AIBU to be English, but really really want Scotland to win the world cup.

[fruitandbarley]

After decades of disappointment I've pretty much given up on watching England with any hope.

I have Scottish in laws and love the place anyway but after seeing all the videos of the tartan army in Boston I'd so love for them to win ( however unlikely that may be!)

He's right! I love him but he can't beat Billy for me. No one can.

I know it's different over there. Over here, I'd cross the street if I met a crowd of men bellowing about cunts. No matter who they were insulting.

I've seen some people on Twitter now saying that chant never happened though. I hope they're right.

Frank Skinner always jokes that he wrote a Scottish version of Three Lions, which is called Three Games.

And there’s a very good reason for that!

I really don’t think people understand the ‘it’s coming home’ thing.

It’s a song/statement about hope, not a statement of a foregone conclusion.

I also don’t really get the whole ‘England are so arrogant’ narrative, I don’t see them as any different to any other country, all over socials I’ve seen fans of a lot of different nations have a hope/‘I genuinely think could win this’ feeling going on.

If anything, I don’t see most other countries being so negative/embarrassed about their own team/country as we seem to be 🤷‍♀️ (As can even be seen on this thread)

Although strangely, I’ve seen quite a lot of negativity from the Brazilian fans on social media about their own team, and being jealous of Englands ‘Aura’ / culture, especially musical history.
So that’s been new and interesting 🤷‍♀️

Just found the video of Scotty.

I actually just loved him.

We have loads of Celtic Songs. I could go an all night.

Probably my favourite, out of many, is the Willie Maley song. It is so long and most of us don't know all the verses though my youngest son does. EVERY VERSE.

But it's one of those songs that the chorus starts with a big "ANNNNDDD" which everyone shouts and then we all sing "They gave us James McGrory and Paul McStay.They gave us Johnstone, Tully, Murdoch, Auld and Hay. And most of the football greats have passed through Parkhead's gates to play football the Glasgow Celtic way"

Look at the size of it:

https://genius.com/Charlie-and-the-bhoys-willie-maley-lyrics

Plenty of english players, normally younger ones, have played abroad in recent years

Yes, this is true enough, helped by the reciprocal agreements that many English clubs have formed with clubs in Belgium and so on, but there is still a discrepancy with how many senior and established English professionals attempt to test themselves abroad which isn't entirely explained away by salaries, because there are plenty of clubs in Germany, Spain, Italy, and even France now who are absolutely as capable of paying exorbitant salaries as the major English clubs.

Scotland has a slightly different dynamic in that the domestic league is nowhere close to the quality of the major European leagues, so even a move to a middling foreign league, including the English Championship, is a step up in quality for most Scotland-based players, but again it's notable how many players in the Scotland squad play in foreign leagues, something that is common across most other sides you'll see at this tournament with the exception of the really big hitters. Even Brazil doesn't retain it's talent, because it's long been accepted that in South American football, unless you go to Europe and make a success of yourself there, you aren't really considered to have "made it" at the highest level.

Hopefully English fans will have as good a time enjoying Boston & the locals as did the Scots - though I can't see the Irish bars swapping Saltires for St George's Cross!