The Patriot Game: Football's Famous 'Tartan Army'

Abstract

Whose Scotland? Who is Scottish? What is Scottish? What does Scottish mean in the sporting context? This article seeks to demonstrate that these contemporary questions among others, relating to Scotland and Scottish identity, can be explored through the medium of the most popular sport in Scotland. Further, in an environment where everyone 'volunteers' their Scottishness, the perceived cause of the Scottish international team can be utilized to investigate some of the social, cultural and political complexities that lie underneath an image of oneness. This article concludes that, through the complexity of the Scottish national football side's supporters, we find that popular notions of Scotland can often be incomplete and consideration requires to be given to ethnic, religious and geographical factors in any sociological thesis relating to contemporary Scottish identity.