Team GB

[seagull@stirling]

Looking for an English perspective on the Team GB football team for 2012. Do you support this? why? While the FA are in the governments pocket over this what do you, the fans, feel about this?

I know most of you will not give a feck about the scottish, Welsh and Irish losing their FA and national teams, but if that happens there will therefore be a british league and Brighton could therefore be pushed further down the ladder or have to face an away game to Inverness.

what is the consensus amongst the English fans?

 

[Silent Bob]

That will NEVER happen, Olympic team or no. Their either getting het up over nothing or making excuses because they don't want to play with the mean old English.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

No, as I don't think they should have football at the Olympics.

 

[SeagullEd]

I don't understand why we don't rotate it...

England under-21's in London 2012
Scotland under-21's in 2016
Northern Ireland under-21's 2020
Wales Under-21's 2024

Clearly I didn't need to type it out but you get my jist.

 

[strings]

I really do not want a GB football leage - that would be terrible and I imagine would absolutely kill-off Scottish football below the first division and pretty much al of the Welsh leagues.

It would be nice to have a team GB football team in 2012 (even if it is a thinly-disguised 'team England'), but not at the expense of the nations' own leagues and national teams.

 

[ATFC Seagull]

I don't understand why we don't rotate it...

England under-21's in London 2012
Scotland under-21's in 2016
Northern Ireland under-21's 2020
Wales Under-21's 2024

Clearly I didn't need to type it out but you get my jist.

Problem with that is that you have to qualify for the Olympics - last time I think that meant top 5 of the European Championship? England didn't even manage it (not that they could have gone anyway), so I can't realistically see the other sides ever doing so.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

I don't care about the politics of the thing, if we don't have a footie team representing us in the Olympics..... us who invented the most world-wide sport, it would be a travesty

(I actually don't support footie being in the Olympics at all, but that's a different argument)

 

[glasfryn]

That will NEVER happen, Olympic team or no. Their either getting het up over nothing or making excuses because they don't want to play with the mean old English.

True........................besides the fact that we might get that muppet of a manager from MU managing them

 

[BensGrandad]

When I was on Surrey FA Council some 15 years ago the question of a GB team was being branded about because basically FIFA do not want us to enter a team in the World Cup for England, N Ireland, Scotland and Wales indiviodually they want a GB team. If we do that for the Olympics it will set the precedent for the future and fall into Sepp Blatters hands. The other national FAs do not want it for exactly the same reason they would lose their identity and place in the World Cup.

 

[Knotty]

True........................besides the fact that we might get that muppet of a manager from MU managing them

Quite right. never won anything, has he...

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I dont think football should be at the Olympics but if it is..then a British team will be interesting if nothing else.

 

[Brovion]

Looking for an English perspective on the Team GB football team for 2012. Do you support this? why? While the FA are in the governments pocket over this what do you, the fans, feel about this?

I know most of you will not give a feck about the scottish, Welsh and Irish losing their FA and national teams, but if that happens there will therefore be a british league and Brighton could therefore be pushed further down the ladder or have to face an away game to Inverness.

what is the consensus amongst the English fans?

I disagree with your second paragraph. Admittedly we don't give a toss about the RESULTS of the Scottish, Welsh and Irish teams (other than to guffaw occasionally) but I don't want to see their FAs pack up and their teams abolished any more than I want to see Palace go bust.

I don't agree with the oft-heard view that an Olympic football team will lead to FIFA and UEFA pushing for a British team. Look at 'countries' like San Marino and Andorra who are allowed to compete individually whilst not being full-blown nations.

Personally I don't want to see a 'Team GB' for two reasons. Firstly football is just something we do on our own. We come together for athletics and other Olympic sports (and also Rugby with the Lions), but football's different. I appreciate there used to be a GB amateur team but in the professional game we've ALWAYS been independent - you might as well suggest a combined France/Germany team.

Secondly I don't want to see it because it will be crap. You know it will be.

PS - There SHOULD be a united Ireland team in all forms of football like there is in Rugby.

PPS - 'No' to a British League!

 

[BensGrandad]

Whatever happened to the Olympics being for amateur or unpaid sportsmen like Roger Federer why could Ricky Hatton have not represented us at boxing other than the fact he would probably have lost. The Olympics have gone all to pot and all principals upon which they wre founded gone with them.

 

[Jambo Seagull]

When I was on Surrey FA Council some 15 years ago the question of a GB team was being branded about because basically FIFA do not want us to enter a team in the World Cup for England, N Ireland, Scotland and Wales indiviodually they want a GB team. If we do that for the Olympics it will set the precedent for the future and fall into Sepp Blatters hands. The other national FAs do not want it for exactly the same reason they would lose their identity and place in the World Cup.

is the correct answer.

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

I disagree with your second paragraph. Admittedly we don't give a toss about the RESULTS of the Scottish, Welsh and Irish teams (other than to guffaw occasionally) but I don't want to see their FAs pack up and their teams abolished any more than I want to see Palace go bust.

I don't agree with the oft-heard view that an Olympic football team will lead to FIFA and UEFA pushing for a British team. Look at 'countries' like San Marino and Andorra who are allowed to compete individually whilst not being full-blown nations.

Personally I don't want to see a 'Team GB' for two reasons. Firstly football is just something we do on our own. We come together for athletics and other Olympic sports (and also Rugby with the Lions), but football's different. I appreciate there used to be a GB amateur team but in the professional game we've ALWAYS been independent - you might as well suggest a combined France/Germany team.

Secondly I don't want to see it because it will be crap. You know it will be.

PS - There SHOULD be a united Ireland team in all forms of football like there is in Rugby.

PPS - 'No' to a British League!

Eh - What makes San Marino not a full-blown nation?

I think the argument that if we competed together at the 2012 olympics then we would have to compete together all the time is a bit of a smoke screen. They've been given assurances that a 2012 GB team wouldn't lead to that and I believe them. I think (and while I'm proud to be British I've got more Scottish blood in me than English) that the real reason is that they know that any GB team would be very likely to be over 80% english players and make them look very inferior.

 

[The Spanish]

There is a lot of paranoia about this setting a precedent and giving FIFA ammunition to demand a GB national side. People bang on about our 4 votes on FIFA, conveniently forgetting is its those 4 votes that virtually ensure this nightmare scenario wont happen.

Lets see - Johnny Foreigner forces the two oldest international sides with disproportionate block vote to play as one side. Likely? Bollocks is it.

Reality - Nationalism runs far deeper in British football than in any other high profile sport. It is an internal question really. Does it kick off at the commonwealth games? No. Did they shelve the home internationals partly because of the grief? Yes.

No one gives a f*** about this apart from people in the UK and a few senile Brit haters in UEFA/FIFA. And the London 2012 people flogging tickets. And Fat Frank and Steeeevie G's agents.

Should we have a GB national side in the olympics? Real football fans dont even need to be asked. If the others get their way though I can guarantee it will attract the worst kind of nobs to support it.

 

[Brovion]

Anyway there's a good chance Scotland will be indpendant before the next Olympics so this might be an irrelvant debate!

S-S-SNP!

 

[The Spanish]

Anyway there's a good chance Scotland will be indpendant before the next Olympics so this might be an irrelvant debate!

S-S-SNP!

hahahahahaha no there isnt.

 

[BensGrandad]

I don't agree with the oft-heard view that an Olympic football team will lead to FIFA and UEFA pushing for a British team.

Sorry but you are totally wrong in your view This has actually been stated at FA meetings, and I wish I still had the minutes, that FIFA and EUFA want a GB team not an England Ireland Wales or Scotland team and will push for this at an opportunity. All the little countries represented like San Marino and the Agfrican nations do not give a toss about England and will back Sepp Blatter on FIFA and Michel Platini on EUFA, who even wants our teams out of the EUFA Cup.

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

An alternative could of course be to have a qualifying tournament with the winner representing GB.