Dr Fergus Neville quoted in The National
Dr Fergus Neville on Scotland’s World Cup and the independence question.
Dr Fergus Neville, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Management at the University of St Andrews Business School, has been quoted in The National on whether Scotland’s return to the World Cup could shift support for independence.
Scotland will play at a World Cup for the first time in almost 30 years this weekend, and the first time since devolution. Speaking to the newspaper, Dr Neville, whose research focuses on social identities and the behaviour of crowds, described the link between sporting pride and political belief as a complicated one.
He explained that competing as Scotland rather than as part of the United Kingdom reinforces a separate national identity on the world stage and normalises the idea of Scotland as an independent entity. At the same time, he suggested that the freedom to express Scottishness through sport can work against the independence cause, since a restriction on self-expression is often one of the drivers of such movements.
Dr Neville pointed to a lack of firm evidence that pride in the national team and support for independence are intrinsically linked. He noted the political phenomenon of basking in reflected glory, where success on the pitch prompts more people to wear the national strip. Still, he said the evidence that this translates into political change is far weaker.
Read the full article: Can Scotland in the World Cup boost independence support? Experts weigh in in The National. The article is behind a paywall.