Nice young hoodies you are producing there Scotland :)

Pity the papers didn't report the story of two German Friends of mine who had to flee a pub in England in fear of their lives, because they went in wearing Germany shirts...

As a very proud Scotsman, such actions make me ashamed of calling myself Scottish. We should not judge ourselves by drawing comparisions with the English hooligans but rise above the stupidity that surrounds this game.
Because we do not regard our actions as bad the worst (and I do regard the English fans as being among the worst) does not mean that we call ourselves a civilised nation.

I'm a civilised person, what the bampots do does not reflect on me or on my country as they are bampots , the likes of which can be found all over the world , ewspecially in Bampotia.

Only bampots from other countries would read this story and think "scotland is full of bampots". If it worries you John you must be a bampot too. A bampot in denial.

Unacceptable behaviour by anyone's standards. But, as a resident in Devon I am continually teased for no more than having a Scottish accent (of which I am justifiably proud). Ok, not frightening nor threatning, but immensely tedious,and downright rude.The violence that the English inflict upon themselves through football is a regular occurrence- which may not be fully reported in the Scottish press.Further, perhaps if they gave us a break from their 1966 win, then we might wish their team well!

im an avid fan of david but i didnt do or say anything against his opponent..i do respect every opinions...i hope we should think for what other may feel bec theywere not the one who committed the same incidents done to them..

Already we're quickly seeing apologists for this disgraceful, racist kind of attack.

Of course not all Scots go around beating up seven year olds, the disabled, or the mentally handicapped for the terrible crime of wearing an England Shirt, in fact its probably a minority. But a majority probably do participate in creating a climate of hate towards the English which allows that violent minority to think that it is acceptable to indulge in such actions. Indeed we're quickly seeing this attitude by the "well England have some bad fans, so they deserve it really". I think that says a lot more about how far Scotland has to go before being a "modern, tolerant European nation" than anything else.

No Dave , what we are looking at here is teenagers behaving badly. SHOCK ! HORROR ! its never happened before !!

With a little twist from the media to make it topical.

Of course its not very nice. But what do you want me to do about it?

Last Post was supposed to read "an extremely tiny minority" rather than just minority.

Dave, dave, dave, dave, dave.

If scottish people hated english people as you say, there would be alot more beatings.
You have not mentioned that english people were beaten up for having an english accent, nor has it ever been mentioned in the news.
That's because scottish people, in the majority, don't hate english people.
You will find that scottish people don't like the yobs that carry out these beatings as much as any other person.

Stop living in denial would be a start, because it leads me to think that a large number of Scots don't really care if they're countrymen attack the English or not. The forty year old who attacked a seven year old certainly wasn't a teenager having a bit of fun, nor are the old ladies who tell you to your face if you do some contract work in Scotland "that its more of the English, taking their jobs etc". Harmless banter, I suppose.

Nobody is living in "denial"! In fact, I've never been to that part of Africa in my life.

In this particular case, albeit very sad, is not indicative of the general malaise in Scotland. I agree with the other bloggers that in general, we are a peace loving group of people who sometimes get aggreived by our southern cousins but wouldn't wish a physical beating on them.

The English have enough problems of their own as they have just found out that they are closer to the Germans DNA wise than to any other group or sub group of people. Imagine how the little inglunders feel now that the last 2 world wars were fought against theri own DNA and blood!

Vinny,

I agree that most Scots aren't racist towards the English, but in my experience (and in fairness I did make an awful lot of Scottish Friends, who I treasure as great people) the number of Scots who at some stage just utter that little comment, or make that little joke, - forgetting for a moment I am not a Scot - is not an insignificant minority, they don't mean anything by it, perhaps not, its more out of habit, but its a bad one.

Its like a white man in a pub calling one of his (other white) friends a "stupid N****r" he doesn't mean anything more sinister, and has a lot of Black Friends himself, but it helps to validate existing prejudices of those who happen to over hear it. Its unneccessary and uncalled for. We're not completely humourless, jabbing your English mate about losing pathetically on penalties again is fine, roaring in triumph at a nation you have no other connection with for scoring against England, could lead to more sinister things.

I agree with Dave. Too many Scots have a massive chip on their shoulder about England and the English which manifests itself in thinly veiled insults, verbal abuse and, to a limited extent, in violence. It is futile denying it or making excuses about it. I hope I haven't in some way encouraged such behaviour through my portrayal of a certain historical figure in a movie I starred in.

Mel , the fact that you had to go and do it again in The Patriot , thats what bugs me man.

So some scots don't like english. so what.

Leave it Leave it. leave it.

Belgians dont like french dutch dont like belgians no neighbour likes germany , ad infinitum.

These are a coupleo of daft teenagers we're talking about here.

Leave it.

Yep, typical Scots apologism from you. Why the hell should it be left, when it blights many peoples lives, when homes and cars are vandalised because of it.

This isn't the seventies and it won't be left.

OKay , burst your blood vessels then , i can think of a million better lost causes to follow.

I ha dthe same thing in reverse in Bournemouth Dave.

When did Marie Apologise?

There is a difference between not liking your immediate neighbours and 40 yr old hitting a 7 yr old.
Making excuses for their actions is just as worrying to me as the actual offence itself.
Do you agree with a well known Judge several years ago?, After all they were asking for it by wearing an England top, weren't they!!!
How are the actions of one assault excusable when another is not? Neither is acceptable in any shape or form.

IM not saying they are excusable. I am saying that these were committed by teenagers , and Bigotry (for it is not racism as we are the same race) doesnt even come into it. Did they find the teenagers ? Are they getting prosecuted ?

"The attackers are said to be between 16 and 18 years old" .

No , they will probably not catch them based on that pathetic description. So a young boy has a sore face. BIG 'KIN DEAL. Im sure you've had one john and it didnt make the newspaper. Was it because you were fat , too skinny , ugly , etc etc. Would it be reported ? NO. This is only reported because the whole England shirt thing is popular in the media right now and idiots like you lap it up.

Have you even HEARD of Chris morris??

This English slurring of Scotland has been going on down the ages.70 years ago. an English paper printed a comment "Keep England for The English and send The Scots back to Scotland.Do you see Tony Blair wearing the Kilt in Parliment ??????? Grow up, and at least pretend to be civilized and have some common sense.There are faults on both sides of The Border,and name calling will not stop any tensions.You are in Britain,not Iraq,Iran, India Pakhistan, Afghanistan,or any part of Asia,or other part of the world where they cannot live in peace.This is 2006 NOT 1400. God Bless The Land of My Birth........SCOTLAND Smarten up Young Scots. Keep it a land to be proud of.

Bullies are everywhere, I hope they catch them and give them whatfor but let's face it this is a couple of cowards, with hoods over their face, picking on a lone boy. It happens, every day, the world over and we carry on about these things because there are so many things going on in this world that we have no control over we vent on something like this.

Hi Mel - of course you encouraged it - among the fanatical element - they are still painting their faces and crying out " Freedom". Is it true that the film - you know what, was shot in Ireland or was it just opened in Ireland.

Reading some of the comments on this page, especially that idiot Dave, you would think that if they catch these 2 'teenagers' they should be castrated. Jeez dont things like that happen anywhere else? An Arsenal fan getting beat up by Chelsea fans for instance to mention only one, or racial attacks on coloured people in England, Nah that never happens ya bunch of Numpties!!

Because it happens elsewhere then we should just accept it, where do you draw the line? Corruption in government, it happens in many countries across the world so that is okay. Police state, it happens in other countries so stop winging about it if it comes here.
Margaret is totally correct regarding the English historically slurring the Scots and even today, I believe that the British National Anthem used to have a verse in it which was rather derogatory towards the Scots before it became the British National Anthem.
However, things have moved on and the Scots should as well. We used to send children up chimneys; I hope you are not advocating that we go back to that!!
For that reason, the Scots must be seen to take such instances very seriously and do everything in their power to ensure that they do not happen again, as with any assault.

Of course I had my fair share of sore faces including when playing sports. However, I can say that I never got a sore face for wearing a Scotland top, which I did on frequent occasions (especially in 1990 when we won the Grand Slam) in my fourteen years of living in England.
I do not believe that we should accept such behaviour as outlined in this article and for this reason I welcome the publicity and hope that Scots around the world will unite in making sure such acts are not committed.
I would also like to think that the Scots jovial view that we support anyone who plays against England can be continued.
For me it is a joke and it is really good as it winds up my English friends and work colleagues.

Some yobs will pick any pretext to have a go .... I feel sorry for the youngster and it seems a shame that people can't wear what they want where they want. But, it is the way of the world now....... wrong clothes in the wrong place, colour of skin etc etc. The problem is that some people want to blame the victim of crime and not the perpretrators. This is as true if you get your house broken into or your car vandalised as it is for assaults against the person.

On a lighter note, I have a lot of cross border banter with my cousin in Scotland when the 6 nations comes round. He even sent me a Scottish rugby shirt when my son was born............. as I told him it makes a handy rag for washing the car with!!

Now for the brickbats!!!

Very good AJ. I remember a certain Mr Sugar saying something similar about a certain German player before resigning him several months later.
How did England get on at Murrayfield this year? You should keep the shirt for when you are next visiting your cousin in Scotland, otherwise some hoodies might take exception to your accent.
Some Scots might event think you were asking for it by talking with an English accent in Scotland!!!!

John @ 31

"How did England get on at Murrayfield this year?"

Don't tell me that............ do you think my cousin has let me hear the end of it yet? I've never had so many emails from him ..........about broken chariots, England's grand slam express derailed at Murrayfield etc, and some which are not even printable in a family newspaper. Still, revenge is a dish best eaten cold as the say.........