Scotland superfan turns heads in 50-year-old American motorhome tribute
A vintage American motorhome emblazoned with Scotland football graphics has been turning heads in Kirkwall, as anticipation builds ahead of the World Cup in USA, Canada and Mexico.
The 1977 Airstream Argosy, parked up in Kirkwall, is a tribute to Scotland on wheels, depicting scenes of glory from the country’s footballing past.
Archie Gemmill, Graeme Souness and Scott McTominay all feature on the motorhome, along with a host of other stickers honouring the boys in blue.
The man behind the wheel is John McIntosh, 45, from Falkirk, who is on a tour of Scotland’s islands, along with his partner Heather and nine-year-old cocker spaniel, Lucy.
But what has brought this Scotland superfan to Orkney, and why isn’t he bringing his majestic motorhome to the world’s biggest party across the Atlantic?
“In 2024, I drove to Munich and back for the Euro Championships in a 1960s vintage camper,” said Scotland superfan John, who works in property.
“I just fell in love with that world of travelling and the road trip. So, fast forward two years, we qualify for the World Cup. I had the opportunity to buy this van. As you know, everything’s supersized in America.
“I bought it, had the same idea to do the same in 2024 in America. But as it was getting closer, I looked at shipping, and it was quite reasonable to ship the van over there.
“But I kept remembering in 2024, every place I went to in Holland, Germany, you know, football is Europeans’ number one sport. And I thought, my gut feeling was, I’m coming into gas stations in America, in Miami, Boston… soccer in their eyes is the fifth watched sport in the US.
“And I thought, I don’t want to be disappointed here.
“So, as any good Scotsman says, “Have you conquered your own island?” And my answer to myself was no.
“So, I worked offshore for 18 years, meeting some of the finest men that lived all over Scotland, i.e., the islands. And they’re always inviting you. And my plan was always to go.
“So I changed it overnight and said, “Right, I’m going to Scotland, and I’m going to do it, and I’m going to meet these guys that I work with.”
John, Heather and Lucy travelled to Inverness from Falkirk, where a hiccup with the van’s fan belt required fixing.
But they arrived in Orkney on Sunday night where John intended to meet up with a former offshore colleague, Scott Spence, from Kirkwall.
He was to be disappointed though, as Scott had been called back offshore. Despite this, it didn’t stop him having a pint on Scott in Skipper’s.
John and his campervan will be in Orkney until Tuesday night, where they will continue their tour of Scotland by departing for Lerwick. They also intend to head for the Western Isles once back on the Scottish mainland.
“Obviously Scotland are playing as of next Saturday,” said the Scottish superfan, looking ahead to Scotland’s first appearance at a World Cup since 1998.
“So it’d be good to go to park up in some pub car parks and have a right good time with the Scotland fans in Scotland.
“That’s the key thing, it’s sticking to Scotland this time to be with like-minded people because I wouldn’t last a week in America explaining soccer. And they just don’t get it. Or a lot of them don’t get it.”
As for Scotland’s hopes at their first World Cup in 28 years, John struck a positive tone, believing that the current crop of Scotland players could be the first to progress past the group stages in a major tournament.
“’82 we got there, ’86 never done well, 1990 was great with Andy Roxburgh, ’98 that was again a bit of a miss. But now here we are.
“But the thing is, this time we’ve got the players here. This is not opinion, we’ve got facts.
“We’ve got [Andy] Robertson at the back. Champions League winner. We’ve got [John] McGinn who’s just lifted a European trophy as captain. You’ve got [Lewis] Ferguson playing in Italy. You’ve got [Scott] McTominay who was voted Italy’s best player two seasons ago. Now we were in Naples last year, he has hero status over there.
“You’ve got [Lawrence] Shankland at the top of his game. And confident. So there’s five players, on the pitch. Now these guys are not turning up to lose, from the way they’re playing.”
John added that he is missing his daughters, Alli, 16, and Isobella, 13. He will be sending a postcard but just not from America.