Published: Thursday, 22nd November, 2007 10:30
Fairlie Tartan Army man host Italian footy fans
By Calum Corral
Comments (0)
Print Article
A Fairlie Tartan Army fan came to the rescue of two Italian students who were desperate for a place to stay for the big Scotland V Italy international encounter on Saturday.
Colin Harris, who has travelled all over the world supporting Scotland, was a member of a messageboard on the Tartan Army website and answered the request put forward by two Italian fans.
The two students were so impressed with the Scots during their last encounter that they immediately booked tickets for the Hampden encounter ... but couldn’t afford anywhere to stay.
Fairlie man Colin and partner Jenny came to the rescue and put up the students in his Argyll Cottage for three days and wined and dined the pair, taking them up to Glasgow College of Piping before showing them the ‘famous pubs of Glasgow’ and the boys even received a grandstand reception on arriving at Prestwick Airport.
With bagpipes at the ready, Colin gave them a blast of “Flower of Scotland” on the bagpipes during their arrival.
The unusual request came about when Emiliano Bari wrote on the website: “I am a boy of Bari and I always speak about tartan army boys with my friend because I can’t forget when you came here in these fantastic days in March. I suddenly bought tickets for Scotland V Italy at Hampden. I want to do a little trip in your fantastic country. We don’t have much money but we can’t lose this chance to visit your country with your fantastic people .. we have just have enough money to offer you litres of beer.”
Colin responded: “There was no way I was going to let them stay at an airport. As soon as I saw that message on the website, I got in touch with them and offered them a place to stay in Fairlie. We had a pre-match party on Saturday morning before heading out to the game. It was a great time. The lads went away first thing on Sunday morning. They can’t stop talking about it - they say it is the best time they have ever had and the best country they have visited. Showed them a few hostelries in Glasgow, and then we went to the match. We went to the Museum at Hampden, and we stayed for a few drinks in Glasgow. The match was disappointing. Some of the decisions were atrocious.
“I thought the ref was a bit nervous and the crowd got to him. Now we have to look forward to the world cup. The students have told us to come to us at any time in Bari = any time at all. They want us to come over in the summer, and have offered us a free holiday. One of the guys brought all this chocolate, I had to give half of it away. There must have been five pounds in weight. But they are right into black pudding and square slice now. They got right into the Scottish spirit of things and really enjoyed it.”
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon
Further Details
Largs karate men Scottish champs