Scot cycling to Germany to fulfil dad's Euros dream
A Scotland fan who lost his father to an aggressive brain tumour just over six months ago is cycling to Germany to fulfil his dad's dream.
Alan Thompson, a fit and healthy 71-year-old, was four miles into the West Highland Way when his right leg seized up.
The cause was the tumour and Alan died 11 weeks later in November 2023.
Of the countless plans abandoned was a long-awaited trip with his son Alex to see Scotland’s men play at a major tournament.
Alex, 40, is still heading to Germany for Euro 2024.
But in a tribute to his father he's taking a drastically different route - cycling more than 300 miles from Edinburgh to Cologne over five days.
The challenge is raising cash for Brain Tumour Research and Alex will be joined by 12 friends who want to do their bit to pay tribute to Alan.
They knew him well from regular football games in the capital - games Alan continued to play in right up until his cancer diagnosis.
The gang set off from the Royal Mile on Friday, and if all goes to plan they will roll into Cologne in time for Scotland’s crucial game against Switzerland on Wednesday.
“He might have thought I'd be crazy enough to do this,” said Alex.
“But the fact we've got 12 other boys crazy enough to do it and really keen to do something in his memory and for the benefit of charity, I think he’d be pretty pleased with that.”
Alex is aiming to raise £10,000 for the charity which warned that over the 18 years to 2020, just 1% of UK spend on cancer research was allocated to the disease - despite brain tumours killing more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.
In Scotland, about 1,000 people each year are diagnosed with a brain cancer or cancer of the central nervous system.
Alan's death was "completely out of the blue", Alex said.
A retired engineering lecturer, he was a keen hillwalker and played football twice a week until he was diagnosed.
"He was like a big kid when he played with his grandkids," Alex added.
He credits his dad with fuelling his "obsession" with football during his childhood in Moray, enjoying regular trips to watch local team Elgin City.
Alan, originally from near Newcastle, became a committed member of the Tartan Army as he made the "trek" down to Hampden with his son, starting with Scotland's successful qualifying campaign for the 1998 World Cup in France.
They had dreamed of an overseas trip to see Scotland at a major tournament ever since.
“We always said since learning the Euros would be in Germany we would go if Scotland qualified," Alex says.
Alan's final Scotland game came in September last year, by which time his mobility had already been affected.
'I hope he'd be proud'
"Going to Scotland and Elgin games without my dad, I always have a lump in my throat, especially when our team scores and I'd instinctively turn to hug him," Alex told BBC Scotland News.
He said he was determined to do something "in the spirit of my dad" after he died in November.
“I think he’d be quite touched ... I hope he'd be proud," he adds.
After leaving on Friday, Alex and his friends cycled about 150 miles to Newcastle, stopping half way to watch Scotland v Germany.
Arriving by ferry in mainland Europe, the next stage took them through Holland to Amsterdam where they stopped to watch a Netherlands victory and to raise a glass to Alan on what would have been his 72nd birthday.
They aim to cross into Germany on Tuesday, arriving in Cologne on Wednesday.
Alex is a keen cyclist but this challenge will be more than double the length of any of his previous events.
Some of Alex's friends "have never done a cycle in their lives", he said.
“So it was really quite touching to see them all signing up for it and embrace the challenge with such enthusiasm.”
Keeping up the family tradition, Alex will be joined in Stuttgart by his seven-year-old son Drew for Scotland's final group game.
"Drew celebrates a goal pretty well and I'll lift him up when the ball hits the net," he said.
"He cried when John McGinn scored our first against Norway (in Euro 20224 qualifying) - just overwhelmed by emotion - so he really feels the game in the same way I think my dad and I always did."