WHAT place links Rabbie Burns and football? A surprising question that has an unusual answer. It is the city of Seville, in Spain. Capital of Andalusia: the southernmost region of Spain. This connection was born out of the cultural and scientific genius of the Scots.
In the 19th century, if you needed to give your nation a scientific or academic boost, you most likely called on the Scots. Scots engineers for your ports, factories, railways and mines. Scots to educate your children. Scots to found your schools. And though you did not realise it: what you really, really wanted was Association Football.
For those of you who have no obvious interest in football, let me bless you with one crucial idea. Without the people of this intelligent nation, we would not have the world’s most influential sporting phenomenon. Football is Scotland’s game. It is Scottish culture in pure, sporting form. It has been played for at least 500 years in every part of the country. Like architecture, painting, music or any other of the high arts, football tells the world, who we are.
