I Went to an Impromptu Foam Party in the Streets of Dortmund with the Tartan Army

It goes without saying that for plenty of men and women all over the world, football offers a great escape. Every once a week or so, as a football fan, you get 90 whole minutes of screaming and swearing – 90 minutes of pure elation or extreme disappointment. On top of that, you also get to go to the pub with your mates afterwards to talk about what you just experienced, and get pissed. And no one seems to appreciate that kind of release more than the fans of the Scottish national team – or as they like to call themselves, 'the Tartan Army'.

The most recent Tartan Army outing took place on the 7th of September in the German city of Dortmund for a European Championship qualifier against the current world champions, Germany. Those who expected the game to end in the Germans favour (as it did) were many, but that didn't stop the Scots from bringing over 5000 fans to Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park.

I've been following and photographing the Tartan Army for about year now and the main thing that has struck me is their relentless passion for a good piss up, no matter what the result of each game is. I get the sense that the fans might feel their team should be better than they currently are, but will still happily follow them around the world and make impressions on every city they visit. Any upset they might cause in their travels is most certainly a labour of love.

To sum up, I think the mindset of a travelling Scotland fan is best described by one of their own: “Its just a good weekend away with the lads – and you get 90 minutes of football at the end too,” a man in a kilt said to me last weekend.