suggested reading: team GB and the home nations edition

Several weeks ago, I mentioned that not only is Olympic men’s soccer a U-23 tournament, but there have been tensions over the very existence of a British soccer team. Now that we’re a week away from the Olympics, it’s time to investigate this further.

It turns out that Britain has not fielded an Olympic men’s soccer team in 50 years.

Poor old Team GB. Has there ever been a less keenly cherished national team than Stuart Pearce’s collection of 13 Englishmen, five Welshmen and the absent friends of Scotland and Northern Ireland?

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The reasons for the historical sense of unease are clear enough….Mainly, though, it is the issue of mingled identities that has dogged British Olympic football through its distantly grand history. Assorted English amateur selections won gold at the Games of 1900, 1908 and 1912, after which a dispute over the inclusion of professionals curtailed Olympic involvement until 1936. Post-war, amateur home nations teams competed at every Games until 1972, after which Britain as an Olympic footballing nation simply ceased to exist, stymied by further wrangles over amateurism and muddled by misgivings among the home nations over their enduring status within Fifa.

The situation is even more stark for British women: until this year, there has never been a British women’s Olympic team.

The fielding of these two British teams is happening for only one reason: Olympic host nations qualify automatically. But it’s becoming clear that, for a country as soccer-mad as the UK, enthusiasm for this particular medal opportunity (at least for the men) is surprisingly low.

The first issue surrounds the inclusion of non-English players (i.e. Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish athletes). Of vital importance here is that the United Kingdom is a nation of nations, and this is shown clearly in international team sports like cricket, rugby, and soccer. The organizing bodies of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are worried that taking part in a British team would threaten their FIFA-sanctioned status as nations and their future ability to play as independent nations in international competitions, or put another way, that in future, there would be a single Britain team, representing all four nations. The individual associations made their concerns known early. In 2009, after years of wrangling, the three Celtic nations declared that they would not participate in a team GB, but they would not stand in the way of an all-England team. But these pronouncements held no legal weight; players could not be barred from playing for the newly-formed teams. 

Playing in the Olympics is for some an especially appealing prospect, since Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland haven’t traditionally been good enough to qualify for either the World Cup or the European championship. For other players, however, national identity trumps concerns about international glory. Scotland’s Julie Fleeting announced last year that she would not be playing for team GB.

Fleeting, who plays for Arsenal, has ruled herself out. The 30-year-old has backed the stance of the Scottish Football Association, which believes any involvement could affect Scotland’s independence as a football nation.

Fleeting told the Scotsman: ‘My thoughts are these: first and foremost I am a Scottish international, and that’s the most important thing for me. The SFA [Scottish Football Association] make all the decisions in terms of the national team. I would definitely not step out and say I would like to play for Team GB.

‘What I am saying is I would like to play for Scotland for as long as I am selected. I am delighted to pull on the jersey. That’s the most important thing for me. I know it’s the most important thing for all the girls that I play alongside. I would not want to jeopardise that.’

‘Obviously the Olympics is a fantastic stage but I am Scottish through and through. It might mean our girls would not have the opportunity to play for the national team in the future because some of us went to play for Team GB. That’s not a risk any of us are willing to take.’

But others, like Welshmen Ryan Giggs and Aaron Ramsey, have been enthusiastic supporters. From a mere two months ago:

Ryan Giggs has confirmed he wants to play for Team GB at the London Olympics even though his presence would disturb the Welsh Football Association.

The association, in common with the governing bodies of Scotland and Northern Ireland, fears that a Great Britain side will undermine the right of the four home nations to appear separately on the international stage. However, the 38-year-old is relishing the possibility of taking part and, alongside his former Manchester United team-mate David Beckham, is likely to be one of the three over-aged players allowed in the squad.

Giggs ended his career with Wales in 2007. It still left him with a hankering to appear at a major international tournament – Wales last did so when they reached the World Cup finals in 1958 – and Giggs is the only player over 23 at Old Trafford to have been given permission to take part.

In fact, Giggs was so enthusiastic that his inclusion reportedly pushed out David Beckham.

Pearce could not find space for Beckham in his 18-man squad after a lack of defensive and attacking options led him to select Manchester City’s Micah Richards and Liverpool’s Craig Bellamy as two of his three overage players. That left the coach with a straight choice between Beckham and Giggs, with the latter’s more recent Premier League experience believed to have been a deciding factor.

It’s understandable, though. Giggs’s playing career has been exceptional, both in its quality and its length. (The man is 38.) And for all that, he’s never played in a major international tournament. Giggs will be the captain of the team.

And there’s still more mayhem. Not only does team manager Stuart Pearce have to negotiate these tricky minefields of national and cultural identities and loyalties, he also had a limited pool of U-23s available for selection. Why? Because England’s governing soccer body, The Football Association (otherwise known as the FA), declared that anybody who played in last month’s championships cannot be called up for the Olympics. The rule, according to Stuart Pearce last December:

‘We have agreed that any player who boards the plane to the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine will not be considered for selection to Team GB.

It would be one thing if that just narrowed the over-age possibilities. But actually, that eliminates a few key players from the Euros…

…like this guy (age 21)—and the guy providing the assist (23):

Forza ! player - Danny Welbeck by Forzamediadivision

…and this guy (23):

The reason the FA cites seem (and probably are) reasonable: player fatigue. But that isn’t stopping countries like Spain from shipping off three players from their winning team to London. And while Pearce supported this decision in December, now that he’s had to actually pick a roster, he’s less happy.

Stuart Pearce has placed himself on a potential collision course with the Football Association after criticising its insistence that, Jack Butland apart, no player involved in Euro 2012 could also feature in Great Britain’s Olympic squad.

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Well aware that Spain’s Olympic squad includes three players who featured at Euro 2012 – Javi Martínez, Jordi Alba and Juan Mata – the former England left-back believes he should have been permitted to pick from a wider talent pool.

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‘I’ll continually send the same message out that we have to take our best players to every tournament. Not just for the sake of the manager or the coach but for the players themselves; they have to experience tournament football.’

This is a less than ideal setup for a successful campaign. David Beckham’s exclusion has probably turned away some casual fans, even as some journalists are suggesting that Beckham’s exclusion may be a good thing.

Although Beckham now suffers from a chronic lack of pace and mobility, even if he can still unleash a few Pirlo-esque passes, there was arguably a case for naming him in the squad on exceptional dead-ball ability alone. Giggs, though, is currently a bit more versatile – as well as possessing the added benefit of being Welsh and thereby bringing geographical balance to the squad.

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In many ways the antithesis of the celebrity culture which surrounds modern football, Pearce is also among the least likely to have been swayed by Beckham’s fame. Indeed he may instead have harboured real concerns about the media circus which invariably surrounds a man who appears to spend as much time modelling underwear and cosying up to politicians and royalty as actually playing football these days.

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Beckham’s predilection for the limelight could well have provoked a muttering of discontent. Moreover the potential chemistry between the LA Galaxy midfielder and the notoriously straight-talking Craig Bellamy – another overage Welshman in the squad very much on merit – may have proved combustible.

Organizers are reducing capacity across the soccer venues by a half million seats, a response to ticket sales figures. Meanwhile, former players/current commentators are trying to rally support for the team. See Gary Neville, for example.

All of this leads to certain questions:

• for other Olympic and Paralympic sports, the Celtic nations are enthusiastic and valuable participants in the British sporting effort. Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, for example, is Welsh, as is star hurdler-turned-commentator Colin Jackson. And while Andy Murray strongly asserts his Scottish identity, he nonetheless gladly plays for Britain. So why do some sports (team sports?) require independent teams while other sports can fall under the rubric of Britain?
• Are the stakes higher for Scotland, the one home nation most likely to achieve independence?
• What is FIFA getting out of continuing to allow the home nations to have separate teams? Are there similar concerns with the rugby and cricket organizing bodies?
• If the British teams progress through the tournament, will we see increased support? And if we do, who will be doing the supporting? The English? Or a broader British base?

In the meantime, for more thorough arguments about maintaining these three autonomous Celtic teams, here are some links.

• Welsh historian Martin Johnes insists that Welsh players who choose to play for team GB are running the risk of undermining Welsh international soccer.
• A debate between a pro-British football politician and an anti-.

More to come on this.