The 'strange, anomalous, anachronistic' Commonwealth Games

Glasgow's Commonwealth Games celebrate the British Empire while poking fun at every turn By Jon Healy in Glasgow Topic: Commonwealth Games

That's the three-star review of Nelson Mandela Place in Glasgow by someone named Katie Nicholson on Google.

Katie isn't entirely wrong. A statue for the freedom fighter and former South African president is set to be unveiled in October, but for now there's not a whole lot to see at the spot, listed as a tourist attraction on Google Maps.

But the couple of street signs tacked to buildings on West George Street, not far from the city centre, sit as an elegant and understated middle finger to apartheid South Africa.

In 1986, while Mandela was still in prison on Robben Island, the Glasgow City Council changed the name of St George's Place to Nelson Mandela Place.

It meant that the South African consulate under the then-ruling National Party was forced not only to see the name of one of their chief antagonists as they entered the Stock Exchange building every day, but also send out correspondence bearing his name.

They opted to use a PO Box address before moving from the location in the early 90s.

After Mandela was released, he came to the city to thank the people for their solidarity in 1993.

"While we were physically denied our freedom in the country of our birth, a city 6,000 miles away, and as renowned as Glasgow, refused to accept the legitimacy of the apartheid system, and declared us to be free."

That cry of freedom is as synonymous with the Scottish as it is with Mandela himself.

So, how does a celebration of this Commonwealth sit with a city and country that has always had a fraught relationship with oppressors generally and the English specifically?

Tennis great Andy Murray once perplexed some (read: Americans) less au fait with the unique rivalries within the UK when he was asked who he'd be supporting at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and replied: "Anyone but England."

Scotland isn't on its own in this regard.

In the Ashes last summer, Australia's injury-plagued men's Test team scored a triumphant professional 4-1 victory, but more Australian joy was derived from watching another epic capitulation of an England team that had declared itself the saviour of Test cricket, teaching us all how to entertain, if not actually win much of anything .

We cheered every humiliating faceplant and fumble at least as much as we celebrated the all-time world-class performances of Travis Head and Mitchell Starc.

The recently completed World Cup was another reminder of the collective glee shared by so many in watching England stumble.

There's just something about the schadenfreude for Scots, Aussies and dozens of other nations in watching England lose.

Sure, you've got the Parthenon Sculptures and Rosetta Stone, but we've got Ellyse Perry and Steve Smith.

"There is this standard, reflexive idea of that they would prefer almost everybody to win other than England, as the most powerful part of the United Kingdom," Western Sydney University emeritus professor of culture and research David Rowe told ABC Sport.

"I think for some people it's serious, for some people it's just a bit of fun."

There are jokes to be made, but also reflections on the very real subjugation that went on for centuries, and arguably only ended in 1997 when Hong Kong gained its independence.

This celebration of empire remains a peculiarity as calls grow to decolonise our language and our lives.

For a perfect example, the Parthenon Sculptures mentioned earlier are more famously known as the Elgin Marbles, named for the lord who nicked them from Greece and brought them back to Old Blighty at the start of the 19th century.

"I mean, the Commonwealth of Nations is, let's face it, anachronistic," Rowe said.

"There are people who … don't know much about it or, if they schooled up on it, educated themselves about it, would realise that this is an anachronistic organisation based on an empire that no longer technically exists."

Although, many in the still-constituent Scotland would tell you the legacy, if not the actuality, of the empire remains in many ways.

"There are plenty of people in Scotland, including its leading Scottish National Party, who really would prefer to separate from the United Kingdom and who are mightily displeased by Brexit," said Rowe, a sports sociologist who consulted on the Glasgow Life team tasked with helping boost the city's standing on the global sporting stage.

"There are plenty of Scots who felt a greater affinity with the European Union than with England."

At the opening ceremony of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, King Charles III and Queen Camilla were warmly welcomed by the packed crowd at Glasgow's Hydro, perhaps surprisingly considering the same crowd's hearty refrains of Flower of Scotland barely an hour later.

The Scottish anthem retells Robert the Bruce's legendary victory over King Edward II of England at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

The thrust of the rousing choon, and Scotland's identity more broadly, is about how this small but mighty land of hard folk repelled the crown time and again on the back of sheer grit and pride.

So ingrained in their identity is sticking it to the English that, instead of tearing down statues of old royals and dignitaries like the Duke of Wellington, they have simply given up on removing the traffic cones placed on his head.

And yet, twice in the past 12 years, Glasgow has gone out of its way to host what is correctly dubbed the Friendly Games, welcoming dozens of nations whose primary unifying theme is that they were once conquered by the "bastards" from that anthem.

"It does strike me as something of an irony that it's not that very long ago that Scotland had a referendum to sever its ties with the United Kingdom and the British Crown, and now it's hosting a Commonwealth Games," Rowe said.

"I think it's having a bit of fun, all the kilts and all the Scottish culture, reminding people that Scotland h...

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