Being English in Scotland

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Horrgakx

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Hi all - I was in Edinburgh this weekend for a lads break. Unfortunately the England v Australia rugby was on (not a fan) and every time Australia scored the Scots in the pub cheered and chanted "England's going home".

I felt embarrassed for them for this behaviour.

Why??
 
I felt embarrassed for them for this behaviour.

Why??

Because it was petty and childish.

But then the whole principle of splitting the UK into separate sporting home teams is divisive - especially when the spilt is so uneven with around 85% of the country backing one of them - and the UK media and advertisers often forgets the other 15% - while sponsorship and money disproportionately follows England.

I'll quite happily cheer for England and feel disappointment when they lose - but the media and advertisers sometimes make it hard not feel quite bitter about the way the rest of the UK are treated.
 
the scots have done for that for years.

nothing to be embarrassed about.

When they win the world cup, then we can be embarrassed......till they do, maybe they want to spend more energy getting themselves ready for it instead of hoping England lose to someone.
 
Live and let live I say. I am happy for Scotland to win at football when they're playing a foreign team - all part of the U.K. and all that.
It actually raised some tensions which wasn't good. The bouncer kept looking over expecting something to kick off I think. Very sad. A case of a minority which affected everyone else.
 
I'm intrigued to know how 'England are going home' when they were in fact 'at home'?

Rugby banter is woeful...
 
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Hi all - I was in Edinburgh this weekend for a lads break. Unfortunately the England v Australia rugby was on (not a fan) and every time Australia scored the Scots in the pub cheered and chanted "England's going home".

I felt embarrassed for them for this behaviour.

Why??

I agree that it is childish behaviour but would argue that it goes both ways..have you ever listened to England pundits and supporters in relation to the Welsh, Scottish and Irish? The fact is, those of that mind always will.
This isn't helped when so-called celebrity sports people gleefully 'sledge' the defeated opposition on TV; Brian Moore's "We gave the sweaties a good hiding" on the BBC to much merriment from the English commentator does nothing but further the cause. It's one of the reasons I don't watch sport; I just can't be bothered with the divisiveness of it all.

As an observation, 'everyone' appears to dislike the English and the English seem to dislike everyone else in the sporting arena.
 
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I'm intrigued to know how 'England are going home' when they were in fact 'at home'?

Looking at this charitably there may have been some irony at work.

OTOH looking at this less charitably - geography (along with a lot of other stuff) may likely be a weak point for people with this mindset.
 
.have you ever listened to England pundits and supporters in relation to the Welsh, Scottish and Irish? The fact is, those of that mind always will.

a case of penile dementia, aka small willy syndrome.
 
As an observation, 'everyone' appears to dislike the English and the English seem to dislike everyone else in the sporting arena.

That's just the outcome of the imbalance in terms of the split of population between the home nations in the UK.
 
It is only sport - not real life.
Noticeably though, Lewis Hamilton is 'English'. Jackie Stewart when he was winning was British.
When England stops behaving as if it is Britain, things may improve. But that isn't going to happen in my lifetime.
 
It actually raised some tensions which wasn't good. The bouncer kept looking over expecting something to kick off I think. Very sad. A case of a minority which affected everyone else.

There are some really great Scottish folk on this very forum, some I count as friends, but I'm sorry to say that my personal experience of anti-Englishness in Scotland isn't nice.

It was in Edinburgh at the age of 18 on my first visit with my friend and his family (who are Scottish), the first bar I was in I ordered a round of drinks and as I turned away from the bar with my pint I was told to 'f*ck off back down there ya English f*cking c*nt'.

I'm assuming he worked out where I was from simply because I'd got the first round in!

Like I say, there are plenty of great folk wherever you go but it only takes one or two to label the rest.
 
I'm assuming he worked out where I was from simply because I'd got the first round in!

No offence but could recycling so-called jokes be part of the problem generally?

I am a fan of political correctness. A strange way to start a sentence, certainly but my reasoning is simple; as a Scot living and working in England, the anti-Scottishness (or pro-Englishness) was incessant in every part of life until PC took hold about ten years ago. For example, whilst having our first anniversary at a reasonable establishment, a neighbouring table, on hearing my accent, started with the 'Scottish jokes' and 'England for English'. They tried to ruin our evening and would not give in so became louder and ruder when they got no reaction. The pleasure was mine when we left, informing them I had come down here, taken one of their jobs, bought one of their houses and married one of their women.

I see where you are coming from but as someone who left Scotland because he couldn't be ar5sed with the whole sectarian and decisive nature of that society, it was not fun being on the receiving end of the pervasive and endless so-called 'it's only a joke humour'….this is normally code for 'I am having a dig but dressing it up as a joke'.
 
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There are some really great Scottish folk on this very forum, some I count as friends, but I'm sorry to say that my personal experience of anti-Englishness in Scotland isn't nice.

It was in Edinburgh at the age of 18 on my first visit with my friend and his family (who are Scottish), the first bar I was in I ordered a round of drinks and as I turned away from the bar with my pint I was told to 'f*ck off back down there ya English f*cking c*nt'.

I'm assuming he worked out where I was from simply because I'd got the first round in!

Like I say, there are plenty of great folk wherever you go but it only takes one or two to label the rest.

Hang on a moment, I thought that you were from Yorkshire?

It's far more likely that he saw your out of character behaviour as some kind of reverse psychology scam!
 
No offence but could recycling so-called jokes be part of the problem generally?

I'm not sure to be honest, I think self-deprecating humour is the best way to overcome these 'barriers'. I'm from Yorkshire by way of Newcastle via Dublin and the Orkneys and we joke in our family about how we are mongrels (amongst other politically incorrect jokes).

Sticks and stones and all that.
 
I agree entirely with SPX.

I treat these comments as humour and nothing more.

I once walked onto a stage to deliver a presentation at a conference to the sound of sheep noises from one corner of the room, no big deal, in fact more people remembered me as a result of it.
 
Having lived in Glasgow for 6 months (great time and made some great friends) I will never support Scotland in any sport or competitive situation unless is helps England. I once went in a pub during the Euro's and England where playing Bulgaria and the whole pub had managed to get hold of either a Bulgarian scarf or shirt.

just my 2p
 
I see where you are coming from but as someone who left Scotland because he couldn't be ar5sed with the whole sectarian and decisive nature of that society, it was not fun being on the receiving end of the pervasive and endless so-called 'it's only a joke humour'….this is normally code for 'I am having a dig but dressing it up as a joke'.
I do find it strange that the verbal attack I received doesn't seem to have registered with you? You take more offence at an (admittedly) weak joke than you do my treatment by a Scot who then proceeded to tell me he was 'gonna rip ya f*ckin head off if I don't f*ck off'? My friends dad then came out of nowhere and started grappling with him, he was absolutely livid that I'd been threatened in such a way, and found I out later that he'd had a very similar situation when he first came to England and he was embarrassed that I'd just received the same.

Up to this point I'd never personally experienced this strange 'racism' thing, a lot of my growing up I was surrounded by children of 'immigrants/migrants' from all over; Scots, Irish, Welsh, India, Pakistan etc etc So we all thought we were normal all being friends but there to go, once you 'grow' up you realise how people with pathetic lives try and pin their own shortfalls on other people, hence 'racism' and the like; I'm happy with my lot in general so I try and take a live and let live approach to life as much as I can. I can honestly say that I've never met a happy racist, there's usually an air of self loathing about them.
 
It was in Edinburgh at the age of 18 on my first visit with my friend and his family (who are Scottish), the first bar I was in I ordered a round of drinks and as I turned away from the bar with my pint I was told to 'f*ck off back down there ya English f*cking c*nt'.

That just does not happen any more - and if it did, the law would treat it as racial discrimination as a judge in Orkney or Shetland (I forget which) recently did and convicted (though it escapes me how a nationalist epithet is remotely akin to a racist epithet no matter that it is also unwelcome).
Partly the huge influx of English into Scotland has promoted the change but that is not to say the influx hasn't caused underlying tensions where there is a belief that said influx has brought with it much that it tried to leave behind eg, rocketing house prices.

Going back to the OP's opening post. Perhaps when a non Scot enters a Scottish pub (especially during the screening of a sport pitting nation against nation) they would be better to accept the environment as it is rather than arrive with the expectations of an outsider.
 

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