13-year-old Errald Davies, who won bronze in the 100m breaststroke final

Published: 14 August, 2014
by STEVE BARNETT

WITH the Scottish independence referendum just over a month away, I got to thinking how if the yes-voters get their way, soon the only thing that will really unite this tiny island of ours will be sport. 

What made me come to such an odd conclusion on an otherwise quiet Tuesday evening, I hear you cry? Well, it was Gareth Bale’s fault. 

The Welsh wizard returned to Cardiff to help Spanish giants Real Madrid win the Super Cup, courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Sevilla. When I say help, I don’t mean he came off the bench in the 89th minute to run the clock down – I mean he was arguably the second best player on the pitch. Second only to two-goal hero Cristiano Ronaldo, a cross that almost all modern day footballers (bar Lionel Messi) have to bare. 

Perhaps because of his seemingly modest nature, or the fact that football fans in the UK don’t really watch La Liga, Bale doesn’t always get the credit he deserves. But the once-jinxed left-back has become a Galactico in his own right and, week in, week out, is convincing fans all over the globe that the United Kingdom is capable of producing world-class players. And I’m sure we can all agree that that’s a good thing. 

Bale, however, is just one example. 

Are you really going to tell me that if you’re English, Scottish or Welsh you wouldn’t be proud if Northern Ireland’s Rory Mcllroy topples Americans Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods? When the delighted golfer won the US PGA Championship this week I can assure you I felt pride, and my roots take me back to Charleville, a little town in County Cork. 

Then there were the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, a competition designed to ignite our rivalries in a bid to top the podium. 

Yet, when my colleague Richard Osley dared to criticise the Games for being boring, I received emails for weeks from furious readers united in their belief that the showpiece had been a tremendous success. 

I can assure you that in years to come, when you see what will then be old footage of 13-year-old Errald Davies winning bronze in the 100m breaststroke final, you won’t be thinking “but she was Scottish”. 

Likewise, if and when you see repeats of 16-year-old gymnast Claudia Fragapane becoming the first English woman to win four Golds at one Commonwealth Games in 84 years. 

When you see sporting moments like these you don’t get caught up in where they’re from, you don’t care. You’re too busy smiling in awe, and marvelling at the wonder of what has just unfolded in front of your very eyes.