Scotland went out in the group stage. The Tartan Army made sure they didn't leave empty-handed — at least not for Massachusetts schoolchildren.
After attending FIFA World Cup games at Boston Stadium (the temporary rebrand of Gillette Stadium), Scottish fans donated $15,000 to Massachusetts Child, a charity run by the Massachusetts Teachers Association that funds school supplies, clothing, books, and health items for preK-12 students facing economic hardship. It's not symbolic pocket change either — the organization awarded just over $61,000 total to educators across 50 school districts in the 2025-26 school year. The Tartan Army's contribution represents nearly a quarter of that.
School buses, Scotland fans, and a happy accident
The backstory makes it better. Scotland's original bus provider fell through weeks before the tournament. Local fan Mike Teevan stepped in and connected the Tartan Army with First Student, a school bus operator, which ended up ferrying thousands of Scottish supporters to and from games. Fleets of school buses packed with grown adults in kilts became one of the more memorable images of the tournament.
Teevan saw the symmetry immediately. "Some of the most enduring images and memories from the World Cup will be the Scotland fans travelling to Gillette Stadium on fleets of school buses," he said, "and it seems appropriate that it's local school kids who should benefit from the help we received."
Hard to argue with that logic.
Scotland played two of their three group games in Foxborough — beating Haiti 1-0 on June 13 before losing to Morocco by the same scoreline on June 19. They then fell 3-0 to Brazil in Miami, which ended their campaign. On the pitch, it was a familiar story. Off it, the fans outdid themselves.
MTA President Max Page put it plainly: "The Tartan Army showed the world what it means to care for one another." Coming from a teachers' union president whose members now have an extra $15,000 to spend on their students, that's not just goodwill rhetoric.
