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Importantly, in terms of football, Wagg (1995) states that there is a degree of consensus that ‘Scottishness consists in an opposition to the English’ (16). If one bears in mind that football offers a divisive rather than unified vision of Scotland and Scottish identity, then a distinctive anti-Englishness offers a respite, albeit often only a temporary one. Indeed, for Bairner (2001), ‘Scottish sporting nationalism is most cohesive when it is clearly characterized by anti-English sentiment’ (65). Holt (1989) concurs with this view, but in doing so places his emphasis more on the ability of

anti-Englishness to bring together competing sectarian visions of Scottishness. There is little doubt about the responsibility that is placed on Scottish sporting representatives when they face English opponents, but never more so than when the two countries meet at football. Finn and Giulianotti (1998) argue that

the curious ambivalence, sometimes downright hostility, of Scotland towards England is so culturally and historically embedded as to lend credence to the argument that this truly represents world football’s most intense ‘derby match’ at any level – civic, national or international (190).

Most Scots undeniably took, and continue to take, great pleasure and pride in beating the ‘Auld Enemy’, though Taylor (2008) has argued that matches between England and Scotland have always been of lesser significance to the English than the Scots. According to Holt (1989), although some of this added significance might have come from the perceived injustices of British history, the main objective stemmed from ‘the desire of a small, poor country to cut its larger and richer neighbour down to size’ (257). Bairner (1994) argues that in football at least, victory over England signalled the superiority of the Scottish version of the game, or the popular ideas that are linked to it by many Scots. He argues that these ideas often have little or no basis in reality. Yet, it is something that many Scots imagine to be the case and as such contributes to identity formation and underlines Scottish football’s difference from that of the English:

there is widespread acceptance of the idea that Scots have imparted to the game of football their own innate qualities to the extent that there exists a particular Scottish style of play. Scottish players are identified with aggression, passion, and in particular, skill. The English, by comparison, are thought of as strong, well organised but essentially lacking in flair (Bairner, 1994: 12).

Kowalski (2004) additionally considers the myths that exist about Scottish football. He argues that despite innumerable defeats for the Scottish national team and thus far,

a failure to advance beyond the initial group stages at either the World Cup or European Football Championships, ‘the view has long persisted that Scottish football remained exceptional’ (74). However, once more it must be reiterated that sporting commitment does not necessarily equate to an equivalent level of political commitment: ‘pride in the supposed virtues of Scottish football before the 1970s should not be confused with the desire to “break-up” Britain’ (ibid.: 75). To a degree, what can be seen here is that football in Scotland has been invested with a distinctive Scottish meaning, a process that resembles what has happened to rugby union in Wales, though with a greater emphasis on anti-Englishness.

Further evidence of this anti-Englishness may also be apparent in the way that the Tartan Army, Scotland’s mass of national football supporters, have changed the way that they define themselves and present their national identities, particularly whilst attending matches outside of Scotland. Finn and Giulianotti (1998) argue that ‘underpinning the Tartan Army’s repertoire is a collective anti-Englishness’ (192). Within these terms, the club loyalties, which are often the source of much antagonism between Scottish fans, are ‘largely submerged within a crossed and common Scottish identity’ (ibid.: 191). Giulianotti (2005) describes this form of support as being

a distinctive, unitary form of fan identity that is gregarious, ambassadorial and consciously non-violent in relations with other social groups, while still retaining a general cultural pursuit of heavy drinking and raucous support for the national team (291).

For Garland and Rowe (2001) this ambassadorial role is

enacted by the exuberant and friendly nature of its constituents, in an attempt to forge an identity in opposition to the perceived hostile and hooligan English following (131).

Bairner (1994) issues a warning however that ‘it would be dangerous to arrive at a totally benign view of the Tartan Army’ (22). Garland and Rowe (2001) point to the

underlying exclusivity of the Tartan Army, in that the image of Scottish identity that it promotes is fairly limited and raises issues of gender, race, ethnicity and class inclusiveness. Bairner (1994) also highlights the irony of the common use of tartan amongst members of the Tartan Army:

a universally popular vehicle is selected to convey national aspirations but it is bedecked in the regalia of an antiquated and even mythical Scotland (12).

It is also worth noting that the particular use of Tartan being indicated here is less appropriately linked to the ‘banal nationalism’ thesis of Billig (1995). While Hearn (2006) has commented on the ‘banal’ qualities of tartanry and kilts for expressions of Scottish nationalism, in this context the reminding of the nation that the Tartan Army is engaging in is done in a far more conscious and explicit fashion, which sits less comfortably with ‘banal nationalism’.

Both Garland and Rowe (2001) and Finn (2000) suggest that the anti-Englishness inherent in the Tartan Army’s expressions of Scottish identity work against the supposed ‘internationalism’ they claim to embrace. Finn (2000) is emphatic in this regard and is highly critical of the inherent anti-Englishness of Scottish football. He argues that this

should act as a warning that Scots are not immune to xenophobic prejudice and provide another antidote to the complacent, smug and self-congratulatory acceptance by too many Scots of their self-awarded prize of inherent egalitarianism (74).

In the last 20 years or so, elements of such anti-English sentiment have also begun to emerge to varying degrees and at different times within the sport of rugby union.

4.4.5 Anti-Englishness and Rugby Union in Scotland

the annual football fixture between England and Scotland was ended because of long- running concerns about public-order and hooliganism between the two sets of opposing fans48_{. With the possibility of Scotland meeting England at football now}

limited to the luck of the draw in international competition, rugby provided an ‘equivalent’ annual fixture. However, rugby union in Scotland has not always been so clearly associated with sporting nationalism. Historically, Holt (1989) has argued that

the passionate, obsessive need to beat the English, which has been the driving-force of Scottish international football, was muted by the public school code and the fact that an influential minority of Scotland players had polished their rugby at Oxford and Cambridge (255).

Kowalski (2004) has suggested that this began to change long before the 1990s, but that the pivotal moment in the development of nationalistic imperatives in Scottish international rugby union came in 1990 when England met Scotland at Murrayfield in the final match of that season’s Five Nations championship. Both teams were unbeaten, and as such the winners of the match would be able to claim three coveted rugby titles: the Calcutta Cup, the Triple Crown and most significant of all, the Grand Slam. The importance of the game was bound up with two important themes that influenced the Scottish approach to the match. Firstly, the controversial Poll Tax had just been introduced in Scotland and to say that it was an extremely unpopular policy initiative would be an understatement (ibid.). Secondly, many Scots were astounded by the arrogance and hubris of the English press which openly and repeatedly suggested that beating Scotland convincingly would be a mere formality for the far superior England team (ibid.). Moreover, for the first time before a Scottish rugby

48 _{The fixture was traditionally played as part of the annual Home International Championship. This}

tournament was contested by England, Northern Ireland (or Ireland before partition), Scotland and Wales but was discontinued in 1984, leaving Northern Ireland as the last winners and thus unofficial reigning champions of the UK. England continued to play Scotland annually in the Rous Cup until 1989.

union international, ‘Flower of Scotland’ was played, and in a highly charged and emotionally significant match, Scotland won 13-7. The inclusion of the anthem is subject to two contrasting interpretations by Jarvie and Walker (1994). This, they claim,

at one level might seem insignificant and yet at another level it was a profound gesture of sentimentality which in part encapsulated for a brief instant the mood of many Scots (4).

Drawing on this and the above discussion of rugby union and its relationship with Scottish identity, Bairner (1996) has contextualised the extent of this contemporary sporting nationalism thus:

the majority of those who sing ‘Flower of Scotland’ so lustily … do so as patriots and as sporting nationalists as well, but not as political nationalists (321).

Furthermore, in a manner that is broadly similar to that of rugby union in Wales, there is also a broader British component to Scottish rugby union. This is most clearly represented by the presence of the Her Royal Highness, the Princess Royal, as the patron of the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU). Indeed, Bairner (2001) suggests that her capacity to join in with the hearty singing of ‘Flower of Scotland’ at Murrayfield further reflects a sporting nationalism rather than an explicit expression of political nationalism. The broadly middle class basis of rugby union in Scotland may also be significant in this respect and is also evidenced in cricket whereby a similar social foundation forms the basis of cricket’s main support and interest in Scotland. That similar levels of anti-Englishness are far less evident in respect of the England cricket team when compared to football and rugby union, to greater and lesser extents, is illustrative in this regard (Bairner and Malcolm, 2010).