SCOTS are the most likely to say they take pride in their men’s national team at 61% compared with 50% in England and 47% in Wales, a new poll suggests.
In polling carried out by More in Common, the “anyone but England” adage did not appear to hold, with fewer than one in three Scots (28%) surveyed saying they would want the Three Lions to lose in major football tournaments where the Tartan Army is not competing.
Participants were asked which best described their attitude in such a scenario out of “I want England to do well” (20%), “I don’t mind either way” (28%), “I don’t follow football” (23%) and “I want England to lose” (28%).
Across Britain, 49% said they supported local authorities funding or organising public screenings of major sporting events like the World Cup, against just 22% opposed – a net score of +27.
In England, 73% of Labour voters said they took “a great deal” or “quite a lot of pride” in the Three Lions, followed by 67% of Tory voters, 57% of Reform UK voters, 49% of Liberal Democrats and 30% of Greens, the pollster said.
A third (33%) of Reform supporters took “a great deal of pride” versus 32% for Labour, 26% for Conservatives, 21% for Lib Dem and 14% for Greens, they added.
The findings are based on a sample size of 2087 people surveyed between June 5 and 9 this year.
Younger people were more likely to say the England men’s team brings them pride, with 59% of Gen Z participants saying so, followed by 52% millennials, 46% of Gen X, and 48% of both Boomers and over-75s.
Scotland will face Morocco on Friday after clinching a 1-0 win against Haiti last week in their first World Cup fixture since 1998, while England will play their first game of the tournament against Croatia on Wednesday.
Anna Sabine MP, LibDem spokesperson for culture, media and sport, said it was “particularly heartening to see young people leading the way in pride for their national teams”.
“Sport has an amazing ability to unite all communities and nations. We should all be immensely proud of our national teams and we are all ready to cheer them on,” she said.
