ANDY MURRAY IS NOT ELIGIBLE TO VOTE ON SCOTTISH REFERENDUM / BUT FINALLY MAKES A COMMENT VIA SOCIAL MEDIA

Written by: Staff on 8th September 2014

ANDY MURRAY IS NOT ELIGIBLE TO VOTE ON SCOTTISH REFERENDUM / BUT FINALLY MAKES A COMMENT VIA SOCIAL MEDIA

epa04383234 Andy Murray of Great Britain reacts as he plays Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their quarterfinals round match on the tenth day of the 2014 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 03 September 2014. The US Open runs through 08 September, a 15-day schedule. EPA/DANIEL MURPHY |

Andy Murray will not be going to the polls today as his long-term residence in England means he does not get a vote in the historic Scottish referendum on whether to secede from the United Kingdom. But the former Wimbledon and US Open champion did a last minute U turn on his stance of not getting involved in politics by taking to Twitter and Facebook to reveal his support for independence.

Just hours before voting was due to begin, at 1 a.m. British summer time, Murray announced to his to his 2.7 million followers on social media that ‘negativity’ from the Better Together campaign made his mind up.

Murray, always fiercely proud of his heritage and nationality despite living south of the border for nearly ten years, wrote: “Huge day for Scotland today! The ‘No’ campaign negativity last few days totally swayed my view on it. Excited to see the outcome. Let’s do this!”

The Murray family has long been thought of as supporters of the campaign to give Scotland independence but up to the early hours of polling day, Andy publicly maintained a non-committed attitude in fear of public backlash south of the border.

He previously admitted he believed it best to keep his view on politics to himself as previous comments had “caused me a headache … and a lot of abuse”. And he also previously expressed his admiration for staunch No supporter, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

But earlier this week elder brother Jamie, also an English resident, came out in his support for Scottish independence.

Mother Judy, Britain’s Fed Cup captain, has also made it plain she believes Scottish independence is the way forward. However they were aghast that Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond used the All England Club’s Centre Court Royal Box as a political platform when he unfurled a Scottish saltire flag in the wake of Andy’s 2013 Wimbledon singles title victory.

Murray’s announcements on social media received mixed reactions from his fans.

One wrote: “Aw nice one Andy! Left it a wee bit late there, could you not have come out a bit sooner”

While one follower from the No side said: “Disappointed in you Andy, you may have just swayed the undecided.”

Andy Murray of Great Britain hits a return to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their quarterfinals round match on the tenth day of the 2014 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 03 September 2014. The US Open runs through 08 September, a 15-day schedule. EPA/JASON SZENES

Topics: Andy Murray, Facebook, Judy Murray, Scottish referendum, Tennis, Twitter

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10sBalls_com says:

September 18, 2014 at 11:21 am

@andy_murray IS NOT ELIGIBLE TO #VOTE ON #ScottishReferendum / BUT FINALLY MAKES A #COMMENT VIA #socialmedia- http://t.co/MMuS0NYhtk #tennis