"Strange Bedfellows" - Sandi Shaw, 1988

The World Cup is coming up. I can't wait!

I was running a couple of training courses in London last week, and several of my students and I began talking about the upcoming World Cup matches during Tuesday's lunch break. One of the delegates was another American living in the UK (like me) and married to a British citizen (like me). He's from South Dakota and is living in Edinburgh with his Scottish wife -- whom he met in Australia, by the way, but that's another story!

Anyway, the student told me something very funny. Football (soccer) fans in Scotland are supporting the national team from Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago? Yup. He said you see their team items being worn by people all over the Scotland. He also told me that you can't buy a Trinidad and Tobago team shirt for love nor money in any shop in Edinburgh right now. Scottish shops imported tons of them, and they are now all sold out!

Why?

Well, Scotland didn't make the World Cup. England did. Many Scottish people don't like the English and make no bones about their lack of support for England. So they looked for an alternative national team to support. There are 6 Scottish-based players on the Trinidad and Tobago team...in other words, these six and guys from Trinidad and Tobago play professional football for Scottish clubs. And Trinidad and Tobago are in Group B, along with England, so they'll be immediate and direct competitors with the English national team.

So that explains it!

I just found a UPI article about the Scottish support for Trinidad and Tobago. I hadn't heard anything about this in the British press until my student told me last week. How amusing!

Strange bedfellows indeed.

Janet