British Olympic Football Team: Why Risk National Identities?

I may as well set my stall out from the beginning. I do not want a British Football Team at the 2012 Olympics.

It's simply too complicated to organize, and the risks are pretty extreme.

UEFA's General Secretary David Taylor was quoted in yesterday's Daily Record as saying, "It's the quickest way for Scotland to disappear off the international stage."

And that's coming from a Scot working at the highest level of the game.

Taylor also said that we shouldn't trust FIFA when they say Scotland's position as an international side is safe. A pretty strong warning from a man in the know.

Are Scotland just meant to risk 135 years of Scottish football to play in a poor man's under-23 World Cup?

How does "NO" sound?

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has declared there will be a British team at 2012, but how? Brown (who is also Scottish, by the way) obviously doesn't understand the politics involved.

Which in itself might by why Labour are being whipped by the Conservatives in the current polls!

If Scotland loses its national identity, then so do England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. We would need a British league and British Cups. European football would change forever!

All that for, I repeat, "a poor man's under-23 World Cup"?

No no no.

Amazingly, they're already throwing names around as the First-Team GB manager! Sir Alex Ferguson or David Beckham anyone?

I doubt Ferguson would touch it with a six-foot pole. Beckham, on the other hand, would do anything for such a job.

There was another suggestion on how to fix the situation, however.

Why not play a mini-tournament between the four home nations to decide the British representatives?

In steps Scotland coach George Burley with the obvious!

"The problem with international games is getting dates for them, so it doesn't even come into question" he told Sky Sports news.

Fair enough George, so can we please just kill off this idea now?

It's simple really; Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are not prepared to risk their national identity to play in "a poor man's under-23 World Cup".

There is nothing to gain.

We wouldn't even win!

There is a strong Independence drive in Scotland at the moment, and it may well happen in the not-too-distant future.

So what then?

We break up the newly formed British League and recreate the Scottish FA. UEFA then reforms the European tournaments to award Scottish league and cup winners spots in the continental tournament.

Don't get me wrong, everyone.

I'm very proud to be Scottish. I'm also very proud to be British, and I support the British Olympic team to the max.

I'm also not calling for Scottish Independence.

All I want is a rational decision by the people in charge of football.

Send an English side as Team GB, I'll support them, but just don't risk my countries footballing identity!

Did you know?

Scotland is the second-oldest football association in the world. It was formed in 1873, just one year after the English FA.

The first international match ever played was played at the West of Scotland Cricket Club on the 30th November, 1872 between Scotland and England. The match ended 0-0 in front of a crowd of 4,000.