Rod Stewart superfan mayor hopes legend will join Scotland team’s Euros town

The Mayor of the German town where the Scotland team will stay for Euro 2024 is hoping they will bring their biggest fan… singer Rod Stewart.

Elisabeth Koch, 61, who has seen the rocker perform live four times, is hoping to get a chance to meet her idol for the first time.

She’s also holidayed here and was keen to persuade the Scotland boss that Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria would roll out the tartan carpet for his team during the tournament.

Mayor Koch said: “I told Steve Clarke and the other members of the Scotland party that I was a big Rod Stewart fan and they were able to show me selfies of them together.

“It would be great if he visited the team in the town and I could meet him. We had a really nice evening and talked a lot. It is a great honour for the town to host the Scotland team.

“We had applied to the German Football Association to be a team base camp and I was hoping we would get Scotland or Wales.

“A number of countries visited the town including Croatia and had asked to use it as their base. However I am glad Scotland was chosen.”

Mayor Koch met the Scotland manager, coaching staff and SFA officials for the first time in January when they all had dinner together in the town.

She said she plans to greet the team personally – wearing her Scotland scarf – when they arrive at their hotel next month.

And she is hoping she might bump into Rod who is playing two concerts in Leipzig as part of a lengthy European tour, including one on the night of Scotland’s opener against hosts Germany in Munich on June 14.

Mayor Koch became a Stewart fan in the 1980s while a student in Munich, where she saw him four times in concert.

Her favourite songs are the crooner’s version of Waltzing Matilda and his 1967 hit First Cut Is The Deepest. The civic leader is also looking forward to welcoming the Tartan Army and making sure they have a good time.

She said: “I have heard good things about the Scottish fans. Our security says they are always very well behaved, do not cause any trouble and just want to support their team and have fun.”

Mayor Koch revealed the town will also put on special events for supporters, including dance and Scottish music.

The town has its own brewery in case the pubs run out of beer.

A local butcher has prepared whisky flavoured sausages using a 10-year-old Laphroag malt, which has already proved popular with locals. There will also be a fan zone in a park where German and ­Scottish fans can watch the game together.

Mayor Koch will watch the opening game between Germany and Scotland in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen fan zone.

But she won’t say which team she will be supporting. She said: “I hope that the best team wins.”

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