Scotland’s Capital can profit greatly from football, but we run the danger of losing out, according to a report.

Although Scotland’s football players were unable to advance past the final stage in their attempt to create history at Euro 2024, their supporters achieved an incredible soft-power triumph that may have favourable effects for many years to come.

Not even the most powerful dignitaries, the most devoted followers, or Steve Clarke’s team of gifted and honourable footballers could match what Scotland’s renowned Tartan Army has accomplished.

A country, a large, significant one, has developed a deep affection for Scotland. Three German cities were visited by Scotland’s supporters: Munich, Cologne, and Stuttgart. All three expressed gratitude to their guests and expressed sadness when they had to depart.

Simply put, “We love you Scots” was the headline in Cologne’s best-selling daily, the Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger. The Tartan Army’s history was published by the German online news outlet Blick with the headline, “The history of the friendliest army in the world.”

Additionally, Henriette Reker, the mayor of Cologne, tweeted: “Dear Scots, it’s been a great couple of days spending time with you. As mayor, I could not be happier. Your return to Cologne is always welcome!” Top authorities close to Munich mayor Dieter Reiter concurred, saying, “Scotland’s fans have been so impressive.” We’re thinking about how to recognise this.

Best of all, the well-rested ranks of the 200,000 who travelled have delighted regular Germans just as much. So much so that two people, Max Kirchi and Vert Stabs, have started a petition asking the two football governing bodies of the countries to hold an annual friendly between them. Hundreds of people were signing the Change.org petition every hour, putting it well on its way to reaching its 25,000 signature goal as of the time of writing.

All of this occurred only a few days after a group of specialists convened in Edinburgh to talk about a study that examines how and why football may have a much greater and more significant impact on the daily lives of people in our country and its capital. A group of scholars and professionals led by Professor Grant Jarvie of the University of Edinburgh Academy of Sport think tank wrote “Edinburgh Futures, Football and the City.”

TARTAN Army troops have been astounded by strangers’ generosity once more, even after they had already enjoyed first-rate hospitality in Germany.

Gordon Bonnes was graciously given detailed instructions by his Airbnb host on how to get to the stadium from their doorstep while staying in Cologne with friends ahead of Wednesday’s Scotland vs. Switzerland match.

After the game, the Motherwell supporter was even more surprised by the hospitality shown to them when they returned home and discovered a stranger had left two complimentary drinks at their door.

The beers arrived with a kind message saying that they were from a stranger who saw Gordon’s social media post praising the Airbnb host and assumed the guys were staying close.

In addition to thanking the host for the printed directions, Gordon included a photo with his post that showed where he was staying.

Both Germans and Scots were warmed by the post, and a generous local decided to extend the boys a hearty welcome.

Gordon later shared a follow-up photo of the two

beers by the Airbnb along with a letter with a small Scotland flag written on it.

“I live about five minutes away, so I figured I could bring you a beer or two,” the letter says, in reference to your earlier tweet. Salutations, buddy.

Gordon, who was deeply moved by the gesture, posted the photo on social media yesterday and wrote: “Further development about last

People moved by the German’s generosity left more than 120 comments and over 18,000 likes on the post.

In response to Gordon’s article, the kind stranger who initiated the gesture wrote, “I didn’t know how [many] you guys were (sic) but glad you enjoyed it!”

Great, another user commented. Germans are incredibly polite and amiable.

“I won’t lie, the Germans fell in love with you Scots,” a third person said. You are always welcome.

“The people of Cologne are well known for being nice and friendly,” a second person retorted.

“Cologne is an amazing place with great people,” remarked the fifth person.

In anticipation of Scotland’s run in Euro 2024, a tourism director has referred to the Tartan Army as “fantastic ambassadors for Scotland” and expressed optimism that more tourists from host country Germany will travel to Scotland.

During Scotland’s participation in the tournament, over 200,000 Scottish supporters came to Germany to support their national side. VisitScotland, the nation’s tourism organisation, reported an 83% increase in website views from German users during this period.

14,925 German users were active on visitscotland.com between June 13 and June 23, up from 8,147 during the same period the previous year.

Pics of people wearing tartan Scotland fans cheering on their team in its first international competition since 1998 garnered international notice and were named the greatest supporters at this year’s tournament in a recent survey conducted by German media source RTL.

Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland, stated: “We firmly believe that the Tartan Army has served as outstanding representatives for Scotland and a tremendous source of support for our national side.

“Watching the scenes of Scotland supporters giving that iconic Scottish greeting and seeing such appreciation from the German supporters has been amazing.

We’ve seen a spike in German visitors to our website since the beginning of Euro 24, with visits nearly doubling over this time last year.

One of our most important international markets is Germany, where we spent £247 million and had 343,000 visits last year. According to our research, German tourists are drawn to Scotland because of its people, history, and landscapes—with Scotland supporters serving as a prime illustration of this.

“We’ll keep fostering this interest through our marketing initiatives, such as our most recent campaign, which focuses on important west German cities with high visitor demand and good access to Scotland.”

Over the course of the tournament, up to two million people are anticipated to view the mobile digital advertising campaign, which attempts to market Scotland as the ideal retreat for those looking to replace the football drama with breathtaking landscape.