Bookies are offering odds on Scotland meeting arch rivals England days before the independence referendum.
The national football team is facing the prospect of being paired with top seeds England in next Sunday’s Euro 2016 draw.
The first round of qualifiers will be played just over a week before the crunch September 18 poll and for the first time UEFA is using a computer to decide the order in which the matches are played.
This throws up the prospect of the first competitive Auld Enemy clash since 1999 with UEFA last night confirming there will be no changes to the fixtures allowed.
Ladbrokes are offering odds of the two teams meeting of 7/1 and further odds of 4/1 for the great rivals contesting the first qualifying game.
Tartan Army footsoldiers are being offered odds of 20/1 for the double “Yes”, Scotland beating England and a “Yes” vote in the referendum. By contrast, the bookmaker is offering 4/6 for the double “No”, an England win and a majority in favour of keeping the Union.
SNP insiders admit that the prospect of the game, coupled with England appearing at this year’s World Cup Finals, “could help sway the vote” if the opinion polls continue to tighten.
Alex Donohue of Ladbrokes said: “It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that we end up with the best-timed England v Scotland game in history.”
The draw for Euro 2016, which will take place in Nice in the south of France, will see England seeded in the top pot with Scotland among the fourth seeds. In previous years the teams in each group negotiated in which order the games would be played but UEFA has done away with that process and made it entirely random.
Assuming England and Scotland are paired and face each other in the first match, Ladbrokes are offering different odds depending on where the game is played.
If it is at Wembley then punters can get 4/6 for an England win and ‘no’ outcome in the referendum, while a Scotland win and ‘yes’ outcome is being offered at 50/1.
If the game is played in Scotland, and it would not be at Hampden because the stadium will still be out of action following the Commonwealth Games, then odds of 6/5 are being offered for a England win and “No” outcome.
By contrast, a Scotland win and “Yes” outcome is 20/1.
SNP MEP Alyn Smith said: “Scotland v England will always be a hotly contested game, as we saw last August at Wembley. However, regardless of the outcome of any such game I don’t think it will have much impact on the referendum result. Talking to people on the doorsteps and high streets, it’s clear to see that they are concerned about the economy, cuts to welfare, jobs and a government that Scotland didn’t vote for.”
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Football Association declined to comment.
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