SCOTLAND fans have criticised the lack of fan zone space available in London for the big match against England.
The highly-anticipated Euro 2020 clash between the old rivals will kick off to a crowd of more than 20,000 fans at Wembley.
It is the first time Scotland have qualified for the Euros in 23 years, but there will be no official fan zone for Scottish supporters in London because of Covid-19 regulations.
But this has not dampened their spirits as dozens of Scottish fans started gathering yesterday outside King’s Cross train station in London, dancing and singing to the adopted Yes Sir, I Can Boogie anthem.
The traditional Scottish meeting spot of Trafalgar Square will not be accessible to them as it will be used as a socially-distanced, ticketed fan zone for 750 key workers, and the screen will not be visible without access.
Scottish Football Supporters Association (SFSA) co-founder Paul Goodwin said: “We are surprised and disappointed that there isn’t a fan zone in London. We thought there should have been more foresight, London is the capital city, the main hosting city for the tournament.
“It’s not just Scotland-England here, it would have been the perfect test if they did have a fan zone, but what happens if it’s France and England or Germany and England in the final, are people going to be content with what they’ve got?
“However we are pragmatic, we’re realists, we totally understand as football fans, but also as human beings in the pandemic, of the big picture.”
Scotland has an outside, socially-distanced fan zone at Glasgow Green with a capacity of up to 6000 people per day which was organised between the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council and Uefa.
Capacity at sports pubs and bars will also be limited due to Covid-19 restrictions, and many have been booked up well in advance.
It was anticipated that thousands of Scotland fans would travel to London by train, but the SFSA said many of these train tickets were booked when Wembley originally allocated Scottish fans more than 18,000 seats. Due to Covid-19 restrictions this was cut to 2600.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, UK Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston and the Scottish Government reminded fans that they should only travel if they had a ticket for the match or a safe place to watch the game from.
This restriction is to prevent creating a spike in coronavirus cases due to the risk posed by the Delta variant.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor told LBC that events with large crowds, often where alcohol is consumed, create “policing challenges” but that the force has a “robust plan” in place. Taylor said: “People gathering around in larger groups outside of Covid restrictions can expect to be policed.”
After a long stretch of soaring temperatures, London will see a drop to around 14C (57.2F) during the match, with showers expected.
ScotRail urged fans returning from the match to plan their onward travel if they arriving back in Glasgow Central or Edinburgh Waverley on Sunday as less than 15% of services will be running due to ongoing strikes.
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