John McGinn – Scotland’s ‘Brave-arse’

The Tartan Army watched with trepidation as the Aston Villa talisman brought in one goal, but a Birmingham businessman has kept merchandise ready for just the moment

Scotland's John McGinn celebrates a win vs Haiti in the FIFA World Cup 2026. (AP)

3 min readJun 15, 2026 11:51 AM IST First published on: Jun 14, 2026 at 01:45 PM IST

‘Wacky’ Kevin Beresford, 74, a Birmingham businessman and self proclaimed, ‘dullest man’, had kept ready merchandise featuring John McGinn, a much adored figure at Aston Villa.

To commemorate Tartan Army’s arrival in Boston ahead of the Haiti FIFA World Cup game, he had inaugurated his merch – coasters. Mugs, metal print plates. Inspired by a comical ad featuring Susan Boyle and McGinn, and by McGinn’s clowning persona and a gag running over his famous backside, he designed an entire range of merchandise that came to be highlighted after McGinn salvaged their campaign after a 1-0 win against Haiti.

Birmingham Live reported why the business came about.

Wacky Kevin said its cause Scotland “don’t get there very often”.

“You see the same merchandise every year and I wanted to do something different because lets be honest, it’s not very often Scotland are at a World Cup.

For Wacky Kevin, his first love is Aston Villa. “I like to see all the home nations do well even though I know that isn’t entirely reciprocated. First and foremost I am an Aston Villa fan and John McGinn’s a talismanic figure for us as well as for his country. I think he is every Villa fan’s favourite player and probably Scotland’s too,” he explained.

Birmingham Live would then quote him as saying, “He’s known among fans as BraveArse and the way he uses his backside to hold off and spin players is really unorthodox. He utilises his brilliant behind with amazing success. He almost goes horizontal in a crouching position and just sticks out this dynamic derrière, which is worthy of a Greek God,” the 74 year old said before adding, “He is really down to earth as well as his bum being the nearest thing to earth.”

The merchandise maker described McGinn as a bit of a joker who has openly talked about how he uses his backside. “So I think he’ll find this quite funny,” he stated.

McGinn has earlier acknowledged the posterior had boosted his career in an interview in 2022 after Scotland beat Ukraine. “If I didn’t have my backside, I’d probably be at Yeovil. I don’t think anyone has a backside the size of me. The boys have a laugh about it. Get that backside away from me and all that. But if you can use it before a goal or to help your team in a wee duel, its all for the better.”

The unsuspecting Yeovil, a town in Somerset dragged into his humour had not taken kindly to McGinn’s words. The National League trolled him right back.

They tweeted: “Fancy a trip to Huish Park in late November or December, John? Don’t think you’ll be too busy…”

Huish Park is their home field. November-December was a reference to Scotland having failed to qualify for Qatar 2022 after they lost their playoff 3-1 to Ukraine, ironically.

Now with Scotland back at the Cup and McGinn scoring a winner, the story comes full circle.