John Swinney to join Tartan army for opening Scotland match at Euro 2024

John Swinney will join the Tartan Army for Scotland’s opening match at Euro 2024.

The First Minister will travel to Munich for the first game of the tournament between Scotland and Germany next Friday.

The SNP leader will represent the Scottish Government from the stands as he cheers on Steve Clarke’s team.

He will return to Scotland after the match and will miss the Switzerland and Hungary games

It comes as campaigning for the general election on July 4 is in full swing.

Swinney said: “I will be at the opening match of the Euros – cheering on the Scotland boys alongside the Tartan Army.”

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn will also be at the match. He had to cancel his plans to attend all three group games after the general election was called.

Flynn – a keen Scotland supporter – said on Tuesday that he would not be supporting England at the tournament and predicted Gareth Southgate’s team would not make the final.

The SNP candidate for Aberdeen South quickly replied “no” when asked by ITV whether he would be cheering on Scotland’s neighbours.

After leaders’ debate between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, he was asked why he would not support England and said it was because he was “a member of the Tartan Army”.

He added: “It’s my hobby to go and watch Scotland play. We’re rivals, I want to see Scotland do as well as we can in the Euros.”

When it was put to Flynn that Scotland could not meet England until the final of the tournament, he replied: “England are not going to make it that far, so we’ll just have to go by ourselves.”

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