Auld Pal Act

As per the England debate, putting it in pros and cons:

PROs of liking the England team at major tournaments

- I quite like the English game.
- When they play well, they can be in a few cracking matches.
- Not cheering on a home nation at a tournament is a bit lame. This isn't 1300, you lot aren't going to come storming up here on your horses. Besides, the home nations are so intertwined in trade agreements, economics and foreign affairs and history is so long ago that little is gained from creating an enemy.
- The Thatcherist anti-England myth doesn't work, since Northern England suffered just as badly as Scozia did during the 80s.

CONS

- I use to listen to Talksport. They were anti-Scottish bordering on full blown racism, and big loud yobs from Essex and Kent and the like saying "no one likes you, you bloody Scottish gits" on topics like the EU! This, along with snides from people like Frank Skinner, Gary Bushell, Alan Ball and other loud people suggested that all people north of Carlisle were useless and horrible and nothing they do can ever be any good. * And I support Thistle, I get this from my own countrymen year round, I have no interest in getting it further afield.
- Sky and the Beeb would be unbearable if you ever win anything.
- Boring, boring football at unforgiveable times. World Cup 2006, I'm looking at you.
- Some of the representatives of the national team, cf John Terry, Ashley Cole, are unredeemably unlikeable.
- A England loss usually leads to greater punditry lines than successes, cf "DOnt worry, we'll still go through if Andorra can get an equaliser!"

If I can make an analogy:

Scotland = Thistle
England = Old Firm

Same sort of relationship. Most of the fans are nice, but there are loudmouth pricks with either chips on their shoulders or superiority complexes that surrounds more of football than it should.


*Actually this sort of thing really annoys me. There seems to be somekind of an ongoing agenda in the media to continue to perpetuate this Auld Enemy rivalry. So, if Scotland are playing, there are quotes from Tory Mps and people in the street to say something along the lines of "All Scots are useless and a grind on the economy. And smelly. I will be cheering on (insert opposition here) today." Likewise, when the England team were playing at the last World Cup, I saw with my own eyes Sun reporters looking for soundbytes asking Scots in Argyle street what they thought of Englands chances and after four "I hope they do well" answers they got some drunk soul to give them a "I hate England and i hope they all go out" and lo and behold, that is their unbias answer from the man in the street.
It angers me to high hell. I'd say I'm a better representative of your average Scot than Mr "I voted SNP because they sound like the BNP!". Nobody I know actively cheers against England because they are England. If they do it, they do it because the English team, 9 times out of 10, tosses up such unwatchable dross (cf, World Cup 2006) that you are cheering on anyone to do something. Like you lot with Italy. When your on form, like Euro2004 vs croatia, mostly the place is full of admiration.

Unfortunately, as we saw in Manchester recently, there are always the idiots who ruin it for everyone.