UK National Teams, How and Why There Are Four

And after seeing the hilarious images the Scots produced, with Roberto Mancini turning into a modern-day Wallace, we are reminded why the UK has four national teams.
Despite being one state, at least on paper, there are citizens of all the Confederate states under the Union flag and these are not independence movements – they make the news on a political level.

The issue dates back almost two centuries, when the different national teams of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (the so-called Home Nations) were formed. In recent years, other ambitious national teams, such as Catalonia, have applied for the same status, but without success. The English get preferential treatment, but the reasons are simple.

It all started in 1863, when the world’s first football association was created. FIFAwhose “authority” over the other states of the kingdom was uncertain. A few years later the Scots decided to form their own, and then the Welsh and Irish did the same, their union being split in the 1920s between Ireland and Northern Ireland. There is still no single UK FA, although a selection of the best players from all the national teams could perhaps spark all the competitions. But there is a lot of pride in identity, and a lot of fear that joining football would open the way to further losses of independence.

the FIFA (FIFA), was only born in the early 20th century, late compared to the breakaway in the United Kingdom. A year before the birth of the Scottish FA, in 1872, Scotland and England played the first “international” match in football history in Glasgow.

This anomaly also creates practical complications. For example, for the pre-match anthem. In addition to the famous “God Save the Queen of England”, also used in Ulster, there is actually the Welsh anthem (which few sing because no one knows the obscure words) and Scotland which, in the absence of an official anthem, uses the national anthem. The folk song The Flower of Scotland.

Then there is the dilemma of how to ‘attribute’ players to individual national teams, which is a complete mess! All British citizens have a British passport, so the rule allows a footballer to choose which national team he wants to play for independently of the countries in which he, his parents and grandparents were born. A special case is for those born in the self-governing administrations of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, whose players can decide what they want.

Football and rugby are the exception to the rule, because at the Olympic Games, athletes from the home nations compete, for example, under the name “Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.

And football at the Olympics? The British have only participated eight times for various reasons, the first being the lack of agreement between the various federations. Perhaps the only exception was the London 2012 Games. In that case, there were endless arguments from the smaller nations and a compromise: the federations did not participate in running a national super team that did not represent them, but they did not oppose the invitations of their members.

British unionists always take the opportunity to discuss the anomaly in English football every time international tournaments are held again. This year, with a slightly sharper nuance, brought on by the recent Brexit and the small bones still stuck in the throat. They are making a mockery of the entire Euro 2020 competition by pointing out that UEFA – which prides itself on unity and indivisibility – has far more national teams than the British team.

According to some people with no conscience in black humor, Euro 2020 can only be played between two teams: Europe and the United Kingdom. But can you imagine how boring those July evenings will be?

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