British fans ready to make voices heard in New York for World Cup: This is the big time

The Scots took Boston.Now England fans have arrived in New York to settle the score. After watching their bitter rivals turn Boston into a tartan stronghold earlier in the World Cup, Three Lions supporters landed in Manhattan with a clear mission before Saturday’s Group L World Cup clash with Panama at New York New Jersey Stadium: prove they could go bigger, louder and longer. The Brits are back in New York — and they are trying to retake the city one pub at a time. By Friday afternoon, England shirts, St.

George’s flags and fancy dress had spread across the five boroughs.Long lines of fans spilled out of Banter Bar in Williamsburg, while others packed into Legends, Carragher’s, Jones Wood Foundry and The Long Acre in Midtown. There were retro shirts, bucket hats, knights costumes, plastic crowns and painted faces everywhere.

One group of Portsmouth fans sat proudly around a flag reading: “Donald Trump’s Blue and White Army.” “I’ve had fans from everywhere in here this tournament, but I haven’t heard anything like this,” said Raef, 41, a barman at a Midtown pub.“They were singing before half of them had even got served.

It’s been loud all month, but this lot are on another level.” “We heard the Scots drank Boston dry,” said Jack Stocker, 23, from Bristol.“Fair play, but we all know they’re a bunch of lightweights in kilts.

This is New York.This is the big time.” It wasn’t quite 1776 in reverse, but there was a playful sense of history in the air as England fans joked about reclaiming old territory in a city that once sat under British control. “They threw us out once, and now we’ve come back to retake what’s ours,” said Guy Cave, 31, from Bradford, wearing a red-and-white cape outside Carragher’s.

“We’ve been very patient about it.” Even the weather seemed to follow them across the Atlantic.Gray skies rolled over New York for much of the day, giving the city a distinctly English look, although th...