Snow, Charity, Football: Scottish Fans Earn Praise in Serbia · Global Voices
Danica Radisic

Dijana Djurickovic also contributed to this article.
March 26, the day of the football match between Serbia and Scotland for the World Cup 2014 qualifications didn't get off to a good start. Somewhat unexpectedly at the end of March, even for the Balkans, it began to snow in Novi Sad, where the match was set to be played. While fans on both sides were hoping the snow would stop and melt away by the evening of the match, several of the Scottish fans who had arrived that day from Scotland to support their national team were casually walking and sightseeing around Novi Sad – in kilts, of course.
Predrag Kercov (@KercovP) commented [sr]:
Koji carevi ovi Skoti, svuda su po Novom Sadu i setaju tako u kiltovima dok napolju pada sneg.
What kings these Scotsmen are, they are all over Novi Sad and walking around in kilts while it's snowing #ManliestManAlive
The sequence of events that followed restored humanity's faith in football fans in two swift kicks.
First, the fans of the Scottish national team – who are members of the Tartan Army Sunshine Appeal charity – found the time to visit underprivileged children at the SOS Children's Village in Sremska Kamenica near Novi Sad and make a donation of £1,500, but that wasn't where these do-gooders stopped. As updates of the possibility of the match being cancelled due to snowfall kept rolling in, the fans of the Scottish national team who had been strolling around and doing good in Novi Sad all day were on the pitch, kilts and all, with snow shovels in hand, cleaning the snow with the workers of the Karadjordje Stadium.
Soon enough, the “men in skirts,” as some media dubbed them, were being praised by Serbia's fans all over social media sites and news channels.
Djordje Mladenovic (@djordjem_4) wrote [sr]:
Škoti u kiltovima zajedno sa radnicima očistili sneg na “Karađorđu”! […] Svaka čast, ovako se reprezentacija voli!
Scotsmen in kilts cleaned the snow at “Karadjordje” with workers! […] Respect to them, this is how you love a national team!
Valentina (@vaxi81) wrote [sr]:
Skoti dosli, bez ijednog incidenta, donirali 1500 funti decijem selu i ocistili sneg.
The Scots came, without a single incident, donated 1,500 pounds to a children's village and cleaned the snow.
Dijana Vukomanović (@vukomand) wrote [sr]:
Momci u suknjama su pravi muškarci! Čiste, da bi se posle zabavljali. I dele poklone našoj deci. Bravo Škoti! […]
Guys in skirts are real men! They clean, so they can have fun later. And give gifts to our children. Bravo Scotsmen! […]
Milan Dinic (@milandinic) wrote [sr]:
Skoti su pokazali kako se promovise zemlja, nema ko nije cuo da su cistili sneg i to u kiltovima.
The Scots have demonstrated how one's country is promoted, there isn't anyone who hasn't heard that they cleaned snow and in kilts too.
Rolam Garos (@CeksGari) wrote [sr]:
Ovi Skoti sto su doputovali u NS da gledaju pokusaj fudbala u najavi i sad ciste sneg na stadionu su nevidjeni carevi. Postovanje za njih.
These Scotsmen that traveled here today to watch an attempt at a football match and ended up cleaning snow at the stadium are yet unseen kings. Respect to them.
The match, as promised by the Scottish Football Association and other officials, was played that evening. Scotland lost 2:0 to the Serbian national team, but good humor and gratitude were still present among both Serbian and Scottish fans following the match.
Andrija Kokanovic (@kokan87) tweeted this summary [sr] of the day:
Skoti vrlo darezljivi danas, ciste sneg, daruju decje selo, poklanjaju posed lopte…
The Scots are very generous today, cleaning the snow, gifting the children's village, giving away possession of the ball…
Glihor (@Zlorub) summed it up [sr] this way:
Skoti su danas ubini vise nego prethodna Vlada: ocistili sneg, donirali pare i poklonili nam dva pogotka.
The Scots have managed to do more today than our previous Government: cleaned the snow, donated money and given us two hits.