THE result was bad enough, but for many of the Scotland supporters who travelled to Skopje in their thousands the biggest letdown was being refused entry to the ground by police kitted out in riot gear.
Among those who were turned away were those who had official complimentary tickets handed to them by Scotland players and Scotland Supporters Club (SSC) members who received tickets for the away section through the SFA. The SSC members who did get in
were those who turned up more than an hour and 15 minutes before kick-off. Suddenly, police just locked the doors and began ripping tickets up.
An estimated two thousand supporters bought their tickets for the home section from touts outside the ground, but were all refused entry. Only Macedonian supporters were allowed in.
Well over 2,000 Scotland fans were refused entry, but there was no hint of trouble and after the police moved on the hundreds crowding round one small TV screen to watch the game in a cafe-bar outside the ground, most made the short ten-minute walk back into the city centre, where several pubs were showing the match on TV. The atmosphere was sombre during what was a disappointing match, but picked up not long after the final whistle and the party continued long into the night.
John Grigor from Ayr, a supporters club member since 1981 who has missed only two away games in 27 years, said he hasn't experienced anything as badly organised as it was in Macedonia. He said: "I've followed Scotland all over the world. I've been to 99 per cent of all Scotland games, including friendlies, over nearly 30 years. I bought a Scotland Supporters Club ticket for this game. I arrived at ten to two, an hour and ten minutes before kick-off. But I wasn't allowed in because they shut the turnstiles.
"I was told by a member of the SFA that if I didn't stop complaining I'd be banned from the travel club. It was unfair, I thought. I was angry because I had an official ticket and the police stopped me. There was no travel club representation outside the ground after the game kicked off."
Alan Duncan, chairman of the North of Scotland Tartan Army, insists the locked-out fans deserve some sort of explanation from the Macedonian football association.
"As you walked up to the stadium, anyone who was Scottish and had a ticket was directed to the away end," he said. "There were five official lines of local police checking everyone's tickets. But when you walked up to them they just glanced at them and let you pass.
"People with genuine away end tickets were getting in as were people who had tickets for the home ends. And then suddenly they wouldn't let anyone in.
"The fans were asking what was going on I don't know if it is fair to blame the SFA, but certainly the Macedonian FA made a massive blunder.
"It is very unfair on those fans who had genuine tickets for the away end and didn't get in."
The full article contains 525 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
