'Rain delay let me get to the Scotland game on time'
- Published
Craig Connacher took a selfie as he walked the final leg of his epic journey to Hampden
The long rain delay during Scotland's victory over Georgia worked to the advantage of at least one member of the Tartan Army.
Craig Connacher feared the worst when his flight from Bristol was delayed by an hour and a half.
But when he finally arrived at Hampden at 21:00 he had only missed a few minutes of the game rather than the whole of the first half.
The match had kicked off at 19:45 amid monsoon conditions in Glasgow.
But it was suspended immediately after Callum McGregor opened the scoring for Scotland in the sixth minute, with the waterlogged pitch deemed to be unplayable after a week's worth of rain fell on the stadium in the hour before kickoff.
BBC Scotland weather presenter Joy Dunlop said the pitch would have been very hard and dry after the recent heatwave, which meant the deluge did not drain away from the surface as quickly as normal.
Hampden staff and ball boys were put to work in an effort to clear the pitch of surface water, with the referee finally resuming the match shortly after 21:30 - the time at which it had been due to finish.
Mr Connacher told BBC Scotland he had been working in England and was due to catch a flight back to Glasgow at 16:20 so he could get to Hampden in plenty of time.
But after boarding the plane he was told it would be delayed by an hour and a half.
Hampden staff have been widely praised for their efforts to clear the water-logged pitch
He said: "I was pretty raging when they announced the delay. I had it all planned, I finished worked and got changed into my Scotland top at the airport.
"I think the people sitting next to me could tell, they said 'has that scuppered your plan for the evening?'
"I almost accepted the fact that I wasn't going to make it."
He managed to switch flights and finally took off at 18:00 before landing in Glasgow an hour later, with a friend agreeing to pick him up at the airport.
The last leg of the journey was not straightforward either, however, with the pair having to make three u-turns on the road to Hampden because of flooded roads, and then only being able to park a 40-minute walk away from the stadium.
He said: "Just as we got parked up I believe that was when the first goal went in. I asked my friends that were already at the game to keep me updated and we started walking along to Hampden in the torrential rain."
He finally arrived at Hampden just before 21:00 and managed to get into the stadium and take his seat after finding a turnstile that was still open.
The surface water on the pitch led to some farcical scenes when the match kicked off
The Georgian players were persuaded to come out of their dressing room for a warmup 15 minutes later before the match was finally able to restart at 21:35.
A goal from Scott McTominay in the second half meant Scotland ran out 2-0 winners when the final whistle blew at about 23:20, with the result leaving the team on the verge of qualifying for next year's European Championships in Germany after a historic four wins from their first four games.
Mr Connacher said seeing the goal go in left him "buzzing" after his epic journey - but he would have done everything to get to Hampden even if the match hadn't been delayed.
He added: "I didn't want to get half way and give up. It was always the plan to make it to Hampden.
"It's your national team, I would do it again in a heartbeat."
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Jen Blackwood from the West of Scotland Tartan Army told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme that the torrential rain did not dampen spirits despite Tuesday being "the longest night of football in my life - it just seemed to go on forever".
She added: "The DJ was absolutely superb, he had the right tone of music. Why Does it Always Rain on Me? came on and that was quite a popular one and we just carried on dancing and singing and just kept our spirits up.
"It was really quite a phenomenal experience. Going up to the loos and stuff the girls were all standing at the hot air dryers trying to dry their clothes off and everybody was just having a laugh."