AIBU to wonder if anti-English feeling is mostly about sport

[Batsratscatsgnats]

If you support anyone but England in football or other sports do you dislike English people generally or is it just in sports?

I actually don’t want anybody to be “unpopular” based on historical events.

I just want people to not exhibit such an ignorant knowledge of history.

The historian William Dalrymple, who comes from an upper class Scottish family, has said he has found lots of Dalrymples in the Caribbean.

And if you ever walk around the centre of Glasgow, the legacy of a great city of empire is plain to see.

Having two names for a country and a sub element of a country is unusual and confusing for many. I am not sure it is fair to say that it is ignorant not to pay detailed attention to that distinction.

Genuinely, can you please point out where in my first post I slagged off the Scots? Because I don't.

Well, first of all, pointing out that Scotland have never progressed beyond the group stage of an international tournament is hardly "slagging off." It is, at most, gentle rubbing. (It's also incontrovertibly true.)

But secondly, I posted that after you had already accused me of slagging off Scots. Which I haven't.

If you are going to have strong feelings on an entity because of colonialism then yes, I think it is fair to call such people ignorant for not being aware of the difference.

Being ambivalent and ignorant makes far more sense.

Since we're talking about football I give you Denzel Dumfries. Denzel is after Denzil Washington. Dumfries is more complicated.

BBC News - Why does a Dutch World Cup star share his name with a Scottish town?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gy7lw8dn5o

I have learnt more today about Scottish responsibility for colonialism.

To answer the original question and using the voting response 75% think that sport is unlikely to be the route of anti-English feeling where it is encountered. Many posters arguing it probably is the empire, which does seem much more likely given how horrible it was.

However the main thing many posters are taking from this, oddly, is that Scotland should get more flack and everyone in the world should learn the British/ English definitions better and generally move on.

Honestly, I think it is largely the media who are so awful. They are often intensely irritating and can really rub people up the wrong way. I think most people don’t think every English person is the same as the media- but it is mostly what you see as the representation of your country, if you don’t live there.

There is a degree of arrogance displayed in the media (including the allegedly “British” media) that grates on many- and goes well beyond supporting your team and just wanting them to win (which is natural/fine). It often comes across as the media think the English team/person is entitled to win simply by virtue of turning up. It can sometimes come across as disrespectful to the opposition.

And when they do win? Usually insufferable! It’s one thing to be happy that you won, proud of your team/sports person and wanting to celebrate. It’s another to contact crow about it. Especially 50 years on….

The media also tend to forget other UK nations exist and go on and on about England incessantly, even during matches not involving England. And yes, we do know that England mostly better and more likely to win than the other UK nations in many sports (but you do also have a significantly higher population from which to recruit players). But gloating and lack of humility are never likely to win you friends.

Thar said, I’m not sure most English people care if the rest of the UK supports their sports teams.

But the same is true of many of the countries I have speaking of.
Name the countries that are still partitioned where part of it is still governed by Westminster where a sizeable population in that part what to be part of a unified country and not part of Britain?

Almost all former colonies are still partioned. As in almost none follow the natural borders of the nations that predated them. They were chopped and merged into new nations, à la Eire / Northern Ireland. And the Republic of Ireland isn’t ruled by Westminster. In that regard it’s directly comparable to many African “nations” hence why I find the difference interesting.

To be clear I am not critiquing the difference. I am wondering why it is (especially as it even appears to predate independence in many colonies.)

Yes the division of national lines as empire ended is the cause of many problems in today's world.

No of course they're not, but the term "whinging Poms" was coined for a reason, and many of the English I know are complainers.

I think it's related to dislike of colonialism and English superiority is it not?

currency (try getting Scottish bank notes accepted in England - make sure you have a card or English notes as backup

Scotland does not have a different currency. The notes issued by the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank are sterling promisory notes. The currency for Scotland is sterling. Everything is priced in sterling, we are paid in sterling and pay tax in sterling.

Germany and Denmark share a border and both are in the EU but saying that is the same as the UK is ridiculous. You might as well say Denmark and Portugal are the same because they're both in the EU. None of these countries share a language or a government. The UK is far more like the US with the individual states being responsible for some things but the US administration at the top.

Ok, I apologise!

All this and we’re still at the stage where people dislike the English but love the Scots and the Irish.

I’m just back from two weeks in Scotland and everyone we met was lovely. No anti English sentiment at all. Now the French…..

True, but it was so long ago. We don’t still hate the French because William the Conqueror invaded and took over our country do we? Oh wait….

Everyone getting their knickers in a twist about history and politics. It’s just a jokey love / hate rivalry. Don’t be so sensitive.

Just to be clear. I like the English. Plus the Welsh and Irish.

Its interesting, I’m Scottish so do have skin in the game. Historically England has been a much conquered and colonised nation, Romans, Vikings, Germanic tribes, a few more Vikings. Rather unsurprisingly after a thousand or so years of intermingling with their various colonisers the people of what makes up modern day England and to an extent up to Edinburgh were culturally and genetically distinct from the Celts that still made up the remainder of Britain Ireland.

These differences were compounded by the arrival of William the conquerer. It’s really those French Vikings who are responsible for British imperialism. Normans didn’t invade / colonise Scotland and Ireland (unsure sbout Wales) in the same way and instead unions were formed with the ruling elitethrough marriages. They embraced local traditions and were in limited numbers so there wasn’t the cultural or genetic changes that happened in England.

I think this is how the Scots / Irish were/ are able to maintain a seperate identity to the English despite being a part of the empire building / slave ownership. The perception is that it was the ruling elite ( descendants of those Norman conquerors) of Scots / Irish that owned slave and therefore the blame for these actions can be laid upon the English, whether this is true or not, is immaterial.

Differentforgirls

The UK?

Slip of the tongue, sorry, or rather slip of my phone which changed England to the uk!!!!! I didn’t notice

There's plenty of whinging in this thread and most of it seems to be coming the non English posters 😆

So what? Some shallow twats, who live in the past don't like the English. I think we will cope. We will just carry on as we were. Any wonder why the English come across as arrogant? Part of it is down to constant bleating about our country. The poster who says we are the whingers. This thread says otherwise.