Scotland fans descend on London ahead of crunch Euros clash at Wembley
Watch: Scotland fans arrive in London ahead of match against England
Scotland fans have descended on London in their thousands ahead of their country's crucial Euro 2020 match against England at Wembley on Friday evening.
An estimated 20,000 Scottish fans have made the trip down south despite coronavirus restrictions and an allocation for visiting supporters inside the ground of just 2,600 seats.
Thousands of fans packed on to trains from Glasgow on Thursday using rail tickets that were booked when Scotland were originally given 18,000 seats at Wembley before the pandemic.
And on Friday, more Scotland fans left Edinburgh's Waverley station to make it down to London in time for the game.
On Friday, the Metropolitan Police's football unit tweeted that it will be "incredibly busy across London today" ahead of the match.
It asks people to be "vigilant" and to "stay safe".
It's matchday!⚽️
It will be incredibly busy across London today ahead of the England V Scotland game 🏴🏴
We remind people to be vigilant, stay safe and report anything suspicious to our officers or dial 999 in an emergency #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/pfFMdVKkud— MPS Football Unit (@MPSFootballUnit) June 18, 2021
The highly-anticipated clash between the old rivals will kick off to a crowd of more than 20,000 fans.
The Tartan Army spent Thursday enjoying raucous celebrations in London, singing and playing in fountains at Leicester Square.
Watch: Up to 20,000 Scottish fans descend on London
The Metropolitan Police has issued a 48-hour dispersal order in central London, which gives officers the power to remove “anti-social” fans.
The force and London mayor Sadiq Khan had told fans without tickets for the match not to travel.
All 15 train services from Glasgow to London on Friday have been sold out.
Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor told LBC radio: “We’re asking people to work with us.
“We know people want to come and enjoy it, but all the events in London are ticketed only and, with the current COVID restrictions, spaces in pubs and bars will be limited.
“So if people don’t have tickets, we would ask them not to come to London.”
Taylor said events with large crowds, often where alcohol is consumed, create “policing challenges” but that the force has a “robust plan” in place.
Despite celebrating in the streets on Thursday, Scottish supporters groups have criticised the lack of fan zone space in London.
There is no official fan zone for Scottish supporters because of COVID-19 regulations.
The traditional Scottish meeting spot of Trafalgar Square will not be accessible to them as it will be used as a socially-distanced, ticketed fan zone for 750 key workers, and the screen will not be visible without access.
Paul Goodwin, co-founder of the Scottish Football Supporters Association, said: “We are surprised and disappointed that there isn’t a fan zone in London.
“We thought there should have been more foresight, London is the capital city, the main hosting city for the tournament.
“However we are pragmatic, we’re realists, we totally understand as football fans, but also as human beings in the pandemic, of the big picture.”
There is an outside, socially-distanced fan zone in Glasgow Green with a capacity of up to 6,000 people per day which was organised between the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council and Uefa.
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) estimates that 14.8 million pints will be sold across England and Scotland on match day, with more than three million sales during the game itself.