Scotland football fan takes on gruelling 1000 miles trip to Euros – but he doesn’t have ticket

A football fan has made their way to the halfway point on a gruelling 1,000 miles trek.

Craig Ferguson, 20, arrived in Luxembourg yesterday after setting off from Hampden Stadium in a bid to get close to the action in Munich for the Europ 24 championship.

After quitting his job in hospitality, Craig is walking to Germany to raise funds for the men’s mental health charity Brothers in Arms and has described the experience as the “journey of a lifetime”. However, he is missing one crucial document – a ticket for the match.

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Speaking to the Record, Craig said: “It has been amazing and is the journey of a lifetime which is not even over yet. Meeting so many people and going so many places has lived up to expectations so far.

“I saved up so that I was able to leave my job in a café and make the journey.

“I joined the unemployed, headed down to the Scottish borders, then Newcastle to Hull, across the ferry to Rotterdam, down into Belgium and where I am now in Luxembourg before the final stage which is over to Munich.

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“We’re looking at 13 to 14 days left. We are well over halfway in terms of days.

“It’s exactly halfway in terms of distance and I will walk 500 more miles. I will be the man.”

His initial target of £10,000 for the charity has already been exceeded with over £30,000 donated so far.

He now hopes that he can raise £50,000 by the time the Scotland squad’s Euros adventure is complete.

Craig said: “I set what I thought was an ambitious target of £10,000 and before I even started we already had £10,000 which is incredible.

“It’s mind over matter during these latter stages.

“My legs are sore some days more than others. It’s only natural when doing a challenge of this size that you get blisters but it just comes down to doing it a day at a time.

“Family and friends have been in touch with phone calls which keeps me going on the longer stretches because you can go hours without speaking to anyone.

“Mental Health is such a big issue in the UK so I wanted to raise awareness by channelling the power of football.”

However, Craig still has one challenge. He doesn’t have a ticket for any of Scotland’s group stage games.

“I don’t have a ticket,” he said. “I don’t even know if the FA or if Scotland know what I’m up to at the moment. I’ve not really heard anything but I’ve always said from day one that the objective of this mission was, of course, to raise awareness for men’s mental health.

“If I ended up getting a ticket along the way it would just be an added bonus. A ticket would be the icing on the cake, but if I need to go and watch it in a pub with everyone else I guess I’ll be happy doing that as well.”

He added: “I’ve got a love for travel and exploring anyway, but on this journey going through so many different towns, cities and villages you meet so many amazing people.

“It really has been something so special so far.

“People have embraced me along the way which is so motivating. Everyone across Europe has had their own story about mental health which is special. If it is not them personally it is someone they know.

“We have had massive donations of almost £30,000 which shows people believe in the cause.

“You can imagine what the reaction is when people see a Scottish man walking with two walking poles and a kilt coming through their village.

“It’s been a mixture of people being impressed and confused.

“I’m just over halfway which is honestly amazing. You don’t realise how far you’ve come on a journey like this until you sort of take a step back, zoom out on a map and go, oh God, I’ve come quite a distance.

“It’s been the journey of a lifetime so far as I sort of predicted it would be. I have a love of travel and exploring anyway.

“But being on this journey and going through so many towns, cities and villages you meet so many amazing people and it really has been something special so far.”

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