New Tartan Army discovered we are all Stephen O’donnell!
Friday was a very different Wembley experience for the Tartan Army.
The vast majority didn’t have tickets, travel still isn’t a carefree experience, and well-refreshed football fans find social distancing a little bit tricky.
A first glance at the fans flooding into London told you that a changing of the guard was underway.
Scotland have been missing from major tournaments for 23 years.
Some of the regular faces you used to spot traipsing through the towns and cities of Europe are no longer with us.
Others have decided it’s time for them to step back from active service, and are now cheering from the comfort of an armchair.
But, just like football teams, there are younger characters coming through.
A new kilted crew has emerged.
They’re a bit loud, and a little green, but they’re lads and lassies slowly discovering what it’s like to follow Scotland at a major tournament.
There was a time when you wondered if that would ever happen again.
The years of failure and disappointment didn’t make following the national team an appealing prospect.
When I came home from following Craig Brown’s side at France 98, the main worry amongst supporters was how they would fund attending the 2000 Euros and then the World Cup Finals in Japan.
It was a problem easily solved. Scotland started their run of failing to qualify, and we weren’t going anywhere in a hurry.
That ended in Belgrade last November, and the way it was achieved should have led to a bit of realism about how the team would perform at Euro 2020.
After all, Scotland got there through the back door by winning two penalty shoot-outs – which was actually more like squeezing in through the cat flap.
But realism and the Tartan Army have never gone hand in hand.
Thank goodness that hasn’t changed. We really don’t need any more negativity in our lives while Covid continues to linger.
The fans made it to Wembley by trains, buses and a packed London Underground.
And, as ever, they punched above their weight on the night. They out-sang the home supporters from start to finish.
When you hear: “We’d walk a million miles for one of your goals”, you can’t help thinking that some of them really would.
A new hero emerged in Billy Gilmour but, in many ways, it was Scotland defender, Stephen O’donnell, who gave a performance that summed up Scotland.
A good, honest professional had been written-off as not good enough to be at the competition after last Monday’s defeat by the Czech Republic.
He responded with a display full of passion and poise.
OK, it was only a 0-0 draw, but after the final whistle, it felt like we were back where we belong as a football nation.
At least for one night, as Scotland supporters, we were all Stephen O’donnell.