Seems we still can't love our neighbour

Published on Friday 25 June 2004 12:57

HATING the English, either seriously or in jest, has been a favourite Scottish pastime for generations.

But after years of rivalry with the Auld Enemy, Scots have apparently finally buried the hatchet - and not in the nearest Sassenach.

With no team of their own to support in Euro 2004, it has been rumoured recently that Scottish football fans have finally abandoned their pledge of loyalty to "anyone" but England and started cheering for Beckham, Scholes, Rooney and the rest.

But can that really be true? Old habits, after all, die hard.

Just days ago the Royal Bank of Scotland sparked outrage after, apparently accidentally, urging thousands of Edinburgh employees to support England in the championships.

An e-mail from bank bosses to their UK staff encouraging them to wear the red and white of the St George’s Cross at a charity event on June 17 - the day England took on Switzerland in Portugal - was also sent to incensed workers at the bank’s Scottish branches.

As the Scottish capital, you might expect Edinburgh to be a hotbed of nationalism, but the city has a reputation for being home to more foreigners than Scots.

Which could arguably make Scottish people in the city either more or less tolerant of the English.

A massive St George flag hanging outside The Three Sisters in the Cowgate makes it clear that that pub’s loyalties lie south of the border.

Nearby on South Bridge, the Bank Hotel is declaring its allegiance equally clearly with a poster in the window outside reading "We’re supporting Portugal".

However, I discover that actually both pubs are run by Festival Inns, which has given all its venues a nation to support for Euro 2004.

That said, a spokesman for The Three Sisters claims that Scottish people supporting England do exist.

Speaking before last night’s game started, he said: "At the last England game we had about 500 people, of which, judging by the T-shirts, about 70 per cent were English.

"Not all the remaining 30 per cent were Scots, but there were Scots there and I don’t think there was anybody who was not cheering for England."

The traditional rivalry is evident as well, though, he adds. "When we have had Scottish fans who have not been supporting England it [the rivalry] has been very good natured. We have had a very good atmosphere at England games."

At the Bank Hotel a spokeswoman said that "most Scots fans don’t want England to get through", suggesting that, there at least, Scottish attitudes have not softened much.

To try and find out whether or not the average Scottish fan is pro or anti-England, I decided to visit two Edinburgh bars with neutral positions on the Scotland v England rivalry to find out how punters felt as England took on Portugal in the quarter-final crunch match.

The Links Hotel in Bruntsfield is a popular place with football fans, with up to 300 packing the bar to watch games.

When I arrived I found it filled with Spanish flags, although Spain are no longer in the competition. The explanation is that the pub, like The Three Sisters and the Bank Hotel, is also owned by Festival Inns.

In the build up to the game it was hard to find any Scots at all amongst the predominantly English crowd.

But when I did their sentiments were unanimous. They wanted England to lose. Their reasons, however, lie in the present, not the past.

Grant Stewart, 26, a joiner from Fairmilehead, said: "I would support England [because Scotland is not in the championship] but I am sick of the English commentators on TV. John Motson is the worst.

"They never stop talking about 1966. They are so arrogant. I’m sick of Wayne Rooney too. If England fail I will be the happiest man in Edinburgh."

Friend Nick Donaldson, 26, a phone company manager also from Fairmilehead, agreed. "I am 100 per cent behind Portugal. We will never hear the end of it from the English press if England wins."

Neil Roberts, 27, a sales manager for Bank of Scotland from Fairmilehead was part of the same group of friends. He added: "I hate the way they [England] expect so much, they are not as good as they think they are. I am hoping and praying that they get beat."

A spokeswoman for the pub claimed that some Scottish punters support England, but they were few and far between. I certainly didn’t find any.

She said: "Most Scots fans here are anti-England. Some support England, but when they do you hear other Scots saying: ‘You’re supposed to be Scottish’.

"You get Scots saying a lot that they do not hate the England players, they just hate the arrogance of the English media."

For the first half I moved on to Bar Oz in Forrest Road.

As an Australian drinking hole you would expect it to have little vested interest in Euro 2004. In fact it was pretty quiet.

There were a handful of Scots at the bar however, already miffed that within minutes of the kick off England had scored the first goal.

Davy Low, 39, a chef from Balgreen, said: "They [England] are a class team. You can’t take that away from them. But we want them to lose because of the commentators.

"They always bring up 1966. I don’t know any Scots who support England."

A SPOKESMAN for Bar Oz claimed that some Scots were more ambiguous about Eriksson’s squad, making jibes but also cheering skilful play.

He said: "We have a percentage of Scots here who want to see England fail, and they will all shout Shrek when Rooney comes on to the pitch.

"But then they will applaud a good goal when England scores."

Again, I saw no Scots cheering for England.

In a last-ditch bid to find the elusive creature known as the England-supporting Scot I moved on to The Three Sisters.

It’s colours may be a marketing ploy, but surely it will attract the creature I am seeking, if it exists?

The crowd was massive, hundreds of fans gathered in the courtyard watching a massive screen as the first half drew to a close.

At first most seem to be English again, or foreign students.

The first two Scots I meet look flabbergasted by the suggestion that they might support England.

Ross Cameron, 21, a Musselburgh student, said: "Er, no! I am behind Portugal, 100 per cent. We are European, we can support whoever we want."

Yet again, it is the perceived arrogance of the commentators that angers him: "I can handle the players, but I can’t handle the commentators."

Friend and fellow Musselburgh student Gordon Dinwoodie, 22, agreed, and was equally scathing about England’s fans, with whom he does not want to be associated, saying: "It is no coincidence that everywhere England fans go there is trouble."

By now, the Three Sisters bouncer tells me, some 958 punters have passed through the doors.

But as the slow first half comes crawling to an end I have yet to find a single real-life Scottish England fan.

I begin to wonder whether the two students are actually the only Scots in the place.

But then Portugal scores and the place erupts, revealing several groups of Scottish fans all roaring their approval and punching the air while the English stand subdued.

The most controversial point in the match, where Campbell’s goal is disallowed, sees the Scottish contingent go wild with delight once more. There is no threat of violence, but there is also not one shred of sympathy for their outraged English cousins as tension mounts in the courtyard.

Roddy Gray, a 20 year old electrician from Thurso, Caithness, does a wild jig with his friend, farmer Andrew Gunn, 21.

Roddy says: "I would support England but if they win we will hear about it for years. They say they would support Scotland if it was the other way round, but I don’t believe them.

"Portugal were the better team tonight anyway."

They were. And as England was knocked out of Euro 2004 on penalties the Scots and the English were both yelling. But rumours of a new alliance seemed to be false, for it was clear that they were not speaking the same language at all.