Scots boogie all night long after victory
70s disco tune becomes team’s unlikely anthem
MOVE over The Corries and The Proclaimers – Scotland’s football f ans have f ound a brand new national anthem.
In a craze that will have traditionalists scratching their heads, a 1970s hit by a Spanish duo who once featured in Eurovision has become the nation’s unlikely new go-to chant.
It came after a video showing the delighted national team dancing along to Baccara’s disco classic Yes Sir, I Can Boogie in the dressing room went viral.
Their penalty shoot-out win over Serbia on Thursday night prompted scenes more akin to a late ’70s nightclub than Belgrade’s Rajko Mitic football stadium as the players celebrated qualifying for a major championship for the first time in 22 years.
The song by Mayte Mateos and María Mendiola spent a single week at the top of the UK charts in 1977. Fans took to it with such gusto that there was a clamour for the team to release an official version yesterday as the single raced up the iTunes charts.
Thousands of Scotland fans have been sharing the footage online. One wrote: ‘Can’t wait to be part of the tens of thousands of Scotland fans singing I Can Boogie at Trafalgar Square next summer.’
Another added: ‘I suspect, like me today, the majority of Scotland keeps breaking into a chorus of Yes Sir, I Can Boogie.’
One fan said: ‘I wouldn’t have guessed Baccara’s Yes Sir, I Can Boogie as the Scotland celebration song, but it’s joyous stuff.’
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon expressed her delight at the win by posting ‘Massive congratulations!’ along with a video of herself celebrating during last year’s general election when former Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson lost her seat to the SNP.
Cabinet Minister Michael Gove then shared Miss Sturgeon’s clip, adding: with Nicola on this one.’
Yes Sir, I Can Boogie has become a hit within the squad thanks to defender Andy Considine, who recorded a video of himself dancing to the song at his stag do in 2015.
In the YouTube clip, the Aberdeen player is dressed in drag – complete with bright red lipstick, bra top and a mini- skirt – as he struts around with friends and family.
On Thursday Considine, 33, was an unused substitute – having only been called up to the national team for the first time earlier this year – but was in the thick of the dressing room celebrations.
The Scotland team’s Twitter account shared their video, which features captain Andy Robertson, Leigh Griffiths and Kieran Tierney among others. Simon Ferry, who ‘I’m hosts the popular Open Goal podcast and first shared Considine’s video, helping it to become a hit within the squad, said: ‘I think it already looks like Yes Sir, I Can Boogie has been claimed by the nation as the official Euros song for the team.
‘We started singing the song months ago on the Open Goal podcast when discussing Andy Considine’s infamous stag do video and it became a running gag for us to sing it each week, so to see it catch fire the way it has and the lads singing it in the dressing room was completely surreal.
‘We know a lot of the Scotland players watch the show and they’ve taken that patter into the squad when Andy was called up, so for us to play a part in being a catalyst for what will be one of Scotland’s main anthems for the tournament is unbelievable and something we’re very proud of.’
Outlander actor Sam Heughan tweeted: ‘They’ve already won Euros with this!’
Comedian Kevin Bridges was one of those celebrating in the aftermath of the match,
‘It’s the greatest thing I’ll ever see’
saying: ‘Mad Scotland! Said it years ago that we’d qualify for Euro 2021. Brilliant.’
Former England footballer Gary Lineker shared his congratulations online, saying: ‘Well played Scotland. Great stuff.’
Veteran broadcaster Archie Macpherson described the emotions felt by many fans when the match went to penalties.
He told BBC radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme that he kept his eyes shut during the crucial shoot-out.
‘I have a deep aversion to penalty shootouts that I think, eventually, only psychiatry will overcome,’ he said.
He added: ‘It was very, very tense and I enjoyed it like a ten-year-old schoolboy.’
In 1972, Macpherson commentated on the first-ever penalty shoot-out in a European football match, between Celtic and Inter Milan in Glasgow.
Thousands of fans who had been watching Thursday’s match at home joined in the celebrations, with many taking to the streets. A video shot in Edinburgh captured a group of topless fans cheering on rooftops along Lothian Road following the dramatic win.
One of the supporters in the clip can be heard playing Flower of Scotland on the bagpipes as people in the street sing along to the anthem from their windows and bal
conies. The national side will join England, Croatia and the Czech Republic in Group D at the tournament next summer.
Scotland manager Steve Clarke’s son John shared an emotional message to his father after the historic win. He tweeted: ‘My dad is my hero. Watching my hero take Scotland to an international competition is the greatest thing I’ll ever see.’