Great Britain - 2012 Olympic Football Squad

[swannsong]

Great Britain are seeking their first Gold Medal since 1912 at the 2012 Olympics ( 100 year anniversary!)
Stuart Pearce coaching....although the squad has not been officially released as of yet...
Some of the over-age players still in the squad of 35 are...David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard
Huddersfield striker Jordan Rhodes has also been invited into the squad. Others include 'apparently' Joe Allen, Neil Taylor, Aaron Ramsey, Gareth Bale.
Squad will be culled to 18 players for the games.

Trial games announced...
July 20 - Brazil (Middlesborough}
26 July - Senegal (Manchester)
29 July - United Arab Emirates (London)
August 1 - Uruguay (Cardiff)

[El Pibe D'Oro]

Who is Joe Allen?

[ozzie owl]

Who is Joe Allen?

Swansea midfielder he is Welsh.

[Con M]

Any Scots or Northern Irishmen in the squad?

[Bomber]

Any Scots or Northern Irishmen in the squad?

That would depend on whether they are serious about winning a medal I suppose.

[Hibs seven]

Disgusting, the whole spirit of the Olympics is going. I suppose basketball (dream team) and tennis (Nadal etc) started the rot, many of those listed have made fortunes at the game.

Would not be too disppointed if they did not win a game even with some scotsmen.

[God is an Englishman]

Disgusting, the whole spirit of the Olympics is going. I suppose basketball (dream team) and tennis (Nadal etc) started the rot, many of those listed have made fortunes at the game.

Would not be too disppointed if they did not win a game even with some scotsmen.

Olympic amateur ideals have been dead for years

[PASC]

this may sound funny to some but can someone tell me why it's GB at the olympics but scotland, england, wales, N ireland..... seperate at other events like football, rugby world cup etc....
always wondered, never bothered to find out...

[justmyopinion]

because they know that individually they are all shi------iit!

[God is an Englishman]

this may sound funny to some but can someone tell me why it's GB at the olympics but scotland, england, wales, N ireland..... seperate at other events like football, rugby world cup etc....
always wondered, never bothered to find out...

because we invented football so we get to stay as seperate countries. We didn't invent the oyympics so we have to accept the ioc making us compete as the one country.

Oh and Northern Ireland is not part of GB. NI does not compete at the olympics at all, but they have a choice of joining either gb or southern ireland

[PASC]

so when u invented football were u not part of Great Britain??? lol

[God is an Englishman]

so when u invented football were u not part of Great Britain??? lol

Depends if it was invented before 1707 or not.

We were also part of europe and the world but we don't play as them v the martians though.

[justmyopinion]

polly waffle!!!!!!!!!!!!!......ive never laughed so hard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PASC]

so when u invented football were u not part of Great Britain??? lol

Depends if it was invented before 1707 or not.

We were also part of europe and the world but we don't play as them v the martians though.

i appriciate your humour but it still doesnt explain anything to me...
why dont they play football as GB? or why arent england, scotland and wales represented in the olympics?

[kingswood]

Craig Bellamy... the epitomy of the olympic spirit!

[MegaBonus]

God is an Englishman


because we invented football so we get to stay as seperate countries

the greeks gave us the Olympics (and a 2nd GFC) - do they control IOC???
the French gave us both the WC and the Euros (& a host of European club championshios) - do they control FIFA/UEFA?

[robinfriday10]

[quote="PASC"]
why dont they play football as GB? or why arent england, scotland and wales represented in the olympics?

doesnt it have something to do with voting eg seperately they get 1 vote each, together they still only get 1 vote.
not sure if it is for fifa or uefa voting tho? anyone know?

[MegaBonus]

maybe this...not sure though....

The laws that govern football, known officially as the Laws of the Game, are not solely the responsibility of FIFA; they are maintained by a body called the International Football Association Board (IFAB). FIFA has members on its board (four representatives); the other four are provided by the football associations of the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, who jointly established IFAB in 1882 and are recognised for the creation and history of the game. Changes to the Laws of the Game must be agreed by at least six of the eight delegates.

[God is an Englishman]

doesnt it have something to do with voting eg seperately they get 1 vote each, together they still only get 1 vote.
not sure if it is for fifa or uefa voting tho? anyone know?

The reason we play seperately has nothing to do with the voting but of course we get seperate votes, we're seperate football associations. Why do San Marino and Italy get seperate votes, and Cypus, Greece and Macedonia?

[Con M]

A complicated issue for sure and a taboo topic of discussion for some.

And, God was an Englishman, what are you on about Greece and FYROM (get it right - Former Republic of Macedonia is the correct title) having separate votes? They are part of the 209 member Associations under FIFA, but they get no separate votes on I.F.A.B. They are represented by the 4 FIFA delegates on that Laws of the Game Board, whereas Wales, Scotland, England & Northern Ireland get 1 vote each on that 8-man Board.

FYROM and Greece are sovereign nations and their citizens travel on their own passports. The Welsh, Scots, English & Northern Irish travel on one British passport.

As for inventing the game, it is hard to nail down the beginnings of football back in antiquity when pigs bladders were covered over in leather and "teams" fought it out in a kicking game. Yes, the first formalised laws were penned in 1863 in England, but that wasn't patented or anything. And the World has come a long way since then. Other countries have won 5, 4, or 3 World Cups to England's one in '66 and deserve a greater say in the game now. Wasn't it a rope instead of a crossbar in the early years and there was no such thing as the 6-yard goal area?

The fact is this is a complicated topic and the 4 British Associations need not be paranoid that they will be forced into competing as one G.B. team forever more. The current FIFA statutes as they stand protect them as 4 separate entities and this can't be changed without a two-thirds majority vote of all 209 member Associations.

ps, try to see the reasoning of other forumites - for example Megabonus' comment that the ancient Greeks gave the Olympics idea to the World & that the French put forward the (Jules Rimet) World Cup. Try to see the reasoning of the Basque country which wants to compete as a separate Association from Spain just as Wales competes for World Cups & Euro Nations tournaments, even though it is part of sovereign Britain.

[God is an Englishman]

FYROM and Greece are sovereign nations and their citizens travel on their own passports. The Welsh, Scots, English & Northern Irish travel on one British passport.

England, scotland etc are seperate nations as well. They are seperate nations under one KINGDOM!

A complicated issue for sure and a taboo topic of discussion for some.

And, God was an Englishman, what are you on about Greece and FYROM (get it right - Former Republic of Macedonia is the correct title) having separate votes? They are part of the 209 member Associations under FIFA, but they get no separate votes on I.F.A.B. They are represented by the 4 FIFA delegates on that Laws of the Game Board, whereas Wales, Scotland, England & Northern Ireland get 1 vote each on that 8-man Board.

FYROM and Greece are sovereign nations and their citizens travel on their own passports. The Welsh, Scots, English & Northern Irish travel on one British passport.

As for inventing the game, it is hard to nail down the beginnings of football back in antiquity when pigs bladders were covered over in leather and "teams" fought it out in a kicking game. Yes, the first formalised laws were penned in 1863 in England, but that wasn't patented or anything. And the World has come a long way since then. Other countries have won 5, 4, or 3 World Cups to England's one in '66 and deserve a greater say in the game now. Wasn't it a rope instead of a crossbar in the early years and there was no such thing as the 6-yard goal area?

The fact is this is a complicated topic and the 4 British Associations need not be paranoid that they will be forced into competing as one G.B. team forever more. The current FIFA statutes as they stand protect them as 4 separate entities and this can't be changed without a two-thirds majority vote of all 209 member Associations.

ps, try to see the reasoning of other forumites - for example Megabonus' comment that the ancient Greeks gave the Olympics idea to the World & that the French put forward the (Jules Rimet) World Cup. Try to see the reasoning of the Basque country which wants to compete as a separate Association from Spain just as Wales competes for World Cups & Euro Nations tournaments, even though it is part of sovereign Britain.

Some days are just easier than others.

Is Basque recognised as a country by Spain/France?

So what you are saying in all of this is that England get one vote, Spain get one vote, Greece get one vote, Macedonia get one vote etc..

AA pretty good piece of prose ruined by the fact that there are not 4 British Associations. We are not paranoid about being forced to compete as one nation as we know it just won't happen. We ensured that by putting a Team GB in 2012 that this could not be used against us. That and most importantly, the football fans of the countries just wouldn't allow it. Not to mention the small matter of N Ireland.

[El Pibe D'Oro]

doesnt it have something to do with voting eg seperately they get 1 vote each, together they still only get 1 vote.
not sure if it is for fifa or uefa voting tho? anyone know?

The reason we play seperately has nothing to do with the voting but of course we get seperate votes, we're seperate football associations. Why do San Marino and Italy get seperate votes, and Cypus, Greece and Macedonia?

San Marino you idiot is a seperate republic. Now get it into that thick head of yours, you do not know everything.

[God is an Englishman]

doesnt it have something to do with voting eg seperately they get 1 vote each, together they still only get 1 vote.
not sure if it is for fifa or uefa voting tho? anyone know?

The reason we play seperately has nothing to do with the voting but of course we get seperate votes, we're seperate football associations. Why do San Marino and Italy get seperate votes, and Cypus, Greece and Macedonia?

San Marino you idiot is a seperate republic. Now get it into that thick head of yours, you do not know everything.

Where do you they play their home games?

England, scotland, wales and n ireland are seperate countries as well. Are you failing to understand that?

[Con M]

OK GWAE, if we're both going to get pedantic - you know I meant the Basque area of Spain, not country. There are those there wanting independence and even resorted to violence at one stage to get it until beaten down by the Spanish armada. I'm sure I read somewhere they applied/wanted to compete in the World Cup and Euro Nations tournaments as Basques.

And yeah, I'll refer to that U.K. quartet as the "home nations" and you'll do the right thing and stop referring to FYROM as "Macedonia".

As for the voting regime on the 8-man IFAB, all I'm saying is there should be a more equitable arrangement to reflect this century and that say, a 5-times World Cup winner like Brazil shouldn't only have approx. 1/50th the say of a Wales on that Board.

ps, are there any Scots or Northern Irishmen in that G.B. squad and if not why not?

[Mister Miyagi]

It is Macedonia.

[slowcoach]

Ever since it was founded in the 19th century, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) has played a vital role in international football. It acts as the guardian of the Laws of the Game and is responsible for studying, modifying and overseeing any changes to it.

In late 1848, a meeting of reputable private schools in Cambridge, England convened to establish a set of reasonable football regulations. This historic meeting was the first step towards a universal set of rules. Fifteen years later, the English Football Association (FA) was established under a banner of 14 official rules.

The first-ever IFAB meeting took place in 1886 when the English FA, conscious of the need for standardisation, invited their Irish, Scottish and Welsh counterparts to join forces to come up with a uniform code. Up until then, different rules had applied in different countries.

Since its foundation in 1904, FIFA, as football's world governing body, sought to team up with IFAB. The first real steps were made in that direction two years later, in 1906, when Englishman Daniel Burley Woolfall became FIFA President. And although the 1908 and 1912 Olympic Football Tournaments were run under the FA's supervision, FIFA began to take part in meetings from 1913 onwards.

Four representatives from FIFA and one each from England, N. Ireland, Scotland and Wales meet at an Annual General Meeting where they set out to identify, study and accept or reject possible alterations to the Laws.

Four weeks before the AGM, which following an amendment at the 117th meeting in 2003, takes place in either February or March, the associations must send their written proposals to the secretary of the host association. FIFA then prints a list of suggestions that are distributed to all other associations for examination. For a motion to be accepted, a three-quarters majority is needed.

A second annual meeting between the bodies, the Annual Economic Meeting, is held between September and October and touches on issues that concern the Board outside the Laws of the Game.

Why have there been so few changes to the Laws over the years? Why is the IFAB considered to be a conservative organisation? The answer to these questions is straightforward: the attraction of the game of football resides in its simplicity. And as guardian to its Laws, the IFAB seeks to preserve the original seeds on which the football has blossomed so spectacularly.


http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/his ... /ifab.html

[Con M]

Yeah slowcoach, I generally accept the principle of a conservative I.F.A.B. that carefully deliberates and trials things. But I'm adding that it shouldn't be TOO conservative - witness it being dragged into properly assessing goal-line technology.

And it still doesn't sit right in this day and age that multiple World Cup winners should have such a small proportional representation on that Board compared to a Wales or a Northern Ireland.

And ps, when Scotland secedes from the U.K. will it still have one of the 8 votes on IFAB?

[slowcoach]

It explains why they have, FIFA sees them as guardian of the game. Simple.

Joseph S Blatter
@SeppBlatter
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With regards to Goal line technology, if I remember rightly it was FIFA , Scotland and N. Ireland voted against it after the last world cup. Now FIFA has gone the other way and it's being looked at.

If Scotland secedes, which isn't a foregone conclusion, they will still be on the IFAB as nothing has changed as it's the Scottish FA that's on the board and not the country.

[Hibs seven]

Yeah slowcoach, I generally accept the principle of a conservative I.F.A.B. that carefully deliberates and trials things. But I'm adding that it shouldn't be TOO conservative - witness it being dragged into properly assessing goal-line technology.

And it still doesn't sit right in this day and age that multiple World Cup winners should have such a small proportional representation on that Board compared to a Wales or a Northern Ireland.

And ps, when Scotland secedes from the U.K. will it still have one of the 8 votes on IFAB?

Sorry Con I can't see the Scottish referendum vote getting up, personally I hope it will remain part of Britain but what the people want there I hope they get, I voted against it last time but unfortunately dont get a vote this time. Anyway back to football, I love football but will be doing my upmost to avoid it during the olympics as I have lost all respect for the competition, saw a clip on TV the other day and have only just realised that Carlos Teves played for Argentina in last Olympics.

[Con M]

And Messi did too.

But Hibs seven, wouldn't you want to watch say, Beckham & Giggs back together again as three over-age-23 G.B. players versus Uruguay & Suarez? They're in the same prelim group you know.

And I'm still lamenting U.A.E. being in that group too instead of our country Australia. Imagine the profile it would have given the sport here - games against Beckham's G.B. and the olde enemy Uruguay