By Tim Parsons-
Thousands of Scottish fans have gathered in pouring rain in central London ahead of the team’s Euro 2020 clash with England.
Scotland has been allocated about 2,600 tickets due to Covid rules, and no fan zone has been set up.
Large groups of supporters wearing kilts, Scotland shirts and flags have been chanting, singing and playing bagpipes at Leicester Square, King’s Cross and Hyde Park.
Scottish fans partied through the night in central London, ignoring a 48 hours dispersal order by the Metropolitan Police yesterday as over 20,000 fans without tickets descended on the capital ahead of Friday night’s Euro 2020 crunch match against England at Wembley Stadium.
Thousands of boozed-up fans draped in flags and wearing Scotland jerseys were seen chanting ‘we hate f***ing England’ as they jumped into the William Shakespeare fountain in Leicester Square, while others partied hard in Hyde Park – some naked – ahead of the 8pm match on Friday.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan pleaded with ticketless supporters to ‘enjoy the game from Scotland’. He previously said fans would provide a needed boost to London’s hard-hit hospitality sector.
The Mayor’s warnings that the influx of people would cause a ‘serious risk’ of spreading Covid-19 prompted pubs to cancel bookings, while London Ambulance Service admitted it had no plans to have an increased amount of medics on standby as a mass party broke out in Hyde Park.
Scotland Yard has now issued a Section 35 Dispersal Order until 3pm on Saturday, in anticipation of ‘anti-social behaviour’. The order gives a police constable and a police community support officer the power to exclude a person from an area for 48 hours with an Inspector’s authority.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman tweeted this evening: ‘Due to the high profile UEFA EURO Football match between England & Scotland on Friday 18th June at 8pm and the anticipated anti-social behaviour this may bring, a section 35 dispersal authority has been implemented.
‘This has been authorised by Inspector Dodds from 1500 hours 17/06/21 till 1500 hours 19/06/21 in the West End area in an attempt to reduce the likelihood of members of the public being caused alarm harassment and distress and the occurrence of criminality in the local area.’
Drunk Scottish fan splashes a can of stella over himself Image: PA
Estimates that 20,000 Scotland fans would travel south for the match have been been described as “very conservative” by a London Assembly member.
A dispersal order has been issued for central London, giving the police extra powers to break up groups of people where they believe their behaviour is causing a nuisance, harassment or distress.
Scottish Fans in high spirits ahead of England game Image: PA
There have been no reports of any significant disorder – although there have been videos on social media that appeared to show some fans singing offensive anti-English songs.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has urged fans to “be respectful to our hosts” in London, and said they should not behave in a way that was going to make the Covid problem worse.
She also said she would “abhor and condemn unreservedly” any anti-English behaviour.
Ali Brawley, 55, from Galston in East Ayrshire, said he had arrived with a group of friends in London at midnight on Wednesday, and had spent the time since “sightseeing” around the city’s pubs.
A dispersal order has been issued for central London, giving the police extra powers to break up groups of people where they believe their behaviour is causing a nuisance, harassment or distress.