Union Jock (Sleeping with the Auld Enemy)

From his earliest years, Scottish-born Aidan Smith was taught one golden rule about soccer—no matter who England is playing, you support the other team. If the opposition have a dodgy human rights record, or are cruel to wasps, or can't even be located on a large-format map, well, that’s too bad. Now a full-grown man, Aidan Smith should be old enough, and ugly enough, to be above petty, playground-formed sports squabbles. Besides, he's about to marry an Englishwoman. Maybe it's a sign. But can a Scotsman ever cheer for "Ingerland?" In this hilarious study, Aidan Smith investigates the age-old England–Scotland enmity, both on and off the soccer field. The Scots may have suffered at the hands of the Auld Enemy for centuries—Braveheart, Culloden, Jimmy Hill calling David Narey's goal a "toe-poke”—but now they're a nation on the rise. But what do the fans, players, politicians, and Sassenach invaders really think about their English neighbors? Would supporting England be a denial of their Scottishness?