Tartan Army's oldest member Moira, 93, set for fourth World Cup
· Yahoo Sports
Moira Brown attended her first Scotland game 80 years ago and - at the age of 93 - is now preparing to travel to the US for her fourth World Cup.
The oldest member of the Tartan Army has got tickets for all three group games in Boston and Miami next month - and says she will be there no matter what.
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"Nothing will ever stop me from going until I can no longer make it," she vows.
Moira first watched Scotland play an international game in 1946, just after World War Two, when they beat England 1-0 at Hampden.
Since then she has attended the World Cup finals in Germany (1974), Spain (1982) and France (1998).
But, like the rest of the country, she has been denied the opportunity to see Scotland on the global stage for almost three decades.
Moira says she is now going to make the the most of the opportunity to see Steve Clarke's side play on the biggest stage.
As a child, Moira wanted to play football [Fiona Brown]Moira was born in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, on Christmas Eve 1932.
She says with a giggle that her mother constantly reminded her she "was the worst Christmas present she has ever had".
She loved football from an early age and her father first took her to watch his team, Motherwell, when she was just five.
But while she could watch the game, she wasn't allowed to play it.
"I just resented the fact there was a lack of opportunity for women," she says.
"And this rather surprised and annoyed me that, having lived through the Second World War, the place of women wasn't immediately recognised."
Moira worked as a nurse [Fiona Brown]As she grew up, Moira supported Airdrie for many years but it was the national team that inspired her most.
Even while working as a nurse and raising a family, she tried to attend as many Scotland games as possible.
In 1974, the first time Scotland had qualified since 1958, she went to the World Cup in West Germany with her husband and eldest child.
The Scotland team, featuring the likes of Billy Bremner and Joe Jordan, beat Zaire and famously drew with Brazil but were send home undefeated after another draw with Yugoslavia.
"I can never forget the disappointment," Moira says.
She stayed to attend the final, West Germany v Holland, where she watched the legendary Franz Beckenbauer, one of her favourite ever players, lift the trophy.
"That was the best game I have ever seen," she says.
Moira travels around the world to support Scottish national football team [Fiona Brown]Moira missed the World Cup in Argentina in 1978 but left her job to support Scotland in the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
By this time she had trained as a teacher and her work took her to Egilsay in the Orkney islands.
She says she loved working on a remote island but it meant she had to pause her football travels for a decade.
When she retired, aged 60, football became an "absolute must" again.
Moira enjoys travelling to support Scotland national team [Fiona Brown]The following May, when Scotland played in Estonia, just a couple of years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moira first met Ian Carden and the pair have been friends ever since.
"She's such a fantastic person," says Ian.
"She's so friendly and she never has a bad moment. She gets on with everybody."
Moira and Ian have journeyed around the globe to watch Scotland play in Japan, Peru and Mexico.
They have travelled to 48 countries in Europe and been to the US three times.
The pair went to the Euro finals in 1996, 2020 and 2024.
But their last World Cup was in 1998, where Scotland played Brazil, Norway and Morocco.
Moira did not think Scotland would qualify for the World Cup [Craig Mcintosh]Moira says that her travels keeps her alive.
"I am very lucky to be able to go and travel. I absolutely love it," she says.
The only place in the men's Uefa set-up where Moira hasn't been is Azerbaijan, because she didn't get visa.
And in recent years she has started supporting the women's football team, which took her to Morocco in October last year.
While there, she went to Rick's Cafe, which was made famous by the 1942 movie Casablanca, starring Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart.
"That's another wish off my wish list," Moira says.
"One other wish I am missing is to be able to go in the Scotland dressing room and give them the last minute pep talk."
Moira says she is lucky to be able to travel [Craig Mcintosh]Moira is delighted that Scotland have finally got to another World Cup although she predicted they would lose to Denmark in their dramatic final qualification game at Hampden.
When Kenny McLean scored the fourth goal, Moira says she was "euphoric".
"It was party time and waving our saltires, someone would go to leave, but we would start singing again," she says.
Moira and her friend Ian are flying to the US three days before the Haiti game on 14 June.
They will visit Moira's family in Canada for three days before returning to Boston for the match against Morocco.
Moira says they will return to rest and recover in New York before flying to Miami for the final group game against five-time winners Brazil.
She says she would love to see Scotland go all the way but would be happy if they get to the knockout stages.
"When I return, I know not when, but I hope I return with a smile on my face," she says.
"Boy, would I love them to win the World Cup, of course.
"I have always said it was one of my greatest wishes, that I would have a pint in one hand, a cigarette in the other and Scotland winning the World Cup."