A Scottish expat who has written anthems for nine football teams has unveiled his most ambitious work so far – a song for the national team ahead of their historic campaign at the Euros.
Neil Grant, a former heavy metal drummer from Culbokie in Ross and Cromarty, revealed he was so confident in Scotland’s chances that he wrote the anthem before they even qualified.
Despite only being released on Friday, the music video has already gained more than 2,000 views on YouTube – and the performer says reaction so far has been “extremely positive”.
Mr Grant, 43, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that we’re going to the Euros. It was an emotional and surreal evening alright.
“Growing up in the 80s I took it for granted that we’d always qualify, so I won’t be assuming that again.”
‘There’s Nae Team Like Scotland’
After touring and recording with heavy metal bands RAAR and End of Level Boss, Mr Grant moved to Gothenburg 10 years ago, and now works as a regulatory expert in life science.
He started writing football anthems five years ago – starting with the team he grew up with.
He said: “Seeing as I’m a Black Isle boy, my first anthem was for Ross County. To this day it still gets played at the stadium.
“Since County, I’ve gone on to write anthems for eight other Scottish clubs, most notably Hearts, who requested I sing the track live before kick-off before 17,000 fans.
“So now, I felt the time was right to write one for my country. The song and video were ready to go long before we qualified, so I was extra ecstatic due to my gamble paying off!”
The father of two spent six months composing and recording the song, entitled ‘There’s Nae Team Like Scotland’, then filming the music video, which features a kilted Mr Grant walking the streets of Glasgow.
The song has, of course, taken on extra significance after Scotland beat Serbia on Thursday night to reach the 2020 Euro championships – their first international tournament in 23 years.
Now, Mr Grant hopes he will be lucky enough to get a seat in the stadium next year.
He said: “I absolutely hope to make it to a Euro match.
“There’ll be a good few Scotland games to choose from, unlike teams like England who will only get three!”