Scotland could be heading back to Boston on a regular basis. The Scottish FA is in active talks with officials from Massachusetts about staging a biannual friendly in the city, BBC Scotland reported on Thursday, five months after the Tartan Army spent a fortnight there at the World Cup and left an impression the locals have not forgotten.
What is on the table
The idea is a recurring fixture in Boston built around the Scotland national team. Who the opponents would be has not been settled, and the talks over the match itself are at an early stage. BBC Scotland's Chris McLaughlin reports that it is understood the game will involve the national side, which is the detail that matters to supporters weighing up another transatlantic trip.
There is a second strand that is further along. The SFA is said to be in advanced negotiations with businesses in Massachusetts about investing in the Scottish game. So this is a commercial conversation as much as a sentimental one, and the friendly looks like the public face of something broader.
Senators at Hampden
The timing is not an accident. A delegation of Massachusetts state senators is due to hold further discussions with the SFA before Scotland's Nations League match against North Macedonia at Hampden on Friday. One of them, Paul Feeney, has been in the UK this week for talks about energy and made a point of adding Scotland to the trip.
Feeney's pitch is that June was about more than the 90 minutes at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. He described a couple of weeks of friendships forming between visiting fans and the people who hosted them, and told BBC Scotland: "Frankly, we don't want that to end." His own preference goes beyond a single game. He floated an invitational tournament, on the basis that Massachusetts cannot have a World Cup every year but can still find a reason to bring the same crowd back.
A bill, a unanimous vote and some traffic cones
The politics have moved quickly by the standards of any legislature. Massachusetts has passed a bill aimed at strengthening ties with Scotland, and Feeney said the state Senate voted unanimously to back the concept of a recurring event. It still has to get through the rest of the process there.
The numbers explain the enthusiasm. An estimated 25,000 Scotland fans were in Boston and the surrounding area in June, for two World Cup matches. They are remembered for the noise, for the kilts, and for putting traffic cones on several of the city's statues, a Glasgow habit that travelled well. Senate president Karen Spilka told the BBC the supporters were sorely missed once they had gone, and talked about tourism, economic development and perhaps Tartan Day events growing out of the link.
Why the SFA would want it
From Hampden's side the appeal is easy to see. A guaranteed travelling support of that size makes any American promoter take notice, and a standing date in a city that already likes the team is worth more than a one-off tour game arranged from scratch each time. The catch is the calendar. International windows are crowded, and a regular trip across the Atlantic has to be squeezed in around Nations League and qualifying fixtures.
Nothing is signed. But both parties are talking in the same week, in the same city, with a home international as the backdrop, and that is usually how these things start.
Context: Scotland played two 2026 World Cup matches at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, near Boston, in June. An estimated 25,000 Scotland supporters travelled. Talks between the Scottish FA and Massachusetts officials over a biannual friendly are at an early stage; opponents and dates are not decided. Scotland host North Macedonia at Hampden on Friday 13 November. Source: BBC Scotland.
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