Anyone but England

Anyone but England… is the latest press barrage being foisted on the Scots during this World Cup mania. Apparently there are groups of Scots selling tee shirts with ABE on it to show that, during the football matches, the Scottish will scream on any team that opposes England.

 

Back in February police visited an Aberdeen sportswear shop to warn staff that any tee shirt bearing the ABE slogan could be seen as racist and that only increased the sales of the garment.

 

Some Scottish people were resentful that our team never made it into the competition and therefore take great delight in baiting the English by supporting teams who may kick them out of the World Cup. I see it as mild friendly rivalry, but some people do take it too far.

 

Hamish Husband, of the Association of Tartan Army Clubs, is a Carlisle United supporter who has lived in England for much of his life and insists that football rivalries between national squads are no different from those displayed by fans of club sides:

 

"England and Scotland first played each other in 1872 - it's the oldest international football rivalry in the world," he says. "There's nothing political about it all.

 

"The overwhelming majority of the Tartan Army has absolutely no animosity towards England fans as people. It's no different from Liverpool fans wanting Manchester United to lose in Europe."

 

Scot tennis ace Andy Murray made a football faux pas back in 2006 when asked whom he would support in the World Cup since Scotland hadn’t qualified (again) and he said, “Anyone but England,” and he suffered greatly at Wimbledon as the crowd chanted against him. It was a PR disaster. Even though he retracted his statement and said it was a joke taken out of context, he did have a lot of backtracking to do.

 

Last week I got a call from a journalist asking me how I felt about the chocolate Mars Bar being swathed in a St George’s flag - Did it bother me? - as apparently it was a slow news week and they assumed Scots would refuse to eat it if it was representing England, despite the fact they are made in England!

 

I laughed at the ridiculousness of the question; he was asking the wrong woman. I am a chocolate-eating monster. A Mars Bar could be covered in a picture of Osama bin Laden and I would still chomp it down.

 

The truth is there is a relatively small number of Welsh, Irish and Scots who do harbour grief against England and the best way to display that is when they get to laugh at the English team when they get beaten at big events.

 

Dr Martin Johnes, a history lecturer at Swansea University, has studied anti-Englishness among football fans in Wales. He believes ABE is generally far rarer among supporters of the Welsh national team than among fans of club sides like Cardiff and Swansea, who play in English leagues, or rugby fans, who see their sporting rivalry with England as one of equals.

 

But he says media coverage of international football can turn otherwise-harmonious neighbours against each other:

 

"I have to say, it does wind you up when you switch on the TV and hear about 'England expects' and 1966," he says. "Over the course of the tournament, I suspect more people will end up ABE than at the start”.

 

The Scottish people shouldn’t bear animosity towards our English neighbours. It is a petty damned attitude and the anti-Englishness feeling bothers me. It can be bordering on racist, especially when the press and media keep baiting angry Scots to say it on the telly.

 

At the end of the day Scottish people aren’t anti-English, otherwise TV shows like Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Only Fools and Horses wouldn’t be so popular north of the border.

 

This basic rivalry can be down to a class issue and a North/South divide. The Northerners of England are by their own nature almost Scottish and have a rage against the ‘Southern softies’ as they call them.

 

One of the issues that inflames the anti-English feeling is the media coverage and attitude of their sports commentators. They go out with deep self-belief and over-confident swagger, whereas the Scots have a more humble attitude towards their expectations. Whenever we do actually qualify for a World Cup tournament, we sing songs that emulate disappointment and hope!

 

I listened to the commentators today who were saying phrases like: “When England get into the semi-finals, I hope Capello picks the right team.” I laughed out loud: they haven’t even kicked a ball and right away they are assuming they will be in the semis! This is what annoys some people.

 

Personally, I hope England have a cracking time in South Africa. I hope they have something to replace 1966. I want football to unite people not divide them as I have witnessed first hand what sectarianism in football can do to a community and, in comparison, ABE is nothing but a mild irritated rash.

 

As we say in Scotland: “Do your best and come home safe.”