Will Clark – National front page took rivalry with England too far

SPAIN are the champions of Europe and I am delighted as I won a handsome sum of money as I bet on them to win Euro 2024 before the tournament began.

Well £65, but to someone like myself of modest means, that will go a long way to lasting a long time.

That was the only reason I was delighted Spain won the European Championship and not the fact they were playing England in the final.

I’m not a Scottish fan who wants to see England get beat by everyone who they play. I couldn’t care less what England’s scorelines are, unless they are playing Scotland.

I do find the anti-English attitude adopted by some Scottish fans all a bit cringeworthy. I did vote Yes in the 2014 independence referendum, but I have nothing against people from England or their sports teams.

Last week, I cringed like no newspaper front page has ever made me curl up before when I saw a copy of The National.

The headline, which had the headline Time for Revenge, featured Spanish midfielder Rodri kicking an English fan shaped as a ball.

The front page also read “Every summer, they fill up your beaches. They drink all your beer. They make a mess of your plazas They eat fried breakfasts all day instead of your wonderful food. They retire in your towns and sponge off your public services.”

It continued in Spanish. “Ni siquiera se molestan en aprender el idioma!” (They don’t even bother to learn the language!) before concluding Now The National says it’s Time for Revenge! Our message to Spain is: Save us from an England win (Or we’ll never hear the end of it.)

There is a rivalry between Scotland and England, but that front page just smacked of poor taste.

If an English newspaper done that about Scotland reaching a major final, whether it was a football tournament, or more realistically a curling bonspiel, our nation would rightfully be up in arms.

Journalists from other newspapers took to social media condemning the front page of The National.

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes joined a chorus of critics about the front page.

She said: “I abhor offensive stereotypes. In sport, or out of sport. About English people, Scots or anybody else.

“Sporting rivalry should be friendly, good-humoured and fun. Anything else has no place in sport.”

I would like to think attitudes in Scotland have grown up more than perhaps they used to be.

What the front page of the National did was showcase Scotland in a bad light. It gave the impression we were a nation that indulges in schadenfreude and reveling in the misfortune of neighbours.

Scotland’s football team have received stick from down south as well, with English fans regularly chanting “Scotland get battered everywhere they go.” Most of the time, that isn’t true, apart from the 5-1 defeat to Germany.

However, a lot of people in Scotland felt that The National’s front page was out of order.

I am all for friendly rivalry, and there is always plenty of it when Scotland face England, in whatever sporting occasion they face each other.

But there is a line, and that front page well and truly crossed it.

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