Fan struggles to explain Scottish roots to Germans

Paul McKenna (second right) said he had been mixing with fans from other countries at the tournament

A football fan who lives in the middle of England has told how trying to make Germans understand why he supported Scotland at Euro 2024 had proved difficult.

Trade union official Paul McKenna, 56, has travelled from his home in Corby, Northamptonshire, with friends to follow Scotland's progress in the 2024 European football championships in Germany.

He said German fans struggled to understand that Corby was known as "little Scotland" because of its historical Scottish links.

Mr McKenna, who was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, and moved to Corby as a child, said he was one of thousands of Scotland fans in Corby.

'Steelworks'

Corby has been known as "little Scotland" since scores of Scots migrated south to work in the town's steelworks 90 years ago.

The association began when Glasgow-based Stewarts & Lloyds constructed one of the UK's largest steelworks in Corby in the 1930s.

That led to an influx of Scots. By 1961, a third of Corby's population had been born in Scotland, according to census figures.

With them came Scottish traditions, dialect and culture.

An estimated 200,000 Scotland fans have travelled to Germany

Mr McKenna, a Celtic fan, regularly watches Scotland internationals with fellow Scottish friends from Corby.

He said it had been hard to make German fans understand Corby's Scottish links to German fans.

"It has been a struggle trying to explain," said Mr McKenna, an official with the Community Union and secretary of the Grampian Club in Corby.

"They struggle to understand the concept. I suspect a lot of people in England don't understand either.

"But even though I've lived most of my life in Corby, I'm a Scot.

"I would say there are thousands of Scotland fans in Corby. We've seen some of them out here."