Brand dateline — Anyone But England · abutengland.com. By Hamish McTavish
You already know the letters. ABE. Three of them, worn on a chest in a pub when the other lot are still in the tournament and yours are already on the beach. What you might not have is a clean answer when somebody asks, with a face like a closed door, what it *means*.
Here is the short one, then the long one.
ABE means Anyone But England. Not Aberdeen. Not a secret manifesto. Not a policy paper. Anyone But England — the football habit, among Scots and other Celtic-nation neutrals (and plenty of banter merchants further afield), of backing whoever is lined up against the England national side when your own team is not there. That is the whole of the acronym. If a shop assistant, a search box, or a well-meaning uncle expands it any other way, correct them gently and move on.
The cultural meaning, not the lecture
Football invents tribes. It always has. A Celtic supporter does not suddenly become a Rangers man because the fixtures have gone European. A Liverpool supporter does not wish Manchester United well in a Champions League night out of neighbourly kindness. The Scotland–England rivalry is older than almost every other international fixture on the planet — the first official meeting was in 1872 — and Anyone But England sits inside that same tribal logic. It is rivalry with a sense of humour, not a referendum.
BBC Magazine put the phrase under the lamp in 2010, when World Cup season always brings the argument out of the cupboard. Tartan Army voices there described it as club-level rivalry scaled up: no automatic animosity toward English people as people; a great deal of pleasure when the neighbouring national side trips over its own hype. RTE and others have since framed the same habit as *disidentification* — the active pleasure of saying who you are *not* for ninety minutes. Academics can keep the jargon. In the pub it is simpler: when Scotland are out, and England are still in, a lot of Scots will cheer the other shirt.
That does not make every Scot an ABE voter. Plenty of Scots will back England. Plenty will shrug. Plenty have English partners, English kids, English workmates, and will watch a quarter-final without wishing anybody harm. The point of the phrase is not that it is compulsory. The point is that it is *allowed*. Nobody lectures an England fan into supporting Scotland for the good of the island. Reciprocity works both ways, or it does not work at all.
What winds people up (and what does not)
The honest fuel is often the coverage, not the players. Tournament after tournament, the same loop: England expects; 1966 on a loop; the rest of the home nations treated as warm-up acts or afterthoughts. You do not need a politics degree to feel your shoulders rise when a presenter talks as if the whole of Britain has a single team and a single anthem for the night. ABE, for many, is the corrective laugh — the underdog reflex — when the media temperature climbs past the actual form of the side.
What ABE is *not*, on this site, is a political treatise. We are not here to settle the constitution, the West Lothian question, or anybody's family WhatsApp. We are here for the football nights that made the banter durable: Scotland at Wembley when the world champions were supposed to stroll it; Argentina at the Azteca when one man scored two of the most famous goals in the game four minutes apart; Iceland in Nice when a number on a shirt became a punchline. Rivalry is the frame. The matches are the evidence.
ABE as a brand — abutengland.com
On abutengland.com, Anyone But England is also a brand name with a job to do. The pub-wall collects famous England-defeat nights. The Tape — this blog — tells them in Herald voice without inventing scores. The shop sells street tees that celebrate those nights without dressing up as official kit or borrowing anybody's protected marks.
That last part matters. We do not reproduce official association crests or marks. We do not pretend a banter tee is a licensed replica. If you want the story of a particular print, read the night first, then decide if the shirt earns a place in the drawer. The Hand of God tee exists because 22 June 1986 still needs no introduction among people who enjoy watching England leave a tournament earlier than planned. The wall exists because 15 April 1967 still needs no introduction among people who know what unofficial world champions means in a Scottish living room.
So when we say ABE, we mean:
1. The habit — backing anyone but England in the big tournaments when Scotland (or your own side) are done.
2. The rivalry frame — Auld Enemy football culture, banter-first, facts sacred.
3. This site — Anyone But England on abutengland.com: events, The Tape, and the shop.
Three layers. One acronym. No Aberdeen. No lectures in the dressing room.
How to wear it without being a bore
Banter has rules, even when it pretends not to. Wish no English *person* harm. Do not confuse a football shirt with a census form. Do not invent scorelines to win an argument — the real ones are good enough. And if somebody asks what the letters stand for, give them the clean answer and point them at a night that explains the grin better than a slogan ever will.
Start with Auld Enemy: a short history if you want the rivalry primer. Start with Unofficial world champions if you want the night England's World Cup winners found out about Jim Baxter. Or go straight to the shop if you already know which night you are celebrating and only need the cotton.
Anyone But England. That is what it means. The rest is ninety minutes, a pub television, and the small merciful pleasure of watching the neighbours discover humility again.
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If the phrase already lives on your tongue, it can live on a tee. Street prints only — no official marks — at abutengland.com/shop.
FAQ
What does ABE stand for?
ABE stands for Anyone But England. On this site and in Scottish football banter, that is the only expansion we use.
Is Anyone But England political?
Not here. ABE on abutengland.com is football rivalry and banter culture — who you cheer when your own team is out — not a political programme.
Is ABE only a Scottish thing?
It is strongest in Scottish (and wider Celtic-nation) football culture, but neutrals elsewhere use the same habit. The brand here is Anyone But England for people who enjoy those nights.
Does supporting ABE mean hating English people?
No. Rivalry with a national football team is not a character reference on your neighbour. Most Tartan Army voices describe it as tribal banter, the same way club fans want their rivals to lose in Europe.
Where can I buy Anyone But England merch?
Street tees and related kit live at abutengland.com/shop. Story posts on The Tape explain the nights behind the prints.