Just read on sky sports news that Alex ferguson and harry redknaps names are being thrown about as possible managers for the GB team at 2012 now i know the the English FA are the only Association that are interested but with the PM Mr Broon and the right honourable "golden balls" Beckham jumping on the band wagon surely its only a matter of time before we fold.

If Scotland does not want independence then its rights to an independent, recognised footballing body ought to be waived.
If in the UK, Team UK all the way.

Baws.

I think the Renfrewshire FA should be given the right to field international teams, even though "Renfrewshire" as an entity is not an independent nation: if Scotland etc can do so why shouldn't Renfrewshire?
Create your own international FA and send it to FIFA for recognition today!

No. Keep things the way they are.

Ultimately, yes, I support it. It's an odd situation that we field a team for virtually every other sport accept the most popular one in the country.

As for a stepping stone to a UK national team replacing the Home Nations, not a chance. It's completely unrealistic, and assurances have been given by FIFA that it will not happen. It seems to me that is just a lot of scaremongering.



Why? It's an anomaly, of course, but it is historically justified and hardly harming anybody. People quite enjoy it an it enables a bit of intra-UK rivalry on the football field.



Well, for one they'd get gubbed, but more importantly: it was the Scottish and English sides that founded 'international' football, it was not a concession given to them.

Ultimately it might be entertaining to field a British team for certain events and the like, rather than having a permanent one, but I wouldn't like to see the Home Nations' teams disappear.

I see you've grasped my point.
Surely Catalonia etc should have this anomaly extended to themselves also?
I'm not a believer in precedent dictating the modern game - it is indeed an anomaly and I would hope that it would be ironed out accordingly.
This of course is in the event of the UK existing, but I personally believe in independence where such an issue would not exist.

Theres already innumerate threads on this for you to speak drivel in, numbnuts.

I think you'll find no-one else is "speaking".

If a Team GB is made for the Olympics, it's only a matter of time until FIFA force us to unite for 'real' football. Anyway, if FIFA forced us to play as Team GB I would never watch football again.

Thats about the size of it.

There is no chance in hell of seeing a team GB football team. The SFA the Welsh FA and the Northern Irish FA pulled out! If there is a Team GB football team you will be watching England.

Sir Alex Ferguson has already dismissed any chance of him being team GB manager.

f**k LONDON 2012!

No Scottish player would get in it anyway.

CODE - No Rangers player would get in it anyway

See if it wasnt for the Scottish and Englisdh national teams...there would be NO international football. We started it.
If and when Renfrewshire has its own distinct legal system, its own education system, its own distinct political structure....then hell yes it should certainly be allowed to compete at the Olympics.....though I am yet to see the RNP completely humiliate Labour at a by elecction in a Labour stronghold ??

See your just talking pash there. Blatter has made it quite clear that if we do participate he will not stop the African and North American nations petitoning against UK unification.The only thing that stopped it in the past was David Will and he is no longer there now. If you are going to contribute to a debate at least look at the facts before you haver utter nonsense.

What the hell does "jeprodise" mean?

Wow, the SFA pull out! If a Scottish player really wants to play in it, they will play in it whatever the SFA say!

why not?

theres a scottish football league

and an english football league

having a UK team in the olympics aint gonna change that

who knows we might even win..

i think its a great idea
i will be selling team gb t-shirts in macedonia for 10 quid
pm me if you want one put aside

If any Scottish player plays in a team not recognised by the SFA I would hope that SFA would promptly exclude that player from ever playing for Scotland. Anyway why would any Scottish player want to play for another country apart from McGeadie of course.

Ooooooh, no chance of any of you sheep getting a game either

I was dead against it for ages, but I'm slowly coming round to the idea of a Great Britain team purely as a one-off for the 2012 Olympics. I wouldn't like us to lose our identity in the long run, but a one-off team would be good I think.

The one concern I have, I must admit, is the likelihood that it would be flooded by English players, ignoring the talents that Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish players have. Let's not forget, the English players are the best in the world, in the eyes of the media down south.

Whether or not, Sir Alex would do it is another issue as he'll be 70 then, but he is the best candidate for the job. I cannae see him working with Beckham though

Couldn't give a monkeys about the Olympics, but I can understand why young GB players want the chance to represent their country at one.

I think it is a good idea.

I dont believe that Football should be an Olympic sport

Certainly not with professionals participating.

Agreed.

Given it is though, I don't have a problem with a GB team, and I don't have any issue at all if all the players turned out to be English.

It would be pretty difficult to objectively decide who the best 22 Under 23s were in the UK.

As with the British Lions, it would probably be up to the personal views of the coach chosen as much as anything.

Show us where Blatter said this.

Terrible idea. I doubt a truly British team will ever happen because I don't think the SFA will allow it and the Welsh and Northern Irish haven't been positive about it either. 

 

You only get a squad of 18 at the Olympics of which only 15 of which have to be under 23. 

Yes, well the point still stands. It would be difficult to compare the respective quality of NI, W, E and S players.

It would be expected that the majority would be from the largest country, with a few chucked in from the others.

I've been cheering on Team GB and would love to a member of Team GB in any sport. FIFA have already said that it won't affect our Scottish National Team - so why not get us another Gold medal but this time in our national sport. If your British, and a footballer then you should have the right to represent Britain at the Olympic Games.

I think all sports should be represented at the Olympics, from tennis to golf to vollyball to football.

For the Olympics we are part of Team GB, Chris Hoy may be Scottish but he trains in England at facilities that would not have been available to him if we had a Scottish team so I don't see the problem in having a Team GB football team.

....and if that leads to a Team GB entering the World Cup, then I'm fine with that.

I concur.The Olympics are insignificant in terms of footballing prestige.
Olympic football merely detracts from other sports to which participation in the Olympics is integral for exposure, and subsequently it could be said that Olmypic football prevents the amelioration of some lesser known sports.

I don't really have a problem with a team GB for the Olympic football. It's a major event in the Olympic games and attracts huge worldwide viewing figures, something often forgotten in this country as it's not often broadcast here.

Would look a bit daft if the nations that invented football hosted this tournament and declined to take part.

Indeed. There would be a lot of problems with "political selection" with different sides saying players were picked for nationality rather than ability or even just accusations of that.



Olympic football is not insignificant. It is by far the most important tournament after the World Cup in terms of the numbers who care about it. It's not considered that important in the UK because we can't compete in it but in Africa, Asia, a lot of Europe and North and South America the Olympics are massively important. 

Rubbish. The football is one of the most popular events in the Olympic games and attracts enormous TV viewing figures around the world. Many countries use their Olympic team to bring through promising talent.

Is that why Rangers punted their best defender at the time for daring to want to play in the Olympics? Or why Messi has significantly soured his relationship with his club in order to play in China? These things are all relative to the part of the world you come from, but to argue the Olympics have no prestige for footballers is blatantly not the case.

"The football is one of the most popular events in the Olympic games" - It shouldn't be.My point was that in many sports winning a gold medal is the epitome of the sport, this is not so with football - there are several tournaments which are more important in the footballing world.
The fact that it's (apparently) popular merely proves my point that it deflects attention from sports which require Olympic exposure.

As some other people have said, I do not think football should be an Olympic sport.

If it was team GB, there must be at least 2 players from each of the home nations. However this will mean we will not have the best team available to GB, therefore almost making a mockery of the system.

Football has been in the Olympics for 100 years, it's not a recent add-on and has every right to be there alongside other sports. The Olympic football final is second only to the World Cup in terms of public appeal. It's not a big deal in Britain but you cannot extrapolate our apathy across the rest of the globe. You would be stunningly wrong if you tried to do that.

In Brazil, it's a major goal for young players to make the Olympic team because it's seen as a nursery for the big squad. Countless players all over the world strive to get into their Olympic XI.

"Football has been in the Olympics for 100 years" - That doesn't matter.This thread is for discussing potential change.

"[football] has every right to be there alongside other sports" - As I stated before, achieving an Olympic gold in football is not the epitome of footballing achievment.For many sports the Olympics is the most important event, and I feel the football prevents these other sports receiving greater attention.

If it isn't the pinnacle of the sport, then it shouldn't be in the Olympics. Football has more prestigious tournaments, so any Olympic gold medal (which Brazil haven't even won) isn't worth as much as World cup medals, or Champions League medals.

As for Team GB, no Scottish player would get into the setup on talent alone, and if you are forced to let some in due to filling quotas then you won't have the best team possible. Let the English field a team with all English players, and call it Team GB. If there was an all English swimming team you wouldn't care, so why care about he football team?

Good to see your psychic abilities extend to seeing who the best under 23s in Britain will be in 4 years time.

That's because selection for swimming, athletics, etc. can be based on an absolute measurement (set by the Olympic bods themselves?). Selection in a team event is a much more subjective matter

Yep. Probably the worst argument i have seen in a good while.

Indeed.

Yeah, I mean what a great youth set up we have in Scotland, second to none.





Yeah, bad examples, apologies.

Judo, diving, taekwondo, gymnastics, if they were an all English team it wouldn't matter, would it?

Wouldn't bother me if Team GB was full of English players. In fact, you'd expect that through sheer force of demographics.

It can go with all English players, and it would most probably be all the better for it, rather than dilluting the quality and having to incorporate inferior players from Wales, NI, and Scotland into the setup.