Anyone But England?

Happily, I couldn’t find a photo of Steve Nicol’s miss against Uruguay in 1986.

Could there be anything dafter, yet still wearisomely predictable, than the news that the polis have warned an Aberdeen shop that dares to sell “Anyone But England” t-shirts* in the run-up to this year’s World Cup finals that said items might be considered “racist”? Quiet times in the Granite City, one trusts, if this is how the constabulary is keeping busy.

It’s inevitable that we’l hear much more on this front as the tournament draws nearer (just ask Andy Murray). So, for the record, this blog’s Official England World Cup Position is this: I’d like England to do well but they can do well without actually winning the damn thing. Then again, while there are some teams I’d support against England (Italy, Argentina) there are others I’d be quite happy to see England beat (Brazil).

James Hamilton – an Englishman now living in Scotland – considers some of the rules of the ABE stance:

The number of Scots who express ABE in anger is vanishingly small, and any discussion of ABE on talkboards will attract comment from Scots who disagree with it and dislike it as a childish hangover and a block on Scottish development.