The story of Scotland's basecamp: Little World Cup fever, Viking invaders, sport battles and Jelly Roll
Alan Pattullo has been with the national team for two days and he sets the scene in Charlotte
A couple of days might not be sufficient to test the temperature of a city, although in Charlotte one thing is already obvious: it is the perfect hideaway for Scotland.
It is a retreat distinguished by being in plain sight. Just off a highway, the Charlotte FC training centre – full name the Atrium Health Performance Park – is a verdant spread of pitches cut to immaculate perfection. Scotland do not want for anything, including human contact and the buzz of city life.
That was the problem two years ago at Euro 2024 in Germany. One of them, at least. While Steve Clarke had talked up the charms of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, he later acknowledged that one of its attractions – its remoteness – was actually a drawback. The players felt isolated and when the opening game resulted in a 5-1 thumping by Germans, probably the last thing they wanted was to be stuck somewhere where the surrounding mountains compounded the sense of oppressiveness.
No such problems in Charlotte, which is a significant financial centre and major metropolitan hub. What it isn’t is a World Cup host city, which might seem strange on the face of it. There appears to be an appetite for the game, which was illustrated most recently by the fact nearly 60,000 fans crammed into Charlotte FC’s Bank of America stadium to watch the United States’ friendly against Senegal two Sundays ago. The club side also set the all-time MLS attendance record in their very first game four years ago, when 74, 479 fans watched the home team lose 1-0 against LA Galaxy.
World Cup fever is not, however, immediately apparent as you walk the streets. Again, this is something else that will be to Clarke’s liking. Scotland will feel the full force of the hype when they hit Boston on Friday. So far, however, they have been treated to a softly-softly World Cup experience. Some local children were invited to training on the first day and although the session was advertised as being open to the public and press for only the first 15 minutes, no one was escorted out when this period was up. Meanwhile, the sight of a smiling Clarke gave the sense that he is determined to really try to enjoy this tournament.
The only ones with a gripe were the Norwegian footballers and coaches who had meant to be playing a closed-doors game against Scotland that afternoon. Sorry lads, it’s off was the message from the Scots, who feared picking up any more injuries.
It might just have been a coincidence that this was shortly after publication of a photograph taken by the distinguished Scottish photographer David Yarrow. It depicted the squad, including Erling Haaland, as fearsome Vikings standing by a fjord. They are posing with longships and weapons in storm-grey Nordic light. Is it any wonder Clarke took the decision to call the whole thing off?
It was a very peculiar pre-World Cup drama that produced a blizzard of words in Norway and Scotland.
Some Norwegian journalists even called into the Scotland training camp on their way back from their team’s 1-1 friendly draw with Morocco in Harrison. Handily for them their flight landed in Charlotte, the nearest airport of any size to their team’s HQ in Greensboro. It was perhaps the one time to date that Clarke has regretted basing the squad in a major transit hub.
John McGinn was left to handle their enquiries at the first press conference and he did so expertly. The story barely registered with local media, who probably rightly concluded that a closed-door game that wasn’t happening anymore wasn’t something to get too excited about.
There’s other things going on, including an ongoing Stanley Cup series of games between Carolina Hurricanes, based in nearby Raleigh, and Vegas Golden Knights. Charlotte might be a “soccer city” but it’s also home to plenty other sports too. They have a baseball team, the Charlotte Knights, and the Carolina Panthers, an NFL team. There’s also the Hornets, an NBA team. And don’t forget the Charlotte Checkers, another ice hockey team.
That’s a lot of sport fighting for attention on the TV screens of bars on top of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs that has caught everyone’s attention. The Knicks are bidding to win for the first time since 1973. It’s not quite a case of World Cup? What World Cup? But there’s only so many hours in the day.
“I think once the official games start, we will see a lot more excitement,” said Aysen Ulupinar. Originally from Ohio though of Turkish extraction, she has been helping Scottish media with enquires at the Scotland media centre in the city. She reports that there is a “watch party” for the first USA game against Paraguay next week, when big screens will be erected. The buzz is coming.
It’s already here in some respects. Charlotte feels like a young city. Craft beer breweries are everywhere, including the one that was hired by Charlotte FC and the SFA on Monday to welcome reporters. Locals seem barely to have noticed that the Scottish national team is training in their midst.
Why would you when Jelly Roll and Post Malone, the rapping-country crossover you never knew you wanted, are in town and playing the Charlotte FC stadium, as they did on Tuesday night.
It was the latest date on their Big Ass stadium tour. It did seem like the perfect stage for John McGinn to strut his stuff, with memories of his Bavarian dance turn still fresh from two summers ago. Lessons have clearly been learned.
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