Rangers win would be next best thing to Scotland v. England

Everyone seems to have an opinion right now about Rangers FC. Throughout the footballing world, fans with little to no experience of the team are filling their pub talk and blog posts with conversation about “anti-football”. Celtic fans are, of course, eating it up, while Rangers fans are defending themselves, saying that an ugly European final is a European final nonetheless. For me, the UEFA Cup final raises a different possibility – that of resurrecting, if only by proxy, the oldest rivalry in football.

Scotland v. England. It was the first international game. In fact, it was the fixture for the first five international matches, before we let the Welsh play, and it’s all been downhill since then. Just kidding. Still, all of the nations that claim to have rivalries with England (France, Germany, Argentina, etc) have to get in line, because we were here first, and Scotland will always lay claim to the oldest rivalry – that of the so-called “Auld enemies”.

If Rangers win the UEFA Cup, whether by a sudden explosion of offense or their tried-and-true (and incredibly dull) defensive lockdown, it will not only mean the first European trophy for Scotland since Aberdeen’s 1983 Cup Winners’ Cup. It will also mean that Rangers will get a chance to take on the Champions League winner, either Manchester United or Chelsea, in this year’s UEFA Super Cup.

Of course, the rivalry would be better represented by a team with a bit less Unionist of a fan base. All those Union Jacks in the crowd will just confuse the Mancunians or Londonites. But it will still, at least on paper, be Scotland and England, and our long sad rivalry drought will get a wee drip of rain, just enough to keep us going.