‘It’s out of order’
Ally McCoist has hit out at the Scotland fans who booed God Save the King during Tuesday night’s friendly against England.
Scotland faced their long-time rivals in a special fixture to commemorate the 150th anniversary since the first meeting between the two nations, which coincidentally, is the oldest fixture in international football.
Hampden Park was a cauldron of noise in the build up to the game and as the England supporters geared up to sing the national anthem, the Tartan Army drowned out God Save the King with a chorus of boos.
Speaking about the boos on TalkSPORT on Wednesday morning, McCoist admitted that it left him uncomfortable and slammed the “lack of respect”.
He said: “I do not like the booing of any national anthem to be honest with you. I just think it is a distinct lack of respect. I genuinely dislike it intensely.
“If you can’t show respect, I am not talking about England, I am talking about anybody or anybody that goes to Hampden, any football ground or any sporting event. If you can’t show the opposition respect by respecting their national anthem, I think it is a poor show.
“I get the rivalry with England and Scotland, and I get some of the Scots, perhaps SNP fans giving it the whole bit, but I am talking about in general. There should be respect shown for an opposing national anthem and I think it is totally out of order.”
Presenter Alan Brazil countered and accused the former Rangers forward of being “pro English”, to which he responded: “For telling the truth? What all these guys can do is put their head back under the covers or the pillow. If they want to lift their head up and open their eyes, great. It’s them that need the reality check, nobody else.”
McCoist was then asked if he sung God Save the King while working on the coverage of the game for Channel 4 and said: “Actually I was. Because I am British, you got a problem with that?”
England ran out as convincing 3-1 winners on the night after goals from Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane cancelled out Harry Maguire’s own goal.
Related links:
- Fans all saying same thing about Jude Bellingham post-match interview
- Gareth Southgate slams Harry Maguire critics after own goal
- Harry Maguire takes dig at Scotland in Instagram post
