Michael White

My memory for World Alzheimer Day relates to one of my two disastrous trips to World Cup finals to see Scotland. 

For Italia 90 we had made our base in Nice, and on Day Two made the train journey to Genoa to see the Costa Rica game. There were about five Scots on the train at Nice and more boarded as it made its way along the coast to Genoa.Soon the train was packed full of Scotland fans in kilts, navy blue tops and in good spirits. The songs started and the train was absolutely bouncing. At one stop a very inebriated Scotland fan staggered on to the packed train. With Herculean effort, he managed to prise open the sliding doors and peered into the gathering. The eyes were red and he could barely stand. Eventually, he managed to speak. 

“Are youse goin to the gemme, by the way?”

It was a question of earth-shattering difficulty.We left the train and saw him slumped over a seat in the station. By the time we returned to the train after another Scotland disaster, he was still there, snoring his head off and with a maniacal grin on his face. We shovelled him on to the train, which was now eerily silent. We literally carried him off at his station and left him there. He had missed the game.