The dream of Scotland playing at a major football finals is over for another two years, at least. Here are five alternative ways to occupy your time during the tournament next summer now that a Tartan Army party in France is off the agenda.
1. Rock with Rod
Instead of serenading tourists in a bar in Montmartre with your finest Maggie May, sing along with the great man himself. Rod Stewart is playing Kilmarnock's Rugby Park on June 17 and Caledonian Stadium in Inverness on June 18. Between now and then, given the lack of a footballing excuse for a pit stop in France, he might even see fit to add a couple more dates to his British and Irish tour.
2. Explore your inner culture vulture
The RIAS Festival of Architecture is set to be the big cultural crowd puller next year. If the creative regeneration of bricks and mortar is not your thing, take your pick in June and July from the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the East Neuk Festival in Fife, the Cupar Arts Festival, the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival in Aberdeen and the St Magnus International Festival in Orkney. Further afield, the Isle of Wight Festival coincides with the opening weekend of matches.
3. Get away from it all . . . on foot
The fresh air option. If you've never done the West Highland Way, or enjoyed it so much you fancy retracing your steps, sign up for the Caledonian Challenge and Hike (June 11/12). An alternative challenge is available for the more fleet-footed in the form of the Isle of Skye Half Marathon on June 11.
4. Split your sides with Sarah
Self-deprecating comic Sarah Milican is playing five dates in Scotland (at Eden Court in Inverness, Perth Concert Hall, Caird Hall in Dundee and the Edinburgh Festival Theatre) as she winds up her mammoth, 119-date "Outsider" UK tour. Ideally, England and the other home nations will no longer be participating in the Euro 2016 finals during the Scottish leg of her tour from July 6-10, limiting the potential for schadenfreude, or Strachanfreude perhaps.
5. Watch the football anyway
Since the expansion of the World Cup the European Championships has become arguably the hottest ticket in international football, with its concentration of stellar talent. It is a consistently compelling spectacle and even the increase from 16 to 24 teams (still a quota beyond the likes of Scotland) might not be enough to ruin it. So once the pain fades, it might go back to being a shimmering prospect for the armchair viewer. And you might even consider rooting for one of our neighbours. England, Wales and Northern Ireland have all qualified and the Republic of Ireland are heading for the play-offs. So, whether you tune in or tune out, you will be spoilt for choice.
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