Why do many people around the world hate England in sports such as football, rugby, cricket, etc.?

[-]

apeliott@reddit

I think they had a global imperialistic empire at some point in the past which may have influenced opinions.

[-]

BDbs1@reddit

They don’t hate Scotland though so that doesn’t explain it

[-]

pintsized_baepsae@reddit

Because Scottish fans on the whole are friendly and generally good sports. It's giving 'we're just happy we made it here, however far we get is amazing'.

English fans, unfortunately, acquire their reputation through those fans that behave badly. There's also the general (overexaggerated) reputation that English fans are hooligans, so a lot of people will go in with that notion.

Both of these are unfair, but the behaviour internationally doesn't always contradict it, so it sticks.

[-]

BDbs1@reddit

Yeah you are correct I believe. So as per my point it’s nothing to do with colonialism then

[-]

pintsized_baepsae@reddit

In some places it might, tbh, but I agree - in a lot of places definitely not.

[-]

Jenpot@reddit

Scotland's pundits don't act like they're going to win every single game, every single tournament, every single time.

[-]

TheBeAll@reddit

Can you imagine watching your team play at the World Cup and the commentators are just going on about how shit your team is. Would drive viewership to 0

[-]

Neither_Process_7847@reddit

Like Eurovision you mean?

[-]

TheBeAll@reddit

Exactly my point

[-]

Jenpot@reddit

There's a very happy medium in there. Scottish pundits don't go on about how shit the team is either. I mean football ones might, rugby ones don't.

[-]

stonkin667@reddit

Scotland is way better at rugby currently even when considering the differences in the sports. We beat England regularly as well, you have to go nearly 50 years to when there was that equality in football. There is an obvious bias in home commentary for the Scotland team and there is nothing wrong with that, we don't bang on about 66 but i reckon we would if we could.

[-]

Jenpot@reddit

I was at that last game, I suspect very few of us went in there thinking we were going to win it! The media - UK and Scottish - also spent the whole week banging on about how it was England's time. Even the Scottish rugby podcast hosts were doubtful that we could win it.

[-]

stonkin667@reddit

I also remember us being predicted to win the tournament we never see that in football probably since 78.

[-]

TheBeAll@reddit

Just makes for a more fun tournament when you believe you’re going to win

[-]

BlackJackSackIcePack@reddit

Not sure what pundits you've been watching but obviously most pundits are going to be biased towards their nation. We do have a song after all about believing that it's coming home every tournament even though we know we're shit

[-]

CrossCityLine@reddit

Bet you don’t care about the German, French or Spanish fans/pundits hyping their team up though do you? Funny that.

[-]

guzusan@reddit

oh shut up mate

[-]

Thatchers-Gold@reddit

I couldn’t give two shits if German/Spanish/Ecuadorian pundits were hyping their teams up, let alone use it as an excuse to hate them

Sounds like the kind of thing I’d do if I had a chip on my shoulder

[-]

AcidHouseMouse@reddit

There’s a good reason for that

[-]

Jenpot@reddit

Thanks for proving my point. 🙂

[-]

Random_Nobody1991@reddit

A section of the Scottish population lied through their teeth and convinced people they were victims of the English.

[-]

apeliott@reddit

Well, Scotland isn't England and their attempts at building an empire failed miserably, so that might explain it.

[-]

fastestman4704@reddit

Ahh yes, because of that very famous English Empire we all learned about it school.

[-]

apeliott@reddit

You might want to go back to school.

[-]

BlackJackSackIcePack@reddit

You might want to Google what Britian is

[-]

CrossCityLine@reddit

Fancy telling me why Jamaica’s flag looks like that and why so many black Caribbean people have surnames like McDonald and McLeod?

[-]

apeliott@reddit

Because Scotland was subsumed into the English empire after their attempts at colonisation failed which became the British empire.

[-]

fastestman4704@reddit

So Scotland were part of the British empire is what you're saying

[-]

CrossCityLine@reddit

Lol

[-]

fastestman4704@reddit

So you see that's just not correct at all

[-]

fastestman4704@reddit

It was the British empire.

Scotland, and Scottish people, were very much involved.

[-]

Thatchers-Gold@reddit

Top 1% commenter in askuk

Doesn’t know basic British history

[-]

Mav_Learns_CS@reddit

Scotland, despite a good dose of revisionism, was very much an acting part of the British empire

[-]

Toatkgstuff@reddit

Scotland was absolutely a massive part of the British Empire. From Soldiers, to Admirals and Generals, to Lords and Prime Ministers

[-]

tmr89@reddit

Absolutely cannot wait for us to win the World Cup

[-]

peachypeach13610@reddit

Because of hooligans and a generally snobbish and arrogant way English teams treat opponents. So seeing England lose can definitely be satisfying

[-]

Nuthetes@reddit

England's hooligans are tame compared to the rest of the world.

When is the last time England fans stormed a pub full of opposing fans and set it on fire or stabbed multiple people as happens often in Europe?

Italy, France, all of the Baltic countries, all of the South American countries have far worse hooligans than England. Yet it's always us who comes under the spotlight?

[-]

peachypeach13610@reddit

I can only speak of Italy and South America because I have direct experience living extensively there and what you say is just not accurate, sorry.

[-]

Nuthetes@reddit

Uh-huh.

And tell me, buddy. When was the last time a match in England was suspended because of fighting in the grounds and a fan being critically injured as happened between Torino and Juventus the other day?

https://x.com/hooliganscz1999/status/2058624559268430323

Go ahead, buddy.

[-]

TheGoose995@reddit

Brazil, Italy, Argentina all have some equally awful hooliganism. Not denying your point but I think media portrayal skews the view on English hooliganism being notoriously worse

[-]

imokaytho@reddit

The only downside is domestic abuse rises when England lose

[-]

jaymatthewbee@reddit

Have any other countries done research into this? Seems like England is the only country where there is data so know people seem to think that this is a unique problem to England.

[-]

Leader_Bee@reddit

They don't just hate us in sport they hate us in the Eurovision too.

[-]

king_ofbhutan@reddit

no they hate us in eurovision because were shite

[-]

Neither_Process_7847@reddit

If we ever took it either seriously and offered a decent act, or comically and presented an OTT rubbish one, we'd do hugely better. We just never seem to quite get into the spirit of it.

[-]

Random_Nobody1991@reddit

Because everyone else in Europe has clean hands over that… I’m going to put it down to jealousy.

[-]

DisastrousUnicorn@reddit

I didn't know they did.

[-]

TheBobbyMan9@reddit

I mean it’s a bit obvious if you consider we colonised half the world

[-]

NuggetKing9001@reddit

Other European countries with colonial pasts don't seem to get the same hate, why is that?

[-]

TheBobbyMan9@reddit

Because they didn’t colonise as many people but I’m sure the ones who were colonised by France etc hate them just as much. Regardless of what you think about colonialism you can’t be acting surprised that the places we colonised dislike us.

[-]

NuggetKing9001@reddit

Dislike "us"? Not sure about you, but I don't think "we" have colonised anyone lately, much less a sports team. It's just a lazy bandwagon these days.

[-]

TheBobbyMan9@reddit

I couldn’t care less about colonisation but it’s an objective fact if a country invades and/or colonises yours then you tend to hold a grudge about it. I’m not even saying colonisation was bad I’m just saying that obviously the people we colonised feel a way about it and you lot are getting all precious over it like everyone’s gonna love us.

[-]

NuggetKing9001@reddit

I don't care that the world doesn't love us, but there are giant holes in the logic that are entirely ignored. Germany for example, don't seem to get any kind of hate like this, and let me tell you a couple of stories about them.

[-]

fastestman4704@reddit

Yeah but germany's colonial period was like 40 years.

Pretty much everywhere they owned was at some point also owned by some other European country and for longer.

The whole world war thing we just sort of sweep under the rug.

[-]

NuggetKing9001@reddit

Not talking about their colonialism my dude.

[-]

Beautiful_Hawk548@reddit

I'm not sure that's accurate, you probably just see less of it because you're not from one of those countries. For example, Algeria and France have a bit of a football rivalry. 2001, Algerian fans constantly booed the French national anthem and ended up invading the pitch. The booing of the national anthem for France is fairly regular with a lot of their former colonies.

Portugal similarly has a more friendly rivalry with Brazil.

[-]

MaleandPale2@reddit

Yeah. We did a colonialism. But so did the French. So did the Spanish. So did the Belgians. So did Russia. Muslim nations were at the gates of Paris in the 7th century, after colonising vast swathes of the world.

Why us, in particular? Because we might not be greet at sport but until recently we were a very successful county. We were the fourth biggest economy not too long ago - a legacy of British exceptionalism that meant we were the first country to industrialise. Our cultural footprint was massive too. They want us to fail because they’re jealous.

[-]

TheBobbyMan9@reddit

Don’t be daft I’m sure the places the French, Spanish etc colonised think the same about them we just did it to far more places and most of them adopted our sports so it’s obvious they would see us in a negative light and want us to lose. To say they want to us to fail cos they’re jealous is laughable , learn to look at things objectively.

[-]

Nuthetes@reddit

And no other nation did any colonization at all did they?

[-]

wwrd77@reddit

Did you not know that Scotland supports any team that plays England

[-]

king_ofbhutan@reddit

worldwide

literally just talks about scotland

[-]

wwrd77@reddit

Well obviously I can't speak for the whole world

[-]

DanielReddit26@reddit

That's not really "around the world" though is it?

That's a geographical and historical sporting rivalry - one which is now, if not always, very one sided due to England being a fair bit better (football at least).

You'd expect it from Scotland, Wales, even Ireland(s).

[-]

CrossCityLine@reddit

Who cares?

[-]

ArgyllLassie@reddit

Because England's teams and fans are so arrogant. We're still hearing about 1966.

[-]

NuggetKing9001@reddit

Arrogance is the most boring and worn out phrase used in sports.

[-]

ArgyllLassie@reddit

Still true

[-]

NuggetKing9001@reddit

Any examples of the teams "arrogance"?

[-]

ArgyllLassie@reddit

When English commentators are supposed to be commentating about a match between 2 teams that are NOT England they only talk about England's chances, not the current match. We want to hear about the 2 teams who are playing. That is arrogance.

[-]

NuggetKing9001@reddit

By your definition.

Also, didn't answer the question. TEAM, not commentators.

[-]

ArgyllLassie@reddit

Euro 2020 against Italy. England players took off their medals as soon as they left the stage. Sore losers.

[-]

NuggetKing9001@reddit

The problem with ingrained bias is that you'll interpret anything you can to fit your preconceived view. Other teams have done similar things but I'm almost certain they haven't occupied a space in your memory like when an English sports team does it.

I know I'm pissing into the wind pointing this out, it's just funny to see the same pattern repeated all the time.

[-]

ArgyllLassie@reddit

Whatever. I don't waste a lot of energy on this. Only think about it during the World Cup which I'd never even heard of until I moved here in 2000. And I look forward to seeing all the staff on our local ferry wearing tshirts for the opposing team. I love Scots!

[-]

NuggetKing9001@reddit

Ah yeah it's not a big deal now eh,, try being constantly on the receiving end of it, not so fun then I bet. Enjoy your laughs.

[-]

ArgyllLassie@reddit

Oh boo hoo.

[-]

NuggetKing9001@reddit

What an arrogant reply.

[-]

ArgyllLassie@reddit

And you know all about arrogance, don't you?

[-]

NuggetKing9001@reddit

Oh, someone not enjoy getting called arrogant? Maybe think about that next time you're throwing it around so casually.

[-]

artical900@reddit

I agree that it's really irritating but I suspect it's the same in lots of countries, perhaps more so in ones that (wrongly in our case) feel they are in with a shot of winning. Partner is Spanish, SIL is Brazilian - they've mentioned that their commentators have exactly the same approach about their teams.

[-]

Fluffy_Ad2274@reddit

Look, when you've only managed to do something successfully one time, it becomes a very big deal, ok? (/s)

[-]

ArgyllLassie@reddit

Aye 60 fucking years ago

[-]

guzusan@reddit

This response is so typical of someone who either never engages with sport anyway, so has no clue what they're on about beyond Facebook news articles, or isn't English themselves yet has this bizarre obsession with us because in most sports, we are/were the best.

[-]

ArgyllLassie@reddit

I'm married to a Scot who is a footy fanatic. I'm merely a fan. I really enjoy flying the flag of the opposing team. It's fun. I love shocking England fans who happen to be in Scotland at the time. It's a laugh.

[-]

Afternoon_Kip@reddit

Arrogant cliche klaxon

[-]

Boycott-all-Rats@reddit

Poms are easily hated mainly because of empire.

150 million dead and usual denial at the number definitely doesn't help

[-]

Maleficent-Win-6520@reddit

I’m guessing you’re an ex convict?

[-]

Boycott-all-Rats@reddit

G'day mate

[-]

Maleficent-Win-6520@reddit

Good afternoon sir

[-]

hoverside@reddit

England and Scotland literally invented international football rivalry, and England has been the top out of those two ever since so they get the flak. It's fine.

[-]

deevo82@reddit

This isn't really true.

It wasn't until 1983 when England managed to win more games in the series than Scotland.

[-]

hoverside@reddit

Thanks for the knowledge, and sorry for my ignorance. I've updated my post.

[-]

deevo82@reddit

You are very polite. I like you.

[-]

ArgyllLassie@reddit

Because of their arrogance we love to fly the flag in Scotland of the opposing team during the world cup.

[-]

QueefInMyKisser@reddit

Rent free

[-]

ArgyllLassie@reddit

Hardly. It's fun

[-]

Nuthetes@reddit

Little team syndrome

[-]

ArgyllLassie@reddit

Don't give a shit what England fans do. The English who live in Scotland or on holiday during World Cup are shocked that we cheer for the opposing team.

[-]

terryjuicelawson@reddit

Part of it is understanding. And it works both ways too, English fans can have a rant or insult other nationalities and they will know about it. Someone could be doing far worse in Slovenian and no one would know.

[-]

Terrible_Biscotti_16@reddit

From an Irish perspective it’s hard to warm to a country who was a coloniser and ruled with an iron fist before independence. The effects are still felt in the north.

To make things clear we like English people but strongly dislike British government. As England is the biggest country in the UK it often acts as a proxy when we’re looking for sporting rivals. Scotland never gets the same flack even though Scotland was just as much involved in colonisation and rule over Ireland.

It’s like how England likes to see Germany and France lose in a sporting sense. It’s a relic of past historical events that has seeped into sort.

Another factor is the all consuming nature of the media that follows England in any sport. We can’t escape it.

PS just to be absolutely clear we love British/English people.

[-]

OrangeBeast01@reddit

It’s like how England likes to see Germany and France lose in a sporting sense

Thing is with this, younger generations aren't that bothered how Germany do because they didn't have parents/grandparents telling them we all hate Germany because they terrorised our civilian population from the sky. France is different, it's more a begrudging banter that has lasted a thousand years, at this stage it's just funny.

But with Ireland, you're talking hundreds of years ago in a time where the English peasantry also suffered under the rules of their British overlords. Add to that, the amount of us who have Irish ancestry (half of my family tree came from Ireland and then through Scotland). It's madness when Irish people talk about how bad Ireland had it and use it as a tool for disdain.

[-]

Terrible_Biscotti_16@reddit

It's a common trope put forward by British people; Irish people have no right to complain as the ruling class also lorded it over the working class in England/Scotland/Wales. I mean if you go down that route you can justify any colonisation conducted by the British Empire. What happened in India and Kenya is ok because there was some poor English people too so stop complaining.

In reality being Irish was different to being poor and English. Were English people banned from speaking their language, engaging in their culture, and practicing their religion. Did they have their land confiscated and given to outsiders, was a whole system set up against the native population etc, etc. Were resources taken from England for use overseas and industrialisation limited to the part of the country that had the most successful colonisation and most loyal to an overseas master. Make no mistake, if the potato famine happened in England poor English people wouldn't have been let die like the way the Irish were. England's population would not still be in recovery.

Btw it wasn't 100's of years ago either. Ireland fought a war against the British just over a hundred years ago. The Troubles lasted until 1998 and are very much in living memory.

[-]

OrangeBeast01@reddit

I suppose my overall point is (one which I made regarding our younger generations and Germany) is that for how long do we blame the sons for the sins of the fathers? At some point, it is time to stop using energy over something that wasn't done by any living people, to any living people. Should we dislike the Danes because of viking conquest?

over a hundred years ago isn't in living memory. As for the troubles, that's a hangover of colonialism, granted, but the good Friday agreement is as much as can be done to sensitively address the future of the island.

[-]

Terrible_Biscotti_16@reddit

I certainly don’t, and I don’t think many Irish people do, hold it against English people today.

The point I was making is that sporting rivalry in an international context is often stemmed from history more so than anything else. It doesn’t mean people hate the other country. There aren’t enough games against teams to build a natural rivalry like in the club game so history fills the void.

[-]

Maleficent-Win-6520@reddit

Sports in general for me

[-]

NoFewSatan@reddit

What is that supposed to mean?

[-]

Maleficent-Win-6520@reddit

I don’t like sports in general.

[-]

NoFewSatan@reddit

OK, and what has that to do with the question?

[-]

Maleficent-Win-6520@reddit

What does my reply have to do with you.

[-]

NoFewSatan@reddit

What a dimwit.

[-]

Maleficent-Win-6520@reddit

Sorry to hear you think this about yourself. Every village has one.

[-]

TheGoose995@reddit

I don’t think they hate England per se, but our fans think England are better than they actually are quite often.

Some of European countries don’t like our fans, which is partly justifiable but also partly because of how media reports on us. Every footballing country has some awful hooligans

[-]

Nuthetes@reddit

Do they though? Most England fans are tongue in cheek and expect England to get knocked out on penos.

I don't think any England fan ever really expects us to win. The "It's coming home" is more hopeful than actually thinking it's going to happen.

[-]

TheGoose995@reddit

Yeah fully agree with you. I think the point I’m trying to make is that countries like Brazil & Argentina don’t hate England, they just think of us as a lesser footballing country than say, Germany, France or Spain.

The idea that other countries hate us is based on how media portrays our fans, and that’s mainly only in some European countries. Not worldwide

[-]

ViscountGris@reddit

If you’ve ever been to a major sporting event and watched how fans behave then that’s a lot of it. Scots, Welsh and Irish sing songs but make friends, interact with locals, mock themselves and behave well. I’m not going to finish this.

[-]

Nuthetes@reddit

So, why don't the French or Italians or Spanish get the same hate? Or the Dutch. Their hooligans are FAR worse.

When is the last time English hooligans tried attacking the wives and girlfriends of the opposing team to such a degree the players themselves got involved, as happened a few years ago in Holland?

[-]

ViscountGris@reddit

Probably just the international media being biased.

[-]

pintsized_baepsae@reddit

English fans in Gelsenkirchen at the Euros. That's all I'm saying.

I've never seen a group of fans lose favour that quickly. Almost impressive.

[-]

WizardButtholes@reddit

football fans especially are known for causing trouble wherever they go so that probably plays a large part

[-]

fastestman4704@reddit

Broadly speaking it's because England fans are dickheads.

[-]

Nuthetes@reddit

And yet the French, Italians, Spanish, Turkish and east Europeans regularly carry knives to matches to stab opposing fans. England fans may be a bit rowdy, but they're not to try and stab you outside a bar for having a French shirt on.

[-]

CrustyHumdinger@reddit

Ummm... history

[-]

Nuthetes@reddit

Jealous at getting their arse kicked by us

[-]

IrishJayjay94@reddit

The fans dont do England any favours to be fair, type in something like Euros England Fans and half the videos are about fighting etc. Compared to if you type in Irish Euro Fans and they're mostly friendly banter videos

[-]

Nuthetes@reddit

Ok, now talk about the Italians or Spanish or French or Dutch fans who are far worse hooligans than the English and regularly carry knives to stab rival fans.

England fans at least, it is just a punch up.

[-]

Winston_Carbuncle@reddit

I don't think it's really hate when it comes to sports like rugby and cricket. The crowds are mixed FFS.

Re football, English football fans have a reputation. Both deserved and underserved. From the casual days and the more recent drunken lout days.

That's my twopence worth.

[-]

Agreeable_Archer_210@reddit

First question to ask is - do they? Because in football in particular I think people think that they do, but actually, not so much. So England perceive a mutual intense rivalry with Germany for example- for the Germans the real rivalry is with the Dutch or the French. As Henning Wehn put it "England think that the game against Germany is the big one. For the Germans the thing is there are normally a few games to play after that."

There might be some residual historic dislike around the particularly bad hooligan culture in the 70s/80s - and let's face it the England fans abroad aren't the easiest bunch to host - but for the most part in football, I think they are just another biggish, if typically underperforming, team.

Rugby/cricket are a bit different because the international competitive pool is so much smaller. But I don't think the England cricket team are particularly hated now as move further and further away from colonial relationships. The Aussies of course are the big rivalry for England, but India/Pakistan is clearly more intense, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh would rather put one over on India, New Zealand love to beat the Aussies etc.

In Rugby there is a hemisphere divide. Other Northern Hemisphere teams love to beat England because they are historically the biggest and best resourced (along with France). But for UK/Ireland teams a lot of the time they are consuming very English-centred media and it sticks in the craw somewhat.

So in summary:

They probably don't as much as you think because you are too close to it.

2,. There is some residual historic antagonism

There is a bit of big brother syndrome going on.

[-]

AdPrestigious2387@reddit

Jealousy

[-]

Stefgrep66@reddit

Hate us!

Really?

I mean I'm a sporty guy, support my country and we have our rivalries, but I can't help thinking if you can hate someone over what's essentially a game, you need a hobby!!

[-]

NuggetKing9001@reddit

This is endemic in rugby. There is some truly vicious hate that is spewed, especially when it comes to 6 Nations time. And always put down to some historical stuff that has utterly nothing to to do with the game. At this point it's just an easy bandwagon to jump on, really good for a game that is supposedly welcome to all.

[-]

Free_Spirit_1378@reddit

It's strange isn't it. At a rugby game I have never experienced any hatred. In fact I have had nothing but a good laugh with other nations supporters. They're a great bunch.

[-]

AbeFromanOnFire@reddit

The Empire

English exceptionalism

Arrogance of the media

[-]

PARFT@reddit

the english are exceptional.

[-]

PanNationalistFront@reddit

As an Irish person I only hate to see England win at rugby. It’s probably one of the few mainstream sports where we can go head to head. However, I generally find them the commentary and hype around English rugby a bit much. Feels arrogant.

Don’t mind it in other sports. Happy for yous to do well in football. We all support English teams anyway. Good luck to yous.

[-]

EyeAware3519@reddit

They just hate England, apparently England and the US are the two countries it's socially acceptable to hate.

[-]

PARFT@reddit

surely France?

[-]

Fluffy_Ad2274@reddit

[-]

External-Pen9079@reddit

I don’t suppose the “two world wars and one World Cup” brigade have done anyone any favours here…

[-]

craigus17@reddit

It’s always annoyed me the chant has never been updated, despite the fact we’ve also won the rugby and cricket world cups (and are the only country to have won all three)

[-]

BobBobBobBobBobDave@reddit

Kind of hard to fit all that into a chant, I suppose.

[-]

LonelyArmpit@reddit

Ey ey lads ‘ere we go

“Two world wars and one World Cup in football, cricket and rugby, also making us the only country to have done that”

It’s got a nice Rhythm to it

[-]

Free_Spirit_1378@reddit

Do it to a samba beat. It's very catchy!

[-]

Choccybizzle@reddit

You’ll never sing that

[-]

gotmunchiez@reddit

🎶🎵 Two world wars and two gulf wars and two wars on terror and two Yugoslavian wars and one Falklands war and one Korean war and one Suez crisis and some Troubles and one football world cup and one cricket world cup and one rugby world cup, doo daa, doo daa 🎵🎶

[-]

craigus17@reddit

“Two world wars and three world cups”

[-]

fastestman4704@reddit

That makes it sound like 3 world cups in 1 sport though.

[-]

BowiesFixedPupil@reddit

"2 world wars and 3 world cups" should just about cover it I reckon

[-]

Iwantedalbino@reddit

Has anyone even tried, it’s just lazy.

[-]

samo7230@reddit

The chant is specifically about beating Germany though

[-]

96JY@reddit

It's a football chant. That's why it doesn't mentioned other sport's wins.

[-]

fastestman4704@reddit

2 World wars, and 1 world cup, and 1 different world cup, and another also different world cup, doo-dah, doo-dah. Just doesn't have the same ring.

[-]

fearghaz@reddit

Im not really one but was in germany for some of the euros. We had gernans singing about bombers with us. It was quite funny considering all the crap the media says

[-]

TheBeAll@reddit

It’s not our fault the rest of them were on the losing sides

[-]

Important-Plane-9922@reddit

Soon be 3 world wars and 2 world cups

[-]

Swamp_Donkey82@reddit

I don’t think they do. Germany for example do not even see us a rival. We won the World Cup in ‘66 and have won nothing since. So why would they see us as one? France and Spain would be bigger rivals to them, we are largely an irrelevance.

It’s that little Englander mentality that thinks we are far more important than we are.

[-]

socratic-meth@reddit

Someone told them to hate us when they were young. Just like people do in England with the French, Germans, Argentinians, etc.

[-]

PissedBadger@reddit

It’s funny because the Germans don’t see us as rivals in football.

[-]

xxx654@reddit

Because frankly you’re not. The records are night and day to each other.

[-]

NoNameNoNumba@reddit

We don't hate any of those countries, we like to take the piss out of them just like they do us but it's not hatred.

[-]

socratic-meth@reddit

‘Hate’ in the sporting sense

[-]

PrinceFan72@reddit

Colonialism and the arrogant attitude of "we should win because we invented the sport". Just look at the media before any major tournament, the expectation to win just because has never matched reality.

[-]

Accomplished-Map1727@reddit

Because we used to rule most of the world....

Everyone thinks of us like an ex boyfriend....

[-]

PrinceFan72@reddit

More like abusive ex stepdad

[-]

Alchemist1788@reddit

I don’t think the English realize they are the Americans of Europe.

[-]

Zamazamenta@reddit

England is acceptable to hate without it being classed as offensive. It's a easy and safe target.

[-]

TSC-99@reddit

British empire

[-]

ChaiTeaAndBoundaries@reddit

As a Nation during football season, the fans scream "Football is coming home". That is arrogant considering England's performance especially compared to the likes of Brazil, Argentina, Germany, France, Spain, Italy etc.

[-]

CrossCityLine@reddit

You might want to learn what that song is actually about mate.

[-]

douggieball1312@reddit

So do fans from other countries not sing songs proudly bragging about their nation's sporting prowess (not that 'Three Lions' is anything like that kind of song once you spend more than three seconds looking at the lyrics)? Why is it only arrogant when English fans do it?

[-]

youllbetheprince@reddit

We invented the game! That’s what that phrase is all about! God forbid we get to be proud of anything in this country.

[-]

deevo82@reddit

It's ironic considering football was invented in Scotland.

[-]

Thatchers-Gold@reddit

It’s literally a song about keeping hopes up despite never winning anything, it’s tongue-in-cheek and a catchy tune

Some people only need to hear the phrase once before deciding that it’s arrogant without knowing the context, mostly because it vibes with their existing prejudices

[-]

fastestman4704@reddit

God damned sports fans thinking their team is good at sports.

[-]

Less-Firefighter2419@reddit

Cricket? Except Australia who else hates us? Football? Except Germany, Scotland, Wales, Spain, Sweden....yeah okay I see your point

[-]

Parshath_@reddit

Outside perspective. And just for football as I don't follow any other group sports.

Part of it is banter, part of it is underdog supporting, part of it is reaction to perceived arrogance.

The UK media (and to a degree, the supporters) doesn't do itself any favours: both to internal talent by quickly overhyping and adding insane amount of pressures to young talent, hindering their development and mental resilience to become regular elite world class performers (Lingard, Dele Alli, for example). Then also take much pleasure (and clicks, I suppose) in attacking and brutalising public opinion at every chance - for example, the treatment of the best performing England coach since 1966. But then when it comes to international competitions, UK media and supporters tend to overhype and overmeasure in comparison to international competitors with a perceived arrogance that both doesn't sit well outside of England, and that will make the fall higher and lower public tolerance to failure - that outsiders may take pleasure in witnessing.

The Premier League and the fact that it has very high financing also boosts the feeling of "best league in the world" leading to arrogance, and also centers the drainage of world talent in the EPL teams, leading to foreign resentment and makes competition more difficult (ie, English dominance in Europa League and Conference League with much higher budgets than competition). That adds a "resentment" factor towards England from budget inequality.

Perception-wise, English is the most spoken language worldwide and online, so most of the discourse you will see will be in English - for example, making you miss a lot of anti-Others discourse.

Lastly, and despite choosing England to be where I live and not holding any grudge, I come from another top-8 footballing country. And at this level, it's easy to be a "target to be taken down". I've read the most disgusting things against my country and team players on /r/soccer when we play, that are pretty much uncalled for - but that's how violent football discourse can be. 🤷‍♂️ Anyways, it's not really that different from the Tottenham situation - as a major club, people were looking forward and taking pleasure to see it fall and fail.

[-]

rikkiprince@reddit

Colonialism

[-]

VicDelRamarico@reddit

https://youtu.be/E_6d3JBBo4s?si=Izq9mJA6QCzjvXCe

[-]

Afternoon_Kip@reddit

The constant English media over hyping of the teams. Hangover from the old empire days and the supposed superiority complex we have.

[-]

Jose_out@reddit

Because we're very good at them.

They're the three biggest sports in the world and we're the only country capable of competing at the top of all of them.

[-]

Upper_Paramedic_2043@reddit

It’s not just a sport thing. Have you ever watched the Eurovision Song Contest?

[-]

daekle@reddit

To be fair, we usually send a crap song. I really like "Look mum no computer" and even I thought the song wasn't great this year.

[-]

Upper_Paramedic_2043@reddit

It wasn’t last place bad though

[-]

Spadders87@reddit

Because punching down is generally frowned upon.

[-]

fearghaz@reddit

Seeing as we invented those sports one would suppose at some point we were the best at it so people wanted to beat us

Its no different to how people still "hate" man united now

[-]

swiftcardine@reddit

Says who 😂 what’s a weird post

[-]

Top-Mathematician261@reddit

200 years of empire might have a bearing

[-]

fastestman4704@reddit

About 200 years short there my guy.

[-]

StGuthlac2025@reddit

[-]

Jenpot@reddit

Nothing to do with politics, history or empire for me though I know people use that as an excuse to be bigots. I just hate the arrogance of the punditry, media and yes, sometimes the fans. I've happily sat and had a pint with fans after games where either side has won (rugby not football), and I'll happily support the Lions, but it fills me with absolute joy when we beat England.

If it helps, I hate the arrogance surrounding the Irish rugby team just as much and I'm from an Irish background. 🤷

[-]

Sorreaomol@reddit

I am portuguese and always support for the English team because of their fair play

[-]

Feeling-Medium-7856@reddit

Jealousy. They are furious at our limitless success and charming fans who win friends wherever we go.

[-]

ConnectionLeading435@reddit

Do they ?

[-]

Cunthbert@reddit

Probably because for the size of the country we punch above our weight in a lot of things

[-]

IllicitFungi@reddit

We're dickheads on holiday and drink a lot, plus colonising 24% of the entire planet can't have helped.

[-]

tmr89@reddit

They hate us cos they ain’t us

[-]

Comfortable-Pace3132@reddit

Because our thing is fair play and they see that as stand-offish or lacking in true competitive spirit. Also they just don't get us in general in terms of sense of humour, outlook etc. Also we were a mega-empire so we still carry that status in some way or another and they want to take us down

[-]

fpuk69@reddit

The fans are very violent aggressive and go to other countries and cause a lot of trouble

[-]

Fellattio_Nelson@reddit

Jealously they weren't born here in this magnificent Kingdom.

[-]

BobBobBobBobBobDave@reddit

I think in the course of our history, especially the bit where the sun never set on the Empire, we might just have annoyed a few people.

Also, when it is rugby, football, and cricket, they are supposed to be OUR sports. Of course people like to beat us at them.

[-]

BlackJackSackIcePack@reddit

The reason I get from my Scottish/Welsh friends is they seem to see the media focusing a lot on English teams and their performance in any tournament but I don't think it's anything that serious. More just light hearted ribbing

[-]

PleasantCucumber2615@reddit

How many people around the world actively pay to watch and attend the English Premier League on a regular basis?

Some don't like it, some do like it.

[-]

Cultural_Tank_6947@reddit

It's not really hatred, really it's just banter.

But it's typically sports else were invented in England (or Britain), so the English have always tried to portray themselves as the guardians of the game.

And then there's hilarity for the vast periods where England are not very good at those sports. Which happens from time to time.

[-]

When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' you may receive a ban for violating this rule.
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!

Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.