Yes, this is common, but there’s no Scotland-Argentina connection. The Wales-Argentina connections are deep, and historically they’ve been an issue between the UK and Argentina, though again as far as I’m aware the connections have all been pretty positive since about WWII. But there was serious concern for a while that Britain would pull a Malvinas in Patagonia, too, when it wasn’t definitively and sustainably integrated into Argentina. There’s an English connection too (British in Southern Patagonia: historical summary) but it’s more historical, as I’m not aware of any further ties between Patagonia and the Falklands or England. (There might be some; it’s not like I would be aware).
Regarding the legality of the attack on the Belgrano:
According to Wikipedia, the UK informed Argentina 9 days before the attack that their Exclusion Zone was null and void. Any Argentine naval vessel could be targeted.
Also, the captain of the Belgrano publicly recognized that the attack was a legal act of war.
This myth just won’t die.
In 2003, the ship’s captain Hector Bonzo confirmed that General Belgrano had actually been manoeuvering, not “sailing away” from the exclusion zone.[29] Captain Bonzo stated that any suggestion that HMS Conqueror’s actions were a “betrayal” was utterly wrong; rather, the submarine carried out its duties according to the accepted rules of war.[30] In an interview two years before his death in 2009, he further stated that: “It was absolutely not a war crime. It was an act of war, lamentably legal.”[31]
My younger sister lives in Wales, is married to a Welshman. She said (repeated) last week that they always shout for whichever team is playing against England in any sporting competition (especially Rugby).
Our brother - also English born - is married to a Norwegian (he’s dual nationality). My Norwegian nephews and nieces were also supporting Norway last week, of course, but they were much more diplomatic. They shouted for England against Argentina.
Incidentally, my nephew-in-law is dual Argentinian/Mexican, married to my Norwegian niece, but I don’t think he got much choice in who to support. We have interesting family reunions!
That Wales roots against England frequently is true, but irrelevant to the thread. That’s UK-internal, and similar for Scotland etc. That Wales is both in the UK but maintains a cultural connection to part of Argentina due to a 150-year-old shared history is the relevant bit.
My point in bringing it up was that the UK-Argentina friction over territory isn’t limited to the Falklands in the 19th & early 20th centuries. For Argentina’s first century of independence, it was still competing for territory with other colonial and post-colonial powers (e.g. Chile).
I brought it up because most people either don’t know about Britain’s colonial presence on mainland South America, or else think it’s limited to British Guyana.
The Welsh people I know, including my wife, her family, and friends just over the border (5 miles away) were actually supporting England in this WC, and certainly not Argentina. Now rugby is a completely different story…
Yes, it really gets our backs up and stiffens national resolve that Argentina can F-Off. We find it insulting when ‘our boys’ had to die to defend the islands from a ridiculous invasion.
These days, most British people are rightly embarrassed by our colonial history and happy to hand back whatever lands to whoever wants them, but the Falklands War and - more importantly - Argentina’s persistent use of the football stage to bring it up has really hardened opinion around something we would have had no opinion about in 1981.
There were British forts in what became Oregon and Washington state as well. Vancouver Washington was originally Fort Vancouver, a British fort and headquarters of the Columbia Department. At one point Britain claimed the Columbia River as the border between US and British territories. The US claimed 54 degrees 40 minutes as the boundary. They compromised at teh 49th parallel (except Vancouver Island was all British).
Thank you, @Frodo , for posting this. I have always gotten what is mainly the British side, and never heard the Argentine side. It’s long been my opinion that there are three sides to any dispute, but your explanation helped me see a different perspective. I have no dog in this fight, but can appreciate it from a distance much more fairly.