Scottish Supporter Nominated for Fifa Award After Munich Trek

A supporter of the Scotland national football team, who undertook a journey of over a thousand miles from Glasgow to Germany to attend the Euros and raise money for a mental health charity, has been nominated for a Fifa award. Craig Ferguson completed the walk from Hampden to Munich, arriving for the tournament’s opening match against the host nation on 14 June, dressed in a custom-made kilt. The 21-year-old from Paisley traversed six countries during his 1,017-mile expedition, accumulating over £78,000 for the Brothers in Arms charity. His nomination is for Fifa’s fan of the year award, part of the governing body’s “The Best” ceremony, which acknowledges supporters for their exceptional contributions to football. Speaking to BBC Scotland, Craig revealed that the idea for the journey originated during a conversation with a friend about their travel arrangements for the tournament. The path he followed included Scotland, England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. He reported that his friends and family expressed a “mixed reaction” upon hearing of his proposal. Nevertheless, he was greeted with a guard of honour and a hero’s welcome by the Tartan Army upon his arrival in Munich’s Marienplatz, 37 days after departing the national stadium. Furthermore, he received a ticket to attend the match against Germany at the Allianz Arena. He is now one of three young football fans nominated for this award. Fifa stated that the award “recognises that football supporters across the globe help make the beautiful game exactly that.” During an interview with BBC Radio Scotland’s Drivetime, he described his nomination as “surreal”. He commented, “To think about the amount of football fans there are in the world and Fifa has decided to shortlist me in the top three is just absolutely incredible.” He added, “It’s something I’m having to pinch myself from finding out about it in the last 48 hours, it’s amazing.” Craig indicated that his personal struggles with mental health motivated him to undertake the challenge. Subsequently, he has taken on the role of an ambassador for the charity. He stated, “Mental health as a whole is such an important topic worldwide at the moment, but I especially wanted to focus on men’s mental health with the whole challenge being around football.” He continued, “It really was the perfect platform to talk about the whole topic in particular. The ambition of the challenge was to raise awareness and I hope that was achieved.“ He concluded, “Myself and many others up and down the UK and worldwide suffer with their mental health. It is not a journey that is linear, and I think that everyone knows someone or has their own personal struggles with it.” Craig is one of only two Scottish individuals to be nominated at the Fifa awards, the other being Chelsea midfielder Erin Cuthbert, who is contending for a place in the World XI of the Year. Other nominees in his category feature Jose Armando Guzman Mendoza, a Cruz Azul fan from Mexico, who passed away at 14 in April, nine years after his leukaemia diagnosis. Fifa commented that his fight against the disease “inspired a nation and a football club”. Additionally, Guilherme Gandra Moura, an eight-year-old from Brazil, who suffers from a rare genetic condition called epidermolysis bullosa, entered a coma after contracting pneumonia. A video depicting the young Vasco da Gama supporter waking up and reuniting with his mother gained widespread online attention after its posting last year. He was subsequently selected as a mascot for a game in August 2023, where he met his idol, Vasco forward Gabriel Pec. The awards ceremony is slated for January 2025. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the material found on external websites. Information regarding our policy on external linking is available.