ABSTRACT
This chapter reflects upon the comparatively stunted historic development of a coherent English sporting identity in sport by considering the relative success of Scots in this respect, whilst also exploring Scottish opinions on the nature of English identity. The disjuncture within English identity in sport can also be explored by considering the case of English football supporters in comparison to their Scottish counterparts. While football represents the most popular sport in both contexts, the aforementioned acceptance and embrace of sporting failure by Scottish fans has been argued to be a central tenet of the 'Tartan Army' which follows the Scottish national football team. The chapter attempts to identify a number of comparative factors to help explore the differences between the cases of English and Scottish national identity in sport, whilst simultaneously considering the nuanced nature of national identity in each context.
