A HOTEL responsible for a #AnyoneButEngland poster in a North Lanarkshire town says it is supposed to be "a bit tongue in cheek".
The World Cup poster has been a talking point since it was put up on a Wishaw advertising hoarding.
It features the World Cup Trophy and the hashtag #AnyonebutEngland.
Some locals have even cheekily speculated it is a PR stunt to get extra custom.
Now the Commercial Hotel in the town has owned up for being responsible for the poster and a spokesman said: “This isn't meant to be taken seriously.
Safe to say my mum doesn’t want England to win the World Cup, she’s went and bought all of England’s group stage opponents flags 😂😂 🏴 #AnyoneButEngland pic.twitter.com/xX0qNNoz2M
— Wiff. (@JordanWiffin97) June 7, 2018
"It's purely just to get people talking and being interested in the World Cup. Even if the Scotland team isn't there, it doesn't mean people can't come out and watch the matches and support any team they want to win.
"Many of our customers are England fans and they will receive a warm welcome when they come in to watch their team play”.
It's not the first time Scots have taken an anti-England stance when it comes to big tournaments.
- READ MORE: Wishaw hosts #AnyoneButEngland World Cup ad
It is either a natural expression of friendly rivalry with one's near-neighbours or a necessary corrective to the perceived arrogance of an English-dominated media, which appears not to be able to discuss a soccer tournament without copious references to Bobby Moore and 1966.
But to plenty of England fans, the phenomenon is an unseemly grudge-fuelled display of bitterness by those with an inferior international record.
When Dunblane-born former tennis world number one Andy Murray, said that he would be supporting anyone other than England in the 2006 World Cup, he faced an angry backlash from English Wimbledon fans who wondered why they, in turn, should be expected to support him.
Murray insisted his remarks had been taken out of context, and had only been part of friendly banter with Tim Henman, his English predecessor at the summit of UK tennis.
The rivalry has historically also made it onto record.
- READ MORE: Wishaw hosts #AnyoneButEngland World Cup ad
Andy Cameron's Ally's Tartan Army World Cup song in 1978 contained the famous line: "We're representing Britain; we've got to do or die, for England cannae dae it 'cause they didnae qualify."
England's first World Cup game is against Tunisia on June 18.
#anyonebutengland Well played The Commercial Wishaw 😁👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/U12zd6p8v6
— Colin Baxter (@c17bax) June 6, 2018
It's the Commercial in Wishaw. This will be their PR building up to get folk in for the World Cup. Needless to say its full of young kids mainly. Tam Parks is the Best pub just up the road 👍🏼
— Andrew McCoist (@McCoistAndy) June 7, 2018
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