09 Jul 2014 12:52:55
Laurence Robertson (Tory MP for Tewkesbury) has submitted the following EDM [early day motion] for debate in the House of Commons to form a UK national team based on England's failure at the World Cup:

"That this House notes with regret England's early exit from the 2014 World Cup; recalls that England has not won the World Cup since 1966; further notes that on three occasions since 1966 England has failed to qualify for the World Cup Finals at all, that Scotland has only qualified for eight World Cup Finals out of a total of 20, that Northern Ireland has only qualified for three and Wales has only qualified for one in 1958; believes that fielding four teams from the UK reduces the chances of success and has denied World Cup opportunities to outstanding British players; observes that no other nation fields more than one national team; and calls on the football authorities in each of the home countries to come together and form one national football team covering the UK."

Surely this shouldn't even be open to debate?

1.) 09 Jul 2014
09 Jul 2014 16:06:06
Personally I couldn't give a monkeys about the England or Scotland national teams so I see no harm in this moving forward.

By disbanding both the FA and SFA in favour of a unified set up this would obviously have a knock on effect on the league structrue as if FIFA would only be recognising one association, UEFA would have the same attitude. It's probably our only hope of playing in a bigger and more lucrative league.

That's my 2 cents anyway, come on La Albiceleste!

2.) 09 Jul 2014
Well, my thoughts are if there is a No vote on Independence then maybe its time to have just one national team ( don't get me wrong, that British National anthem is rotten ) But a team with the best from each country might just progress. I think Gareth Bale would surely appreciate it.

This in turn should then lead to a simple transfer for Celtic to the Premiership.

3.) 09 Jul 2014
I don't see how a UK national team would improve their chances. We all seen how "Team GB" [insert any word other than PERFORMED] under Pearce at the Olympics a couple of years ago:

Beat Uruguay + UAE, drew with Senegal + South Korea - who put them out on pens.

Better together? Just another lie from another Tory!

4.) 09 Jul 2014
Being realistic, other than Bale + Ramsey, what players would end up getting capped? Most of the current Scotland squad are made up of Anglo-Scots not good enough to play for England at the moment! Wales have a fair share of English born Welshmen and the North of Ireland have a few, as well as a couple from the Republic who were uncapped!

5.) 09 Jul 2014
09 Jul 2014 16:37:48
like I said before I couldn't care less about such a team would fare, but how can you say it would not improve their chances?

Gareth Bale would improve any team on Earth!

As for your point about team GB, surely the fact they beat Uruguay as opposed to England's capitulation nullifies your point?

Only interested in Celtic and a UK national team would have to mean UK league too, that's good enough for me.

{Ed007's Note - Any UK league would be immediately weakened though, as soon as UEFA sanction a breakdown of borders all of Europe's major clubs will look at maximising their income and teams like Man Utd, Chelsea, City and Arsenal would leave to join a European Super League, taking the majority of TV money with them.
So far CFC haven't been included in talks so unless there is a lower division of any ESL we would be stuck playing the likes of Wigan and Stoke while seeing a massive drop in TV revenue from the levels in England enjoy just now.}

6.) 09 Jul 2014
I personally would hate to lose Scotland as my national team, I have no interest in England and I think it would be a bad thing for an amalgamation of the four home teams

7.) 09 Jul 2014
Dear Lawrence Robertson,

Instead of whining like a little b*tch about how England got their ar$e handed to them on a plate, why not propose an enquiry into the real problem killing the game- Sky Tv!

Maybe then you will see how the scottish game is on its ar$e and a massive club like celtic have a major financial disadvantage when competing against clubs of similar size in europe!

8.) 10 Jul 2014
Ed 7 do you not think if borders are broken down, Celtic with the crowds they can get would be an attraction to the bigger european league if it were to arise?

{Ed007's Note - As things stand right now CFC's only chance of being involved is if there is a 2 or 3 tier system where we would be in the lower league(s) and I can't see that happening right away, we have never been invited to talks about the break-away league.
The size of fanbase isn't a factor, Newcastle have a higher average attendance than teams like Chelsea, Man City and Monaco yet they would be also looking at a lower ESL level.}

9.) 10 Jul 2014
Same Vambo! A UK team would only open the door to a Scandanavian team, a Low Countries team, a new Soviet Union / CIS team, a new Yugoslav team, a possible United Ireland team, etc so it wouldn't increase our chances at all.

Once you start dissolving national teams, how long before it opens the door to scrap continental tournaments (Euro Champs, Copa America, etc) and the World Cup consists of Team AFC, Team CAF, Team CONCACAF, Team CONMEBOL, Team OFC + Team UEFA?!