More than 20 Scots can come to the Algarve on 11 October to watch the game between Gibraltar and Scotland, counting towards the qualifying phase of the European Football Championship. According to the spokesman for the “Tartan Army” – the name given to Scottish fans – there is a lot of demand and the approximately 7000 tickets, available for now, are not enough.
Hamish Husband, quoted by the newspaper The Scotsman, says that it is possible that «20 thousand Scots will travel to the Algarve for this game».
The reasons given by the spokesperson for the supporters are several: “this game could be of great importance to help us reach France for the Euro [2016]. The match takes place during the school holidays, making it even more attractive for many of us. Another factor is location – the Algarve is a popular holiday destination for many Scots».
According to The Scotsman, Scotland received tickets to fill almost a quarter of the 30-seat stadium, but if the results are favorable to the blue and white team until this decisive meeting, many more will be needed. Hamish Husband "hopes the SFA (Scottish Football Association) can secure more tickets to match demand."
So far, the game in Gibraltar at Estádio Algarve with the most fans happened when world champion Germany faced the bottom of group D. In that match, played on June 13 this year, 7467 people watched the German victory by 0-7 .
However, according to Husband, Scottish culture is different from German: “Germany fans don't travel anywhere without tickets. If they received 6 tickets for the game with Gibraltar, that's the number of supporters that will attend. Our culture is different. There were many more people in Dortmund and Dublin than those who were guaranteed to be able to see these games. The SFA tends to look after us and I'm sure they'll do their best to guarantee more tickets for this game», he considered.
Scotland is in 3rd place in qualifying Group D with 11 points, three behind the leader, which is Poland. The first two classified will qualify directly for Euro 2016. The third placed will compete in the play-off.
The “Tartan Army” has already received awards from various organizations for its friendly behavior and social work.
Meanwhile, Gibraltar plays on the 4th of September, at 19:45, at the Estádio Algarve, this time facing Ireland, also in the knockout of the same group of the European Football Championship.
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