Wimbledon preparing for final outing of annual ‘Murray reverts to being Scottish after he loses’ joke

Just give it time…

Wimbledon organisers are preparing for the end of an era this fortnight, as looming independence for Scotland has the unintended effect that everyone’s favourite joke about Andy Murray may not work any more.

The traditional “Andy Murray reverts to being Scottish” joke has been sighted every year since the plucky Scotsman first began losing at Wimbledon. The joke is a clever play on the fact that prior to losing, Murray is often referred to in the media as ‘British’, but after being defeated he is likely to be labelled ‘Scottish’, which is so amusing that pointing it out never gets tiresome.

It is traditional to wait several minutes after Murray is knocked out of Wimbledon before posting the joke on Facebook. Over the last few years, the joke has been ingeniously tweaked and subtly twisted to maintain its freshness, as seen in recent outings: “Murray reverts to being Scottish” (2012), “Murray reverts to being Scottish” (2011) and “Murray reverts to being Scottish” (2010).

Last year, the brave Scot ruined the joke altogether by inconsiderately not getting knocked out of Wimbledon at all – an unforeseen event which had internet jesters completely at a loss. This time, though, Murray has promised to be funnier than ever.

However mirthfully he plays, however, it is unlikely that he will be able to top Roy Hodgson’s recent quip that the England football team will emerge from the World Cup “better and stronger”.