, whose ward covers much of downtown Providence, said the Fan Zone has been an incredible celebration of soccer, culture, and community.

“ ‘As Team Cape Verde, we’ve seen firsthand how the Fan Zone has united thousands of people around pride, identity, and joy,’ he said. ‘The energy has been incredible.’ …

“Smiley said the turnout for the Cape Verdean matches is one of his tournament highlights.

“ ‘That was a near record attendance night,’ he said. ‘We think we had about 8,000 fans that evening, and not only did I get to see and experience that energy, but to have 8,000 fans at night in a place with adult beverages and have zero issues.’ ”

More at the Globe, here.

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Resurrecting Soccer in Micronesia

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on November 17, 2019| 4 Comments »

01-airport-welcome

Paul Watson (right) and Matthew Conrad arriving in Pohnpei to reenergize Micronesian soccer. Previous coach Charles Musana, from Uganda, came along to do introductions.

Sometimes giving up on your dream lands you in the wrong profession. That’s what happened to Paul Watson. He wasn’t good enough to play Olympic soccer. So he tried soccer journalism, but it bored him. Then he and his friend, just for fun, started researching teams they could have qualified for had they been born in those countries.

James Parkinson reports at the WBUR radio show Only a Game, “From the time he was very young, Paul Watson had one dream: to play soccer.

” ‘My first passion was that I would play for England,’ he says. ‘You know, that was the dream. Despite not having any talent, really. No discernible sort of natural talent. [As] the years went on, it got less and less likely.’ …

“So he became a football [soccer] journalist who kept his dream alive by playing for a semi-pro team. But he says, that wasn’t enough. …

“In 2008, Paul Watson and his flatmate Matthew Conrad found themselves reflecting on their footballing dreams, wondering what life could have been like if they had made it in the professional game.

” ‘We would sit around in the evenings and kind of watch Brazilian second division football and sort of lament our lack of talent,’ Paul remembers. ‘And, one day, like a lot of fans probably around the world, we came up with the thing of saying, “Well, what team could we have played for if we’d been born there?” … We trawled through the FIFA rankings, got to the very, very bottom. … That was when we found the non-FIFA rankings — you know, places that aren’t recognized by FIFA. At the bottom of that was this island, Pohnpei.’

“Pohnpei: it’s an island in Micronesia. Population: just over 36,000. …

” ‘We sent them an email to the address that we could find for them. And that was it. That was supposed to be the end of it. But it was only actually when their head of their FA got back to us and said, “You know, I’d love to help you, but I’ve just moved to London.” ‘ …

“That man was Charles Musana, a Ugandan who had spent 15 years on the island of Pohnpei playing and coaching football.

” ‘And he said to us: “You can’t go there and play. It’s harder to get a Micronesian nationality than it is to get a British one. … Why don’t you come over and coach? The team’s basically disbanded, so come over and coach the team.” And I think he thought we’d laugh about that and go home. But instead, we said, “Yes.”  …

” ‘It was a good sort of 13 months ’til we actually were able to leave because, you know, we had to save up money, we had to give up jobs,’ Paul says. …

” ‘My long-term girlfriend — and now wife, amazingly — Lizzie, basically said, “You should do this. It’s something you want to do.” …

‘Crazy as it might seem, the thing I was most worried about, that gave me sleepless nights, was that someone would get their first,’ Paul says. …

“After 13 months of research, Paul and Matt finally booked their flights to Pohnpei. They were only planning to stay for three weeks to assess the situation. …

“Charles Musana, the man who proposed the idea of coaching the team in the first place, would come along to make introductions. …

“After 24 hours in the air, Paul and Matt arrived in Pohnpei.

” ‘It’s a U.S. protectorate, so it has a bit of a U.S. feel to it,’ Paul says. “Uses the dollar. But in many ways, it’s a tropical paradise. You know, it’s this incredible, shocking greenery and beautiful blue ocean. It’s absolutely stunning. It’s just such a friendly island. Everyone nods to everyone. It’s incredibly laid back. You drive at about 10 mph, and you swerve around all the potholes.’ …

” ‘We met the head of the Olympic committee in Micronesia — he’s called Jim Tobin, a really amazing American man who’s administrated sport there for years. … We were going down to the field every day and just seeing what level of interest there was.

” ‘And it would range. You know, some days we had a five-on-five kick around on this sort of flooded field. Other days, it would get up to sort of 20 people kicking around. Some days, we’d arrange everyone to turn up at 6:00 — they’d get there at 8:00. You know, it was a mess. But there was interest, and there were kids coming out and kicking a football who’d never done it before. There was some who were actually clearly really good.’ …

“When their three weeks on the island were up, Paul and Matt returned home to plan their next move. For Matt, that decision was taken out of his hands. He had gotten into film school — something he’d always wanted to do. But Paul decided to return to Pohnpei and take the coaching job.

“There was no pay. …

” ‘In a weird way, I felt more comfortable that way. Because if I’d taken on a professional role and commanded a salary, it wouldn’t have felt particularly ethical. Because I would have felt I was painting myself as something I wasn’t. … I was getting more out of this than they were in many ways. So it felt like a deal that made sense.’…

“When he returned to Pohnpei, he met a young man named Dilshan Senarathgoda.

” ‘He had been coaching this group of young kids. So I met up with him, and he was absolutely over the moon that I was there,’ Paul says.”

Read what happened next at WBUR, here.

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