‘I don’t care about Phil Foden’s breakfast’: Scots exasperated by Euros coverage

Millions of people across England will be nervous wrecks by the time Gareth Southgate’s men take to the field against Spain on Sunday night.

North of the border, many will be watching the Euro 2024 final with a different kind of dread.

The thought of a triumph for historic football rival England, and the accompanying “constant hype”, fills some in Scotland with horror. In certain quarters, it means temporary membership of the Spain supporters’ club.

Kevin Lynch, 39, from Aberdeen, tells i he will be cheering on the Spanish team with a few fellow members of the Tartan Army who travelled to Germany last month.

“We’ve been getting the San Miguel beers in, having some tapas food. I think a couple of the guys will be wearing Spain tops,” he says. “We’ll enjoy a Spain win, that’s for sure.

“If England win it will be off to bed early [and] ignore your phone for a few days. It’s the constant hype that’s frustrating. The media assumes we want to know what Phil Foden had for breakfast.”

He thinks some English people who work in Aberdeen’s oil industry might brave the city’s pubs on Sunday night.

“They can expect some banter. Maybe a few Spain flags. But there won’t be any trouble. It’s a good-natured rivalry.”

In The Kings Arms pub in Edinburgh, nobody is in the mood to be magnanimous about England being so close to victory.

“There’s a couple of Scotsmen who have £50 on England, so I suppose they might be cheering them on,” jokes one regular. Another shouts: “Viva Espana!”

Robert Uttley, whose partner owns the pub, tells i: “It’s not anti-English, just anti-England football team. It’s all the hype that goes along with England that I hate.

“Every England game, this pub has supported the opposite team,” adds the 48-year-old. “We do have a few English customers – they enjoy the banter, and they give as good as they get when it comes to joking about Scotland losing. There’s no aggravation.”

Supporting “anyone but England” is part of the package for Scottish football fans when major tournaments come around, almost as much as self-deprecating humour about Scotland’s own doomed efforts down the years.

Jim Kelly, a 76-year-old retired history teacher, says: “I remember 1966 – they’ve never let us forget it. The excessive media hype around the England football team has got worse over the years. That’s why ‘anyone but England’ has become the motto.”

He adds: “If they outplay Spain and win, part of me will think, ‘Well, good luck to them’. But Spain winning will be a huge relief. It’ll save us from the weeks of nonsense. Imagine it – knighthoods, honours, bank holidays, street parties, all that.”

A brief glance on social media shows some England fans believe Scotland’s antipathy is the product of “bitterness” over the failure of their own team to get to the later stages of a tournament.

One Scotland fan was mocked for hoisting the flags of England’s Euros opponents in his garden. “That’s a level of petty we should all aspire to,” joked one user about the photos shared on X, formerly Twitter, by a neighbour.

Graeme McGinty, another member of the travelling Tartan Army, insists there is nothing nasty about the feud over football.

“It’s like any rivalry,” the 53-year-old, who lives near Livingstone, tells i. “I’m a Hearts fan and I always want Hibs to lose. I always want England to lose. There’s no real animosity behind it.

“It’s the commentary in England that’s so jingoistic that rubs people up the wrong way,” the finance worker adds. “It’s why so many Scottish people think, ‘I’m sick of all this – I hope to God they lose and get knocked out.’”

While some Scots will keep the curtains closed and wait for the excitement to blow over, one way or another, others will actually try to enjoy in the big occasion.

Dougal Sharp, founder of the Innis & Gunn brewing firm, expects his four venues in Glasgow and Edinburgh – including a special Euros fanzone in the capital – to be packed on Sunday night.

“Both Glasgow and Edinburgh are cosmopolitan places. There will be English fans, Spanish fans, all sorts of other nationalities.

“With Scotland fans, there’s always some good-natured banter. People in Scotland have a sense of humour and don’t take things too seriously. It’s still a party atmosphere.”

But for some Scots, it’s a serious business. Back in The Kings Arms, Peter Winning, a 63-year-old Edinburgh solicitor, says: “I’ll raise a glass to Spain if they win.

“There won’t be any wild celebrations. Just a moment of quiet gratitude. Because England winning will mean an avalanche of jingoistic nonsense. It would be awful.”