‘Anything’s possible’ is the positive takeaway from Make It To Munich, Martyn Robertson’s defiantly upbeat documentary following teenager Ethan Walker’s attempt to cycle from Hampden Park to the German city. Carrying a pennant to be presented at the opening of the 2024 Euros, Walker’s journey is all the more extraordinary given that he was recovering from a serious road-traffic accident sustained in the US. Knee surgeon Gordon Mackay, who performed a physical reconstruction, also accompanied Walker and Robertson on their 1350-mile journey.

Make It To Munich is very much a local interest piece, from BA Robertson’s bitter-sweet 1982 World Cup anthem ‘We Have A Dream’ to participants sporting ginger hair and tartan bunnets, this is a celebration of Scottish optimism in the face of adversity. Animations map out the journey from Newcastle to the Netherlands and beyond; the only real physical obstacle is a race to beat flooding, but the lack of on-screen drama doesn’t lessen Walker’s achievement.

His story is a crowd-pleaser, as ‘Scotland’s bravest fan’ overcomes the odds to get to a game which was the most bitter of disappointments from a Scottish point of view; the result and aftermath are minimally addressed through two brief title cards, and there’s no real reflection on what the whole experience meant to Walker. Snatching disaster from triumph is a familiar narrative, but Robertson’s film at least turns that old adage on its head to depict a welcome Scottish success story.

Make It To Munich was screened at Glasgow Film Festival and is due for a general release this spring.