Sturgeon’s anti-English plea undermined — third of Scots wanted England to lose World Cup

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    England and Scotland went head to head last week as part of the Euro 2020 matches — meaning 20,000 of the Tartan Army turned up in London to support their team. Ahead of their visit, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged them to be “respectful to our hosts”. She also noted: “I would abhor and condemn unreservedly any anti-English chants.

    “Just as Scots we would not want to hear that coming from fans of any other country.

    “Racism, xenophobia, anything like that, whether it’s a football context or in life generally is not to be tolerated.”

    Ms Sturgeon then faced accusations of “double standards”, especially as she had not instructed the Scottish fans to stay home, instead of attending the away game, over Covid fears.

    She has regularly warned English citizens not to cross the border into Scotland throughout the pandemic, but on this occasion, simply told Scots to be “careful”.

    The SNP has long denied encouraging any anti-English sentiment within Scotland through its independence bid.

    However, back in 2018 — when the SNP were reviving its argument to break away from the rest of the UK — a poll revealed how Scots felt about the English football team.

    A YouGov Omnibus survey ahead of the 2018 World Cup found that more than a third (35 percent) of Scots actively wanted the English football team to lose in an international match against a non-British team.

    In contrast, only seven percent of Scots said they wanted Wales or Northern Ireland to lose their matches in a similar scenario.

    Thirty-five percent of Scots even said they were actively rooting for their Welsh neighbours, and 37 percent wanted Northern Irish teams to win — only 20 percent of participants said they would support their English neighbours.

    Scotland had missed out on the major international finals by a 2-2 draw to Slovenia in 2017, but YouGov polls still found only 10 percent of English people would want Scotland to lose in the same scenario, and 28 percent would lend their support.

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    “If you go back to the origins of the SNP, the origins of home rule, Anglophobia was as well-entrenched then as it is now.

    “I don’t think it is serious most of the time.

    “But it can become serious, it can become toxic.”

    An SNP spokesperson expressed disappointment in Mr Marr’s allegations back in 2013, adding: “Intolerance of any kind has no place in Scotland.”

    Yet, accusations of bias have continued to follow Scotland after its recent match against England.

    Scotland player Billy Glimour tested positive Covid, meaning he had to self-isolate — and some England players have also been ordered to self-isolate as a result, while the rest of the Scottish team can continue to play as no close contacts were identified.

    Sky Sports’ Charles Paterson said: “Public Health England are satisfied there are no Scotland players deemed to have been in close contact with Billy Gilmour.

    “Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell spoke in the tunnel after the game with Billy Gilmour for 25 minutes.

    “That is a breach of Covid guidelines with relation to close contact.”



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