Edinburg: England have their followers in large numbers in India as the English Premier League has a huge TV viewership in the country. An ad on the ongoing World Cup currently doing the rounds titled ‘Meri Doosri Country’ will have many Indians rooting for England after the exit of Argentina, Brazil and Spain.
But for football fans in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, it’s often a case of ABE (Anyone But England). It’s tough for them to change the habit of a lifetime and get behind Gareth Southgate’s team in the World Cup.
England are the dominant nation in United Kingdom, with more resources, players, and better successes at sporting level than their smaller neighbours. And that certainly grates.
Andy Murray, the Scottish former Wimbledon champion, touched a nerve when he said he would be supporting ‘anyone but England’ at the 2014 World Cup, prompting an angry backlash from English sports fans.
Scotland’s political leaders have maintained a jocular tone during England’s progression to the semifinals in Russia.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party tweeted a photo of herself holding a model of the World Cup trophy, stating, “It’s home already (well, we can dream!!),” before congratulating England on their 2-0 quarterfinal win against Sweden. Political rivalry – and bitterness – is always bubbling underneath the sporting surface.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who was born in England but now lives in Edinburg, last week got into a Twitter spat after accusing a journalist of ‘bigotry’ over anti-English statements. Any mention of England’s World Cup victory in 1966 sets many Scots’ teeth on edge. A repeat in Russia would mean further pain.
Writing in the Scottish pro-independence newspaper ‘The National’, columnist Carolyn Leckie put her ‘Anyone but England’ stance down to the ‘structural imbalance’ of a ‘dysfunctional’ UK. “Wednesday I’ll be defiantly supporting tiny Croatia against mighty England,” she wrote.
In Wales, the ‘ABE’ rivalry was inflamed when people painted England flags on Welsh roads ahead of the quarterfinal against Sweden. Wales fan Elis Anwyl, 22, has been flying the flags of every one of England’s opponents at his home.
“All my mates think it’s funny, but I have had a few people messaging me about it – someone even called me scum,” Anwyl told a local newspaper.
BBC Radio Wales was forced to delete a tweet asking listeners “Are we all English now?” The Football Association of Wales replied: “We’re still Welsh, are you?” The broadcaster issued a hasty apology.
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