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?

Yes the name calling was completely out of order.

Shetland voted for Hannah Mary Goodlad, not for SNP.

She ran a magnificent campaign and the Lib Dems didn't. Added to that, Emma Macdonald is a known quantity: she is in local politics, and she is known to be unresponsive by the people in her constituency.

I can say with 100% certainly that if Hannah had stood for the Lib Dems, she would still have been voted in.

The Tudors were Welsh, Henry VII killed the last English king at the Battle of Bosworth.
James I of England was James VI of Scotland first, and as the closest living relative of Elizabeth, the Crown went to him. This was something he had been cultivating for a long time by appealing directly to politicians, highlighting his faith as a protestant, and supposedly bringing about an end to a very bloody period.
Charles II, his grandson, was crowned in Scotland first, before getting the English crown at restoration.
After the Stuarts were mostly German houses with a bit of Dutch for fun.
If you're going to hate the 'English', hate the right lot.

I was on a cruise last year, one night there was an international dinner and there was booing at the England flag but applause for Scotland and Wales during their flag bearing ( if that’s what it’s called). I think media coverage of English sport, historical events, some loutishness abroad and racism tar many with the actions of a few. Lots of English people in scotland , settled well and part of the community though. It’s more a collective thing than an individual thing.

Didn't you think it was a bit off the way the English fans were treated by Boston? They hadn't caused any trouble either.

The English Colonialism and Old Empire reasoning is really interesting.

The Spanish were hugely powerful, very sucessful empire builders who ruthlessly went after what they want, took what they want, did what they want etc.. They were a world superpower at one point and dominated. They weren't nice to other nations just like we often werent - and yet being openly Spanish and Proud doesn't invite the same backlash. It's really strange!

That is embarrassing really.

Dutch and Portuguese too. Even Belgian.

Scotland (mostly the nobility and lowland middle class) wanted to get in on the colonialism game and tried to stake a claim to the Darian Gap. Basically they put all their money into first one doomed expedition and then another expedition after the failed one. This ultimately led to them being bankrupted and it was the Scottish upper class then self who suggested the Act of Union in return for the countries debts being paid of.

The "forced into unification" only happened because their attempt at forcibly taking part of another continent for personal enrichment failed. Of course, they weren't alone in trying to do thatm it was quite the thing. But it's odd to not include that as it makes Scotland sound like the victims of colonialism, when they were trying to pull it off themselves.

There is an alternative history where the expeditions to the Darian gap were successful, a large part of South America is Scottish not Spanish speaking and the Act of Union never happened... But Scotland was not Forced into bankruptcy then unification through English double dealings. It was the mosquitos of the Darian Gap that held the most blame.

As a side note I live up north and have lived in various big cities up here and grew up rurally. I don’t know any who hates Londoners as humans BUT I see anti London resentment as a result of feeling like for decades investment was poured into London and other areas were neglected. That kind of division and ‘left behind’ element has caused a lot of problems levelling up is yet to fix and ultimately arguably led to Brexit and significant national damage. I don’t think it translates to Londoners themselves though apart from a bit of gentle ribbing of southerners more widely for being a bit soft as you have milder weather etc

Nope. Wales,Scotland and Ireland were violently colonised across centuries, their cultures and languages forcibly erased. Of course many places find it hard to muster support for England as a sporting entity but like English people as individuals.

A lot of people on this thread need to learn history, and I say that as an English person.

I wasn't there, but my understanding is that Bostonians turned against England because of the negativity they brought with them: specifically the negativity towards the Tartan Army, who they had very publicly welcomed and partied with.

If you had guests that you enjoyed spending time with and had become friends, then your next guests basically started off by slating your first guests, I reckon you wouldn't warm to them immediately either.

I live in England but I I’m Scottish so never support England. If you go on any forum there is a lot of English hate because of football. It’s the way the English go on when they are in a tournament.

The Spanish had a bit of a chip for a while about "the black legend". Basically they felt that Spanish brutality was talked about far more than other countries brutality and that partly anti-Catholicism was to blame. So in a sense it's the same grievance that you seem to be alluding to, that one country was being disproportionately blamed for it's empire but for them the country was Spain not England. In more recent times, Spain was under a fascist dictatorship at the same time that some of the soul searching/revisiting if empire was happening in the UK etc. So that might have an impact in how it's talked about. Also, maybe the fact that Spain as a feudal society didn't get the same long term economic boost that the UK did. They seized huge amounts of wealth for sure, but didn't industrialise and most of the population continued as desperately poor peasants into the 20th century "never was a nation so rich or so poor" as Defoe said. So maybe the fact that there isn't as much a " we built our wealth by taking from other countries" angle means it's seen as less relevant? ( See also Russia's long history of building it's empire and somehow ending poorer each time).

And Scots and Irish were actually over represented in the army that maintained order and in the civil service and among the merchant class that exploited the empire.

Glasgow was the second city of empire.

My Scottish and Irish ancestors pop up in Victorian cemeteries across India.

Boston famously celebrate the life of a posh English man every year. So it's enough for them also to enjoy partying with the Scots. No hard feelings.

Why would there be hard feelings?

It’s not. We took over half of the planet with violence in case that missed you…

The Irish made up about a third of the British army at one time.
I think it's a little unfair to attribute personal responsibility for empire to those ordinary soldiers though. They often joined up due to poverty and not having a lot of other options open. This was especially true for the Irish but also true of the Scottish.and English working classes as well. And regiments from the Indian Subcontinent were very important as well. Basically, as almost always, empires rely on soldiers from across it's territories to hold land and expand further. It doesn't mean Ireland etc weren't also badly treated. But it was not the population of England fighting the rest of the world. The numbers wouldn't work.

Fwiw I didnt categorise it as just about sport. I actually asked a question - something along the lines of - does it go further than sport -as the title and the MN AI changed my title.

It was a joke

I just think that this is the kind of thing breathless sounding AI voices will say over stock footage of, eg, people going to a pub in a "fake gossip" kind of tone.

The only real footage I saw was an English football fan carrying a cutout of Harry Kane to a pub full of Scottish fans and them chanting "Harry Kane licks windows on the bus". Which was hilarious. If Bostonians can't understand banter thats on them but again, I saw no news of disturbances so suspect it's just AI gossip machines.

It's sports. It's a really normal part of sporting rivalry, which some English fans get unduly butthurt about.

Sport where you wanted your rivals to do well would be pretty joyless, and deprive the great joy of rubbing success in others' sour faces.

The question wasnt why dont you support England though. It was about anyone BUT England. And FWIW I havent heard anyone say ANYTHUNG derogatory about the tartan army. Its been all.over the papers and the radio how loved they were in the US. I think you're making things up if you're implying otherwise

I’m not sure invasion and oppression can be seen as willing participation. Think you might need to revise your history by learning from the other perspective. Specifically focussing on the Plantation of Ulster, where wealthy landowners from England (and some Scottish) were moved to Ulster to essentially colonise it…leading eventually to the act of partition. Oh and the potato famine where there actually was enough food to feed the local population but the again the wealthy (English) landowners exported it out of Ireland and killed or imprisoned anyone found “stealing” food.

ETA: Also see more recent history where despite Scotland and Northern Ireland both voting by a majority to remain in the EU, they’ve had to leave due to the vote of the English.

No, it’s about Sport
it’s the bragging and media that cause the stir, some of the fans can be obnoxious and loud.
Could be worse, the fans from France and Egypt enjoyed smashing up the city after a game, plus many more I am not a fan of football.