England v Scotland Euro 2020: Around 20,000 Scottish fans travel to London for key match

There will be no official fan zone for Scottish supporters in London due to Covid restrictions
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Around 20,000 Scotland fans are expected to travel to London ahead of tonight's (18 June) Euro 2020 match against England.

This is the first time Scotland have qualified for the Euros in 23 years, with fans making the journey to the English capital to watch the match.

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Around 20,000 Scotland fans are expected to travel to London ahead of tonight's (18 June) Euro 2020 match against England (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell)Around 20,000 Scotland fans are expected to travel to London ahead of tonight's (18 June) Euro 2020 match against England (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell)
Around 20,000 Scotland fans are expected to travel to London ahead of tonight's (18 June) Euro 2020 match against England (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell)

However, there will be no official fan zone for Scottish supporters in London due to Covid restrictions - something which Scotland fans have criticised.

It is anticipated that thousands of Scotland’s fans will travel to London by train for the match, but the Scottish Football Supporters Association (SFSA) explained that many of these train tickets were booked when Wembley originally allocated Scottish fans over 18,000 seats.

However, due to Covid-19 restrictions this was decreased to 2,600.

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The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, the Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston and the Scottish Government have all reminded fans that they should only travel to the match if they have a ticket for a match or fan zone or a safe place to watch the game from.

This is in order to prevent a spike in Covid cases due to the risk posed by the Delta variant.

‘We are surprised and disappointed that there isn’t a fan zone in London’

Scotland fans have criticised the lack of fan zone space, as the traditional Scottish meeting spot of Trafalgar Square will not be accessible to them.

It will instead be used as a socially-distanced, ticketed fan zone for 750 key workers, and the screen will not be visible without access.

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Co-Founder of the Scottish Football Supporters Association (SFSA) 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.”

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.

Mr Taylor said: “People gathering around in larger groups outside of Covid restrictions can expect to be policed.”

However, despite the lack of an official fan zone, Scotland fans are still optimistic that the team could win against England.

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One football fan from north of the border tipped her heroes in blue to pull off a major upset at Wembley.

Marie Erke - who was visiting the seaside resort of Blackpool with Andrew Heggie on Thursday (17 June) - said “I’m going to say 4-1 Scotland,” when the Blackpool Gazette asked for her prediction for tonight's match.

This was to the delight of Andrew, whose optimism could only stretch to a 2-1 victory for the Tartan Army.

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