A Scotland fan has visited street signs with the names of every member of Steve Clarke’s Euro 2024 squad ahead of the tournament opener this weekend.
David Little planned journeys that took him to places such as Newry in Northern Ireland and Stoke in England to get the names he needed and there was a bit of him thankful in the end that John Souttar and Ben Doak didn’t make the final squad, with the closest street with their names being in Australia.
David first took on the project ahead of the last European Championships in 2021 and completed that, with a couple of exceptions such as John McGinn and Scott McTominay.
They had to settle for John Street and Scott Street but this time around he has managed to find a McGinn Park in Northern Ireland after some help on social media.
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There’s still no McTominay Street, although that’s not for the want of trying with David even writing to councils asking them to name one after the Manchester United star.
He said: “You know what, I wrote to some councils about that but they weren’t having it. That was back in 2022 when I thought we’d qualify for Qatar but we didn’t.
“They said they don’t name streets after people who were still alive.
“When we win the Euros we can get a McTominay Street.”
There were late additions to the squad too, with Tommy Conway and Lewis Morgan added at short notice but that didn’t stop the Partick Thistle supporter from completing his challenge.
He found Morgan Street in Dundee and there was a stroke of luck that he had already booked to go to Newry for McGinn Park when he discovered a Conway Street in Belfast.
He continued: “Tommy Conway and Lewis Morgan were late call ups but I had already booked my trip to Newry for McGinn. He was in the last squad and I hadn’t gone to McGinn Street and someone said there’s a McGinn Terrace in Newry in Northern Ireland and I had just settled for a John Street in Glasgow.
“I wasn’t satisfied with that so I had to go to Newry and when Conway was announced and I looked to see where I could find one and luckily there was one in Belfast where I was flying to anyway so it worked out okay.
“I made some more difficult than necessary. I was doing it all by public transport or walking or cycling so I made it even harder.
“All the Stoke ones were in the last squad. Tierney, Cooper and I found Clarke Street for Steve Clarke but it was just a coincidence that they were all in Stoke and I could plan a bit of a day.
“It would have been a bit of a waste just to go for one. Most places I’ve gone I’ve managed to find more than one.
“I’d never been before but it was a nice sunny day and I enjoyed my day in Stoke.”
A thread of Scotland’s Euro 2024 Team as street signs. A very silly mission.
— David Little (@_davidlittle_) June 11, 2024
1. Angus Gunn (@AngusGunn01)
Gunn Road, Grangemouth pic.twitter.com/SK6LLGdiVK
David will head off to Germany for the Euros on Thursday with the first game taking place on Friday in Munich.
He’s had a message from former Scotland goalkeeper Bryan Gunn about his challenge, and he’s hoping that some of the players might have seen what he’s done too.
Angus Gunn is the current Scotland No 1 and the son of Bryan, who may have forwarded it onto him in the training camp but whatever happens, he’s just looking forward to the campaign.
He said: “Bryan Gunn is a big one. It would be nice if a player picked it up. It’s crazy how much attention it’s got.
“Angus is most likely to have seen it because he’s No 1 in the thread. I ordered it by squad number and not the order I took them in.
“I didn’t really mention that I’d done it before, a lot of people will think I visited all 26 this year but I still did 12.
“It’s got 6,000 likes now. The first time I did it I wasn’t planning on posting on twitter but I did and it was popular. I was hoping to replicate the success but it’s just something funny. People found it funny and strange and I just did it for a laugh.
“It’s all just totally fun.”
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