Does sport matter to people? More specifically, do they treat it as a carrier for local and national feeling? In this chapter, we will explore the sociological significance of sport, particularly in Scotland. More specifically, we will ask:

• Does sport matter in Scotland? Do Scots really care?
• Is sport ‘war minus the shooting’, as George Orwell claimed?
• What is the connection between identity, both national and local, and sport?
• Are Scots ‘ninety minute nationalists’? What, if any, is the connection between sport and politics?
• Has the connection between sport and nation/locality been lost as a result of ‘globalisation’?