SCOTLAND have their first World Cup win for 36 years in the bag after beating Haiti 1-0, but many fans have been angered by English-centric media coverage of the team so far in the tournament.
Over the weekend, The Economist posted an article entitled “The most hated countries at the FIFA World Cup” accompanied by a picture of a Scotland supporter.
Despite the headline seeming somewhat investigative, the article focused purely on national anthems and which ones mention old enemies and battles, with AI having been used to translate and identify these.
The piece only references Scotland once, detailing how Flower of Scotland mocks King Edward II. Yet editors felt it was appropriate to put a picture of a Tartan Army supporter against this headline which, purposefully or not, implies that Scotland are one of the most hated countries at the World Cup, especially as this article is paywalled and so many will not read on.
We know quite the opposite to be true. The Tartan Army were voted the best group of supporters at Euro 2024 according to German media outlet RTL and we have seen how well fans are being received as they take over the city of Boston in countless clips across social media.
The piece also boasts about England having a "peaceful" anthem and contrasts this to Scotland's. God Save the King actually mentions crushing rebellious Scots in later verses, even though only the first is sung usually.
It is just one way the English media has so far failed Scotland and Scottish fans at this World Cup.
It actually all began last week when Good Morning Britain (GMB) presenters and panellists on the programme began to question why there was a need for a bank holiday in Scotland to celebrate the team’s return to the World Cup.
A healthy debate on the matter likely wouldn’t have riled fans – what John Swinney did in enacting the holiday was unusual and I’m sure not everyone agrees with the sentiment.
But what happened on GMB was quite different. Hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls sparked a backlash after suggesting that the bank holiday was actually “about alcohol” and not about football.
Reid said the bank holiday was “outrageous” and questioned how long it would “take Scots to get over [it]”, while Balls asked: “How hungover do they get?”
At this point I should mention that just a couple of days later, pundits on ITV were ironically referencing England’s 1966 World Cup win. How long will it take them to get over it?!
While GMB has now responded to accusations of being anti-Scottish by saying it was “not the intention” to “play into national stereotypes”, bosses have maintained that discussing alcohol use was valid and the clip The National had shared had “distorted” coverage.
“The editorial team feel discussion of the fact that some football fans would be drinking alcohol while watching the match is something that would be referenced in the discussion of any home nation's participation in an international tournament,” a statement read.
This clearly went far beyond simply referencing that fans drink alcohol sometimes. Reid came across condescending. Her words were that this was simply a bank holiday for the opening game, missing out key context that this was Scotland’s first game for nearly 30 years – a whole generation of young fans has missed out on seeing them at a World Cup.
To then suggest the bank holiday was actually about alcohol was narrow-minded and showed a real lack of knowledge about what the World Cup is really about – bringing people together to celebrate and support the nation.
Scotland fans will likely be disappointed at ITV’s apparent reluctance to sufficiently reflect on the how this conversation sat with them.
To add to the anger, when STV posted a picture of those leading the coverage of the World Cup live from ITV’s studios in Brooklyn, New York, the line-up had no Scots in it.
Former Rangers player and manager Ally McCoist might be doing commentary, but once again fans are left feeling Scotland is being underrepresented at this tournament.
From coverage I have seen across the UK media, pundits have so far regularly had what feel like token discussions about Scotland to tick a box before reverting straight back to talking about England who have not yet played a game.
If ITV is going to continue to be rights holder for these tournaments, it does highlight the need to do something about separating coverage better on ITV and STV when other UK nations are involved in a tournament as well as England.
In fairness to the BBC, their panel for the Haiti game was Kelly Cates – daughter of Kenny Dalglish – former Scotland international Scott Brown and Rachel Corsie, and ex-Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart.
This is really what a panel should look like for a Scotland game – with everyone having a clear connection to and knowledge of the Scottish game and way of life. The Morocco game is on ITV on Friday, so it will be interesting to see what line-up is rolled out.
As England get their campaign underway from Wednesday before Scotland play Morocco on Friday, we’ll be keeping a close eye on how the UK media’s attitude and editorial strategy develop. Our nation to be represented equally and we’ll not let them off the hook.
