User:Atban3000/Sandbox/Great Britain U-23s


 * This article is about British representation at Olympic football tournaments. For information about Britain in international football in general, see United Kingdom national football team

The Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic football team is the men's football team that represents the United Kingdom at the Summer Olympic Games (where it competes as Great Britain, currently branded Team GB). The team is organised by the English Football Association (FA) as the footballing representative of the British Olympic Association. The team is not a member of FIFA and only competes in the Olympic Games. In other international football tournaments, the Home Nations of the United Kingdom (England and wales) are represented by their own national teams, a situation which pre-dated the establishment of a GB team.

The team first competed at the FA organised tournament for the 1908 Olympics held in London, which was the first games that featured representative teams using players selected nationally (prior games in 1900 & 1904 used club teams). This team and the two that followed in 1912 and 1920 featured only English amateur players, and is seen by some as merely an extension of the English amateur team, set up in 1906 in response to the rise of the professional game. In this period the team won the gold medal at the 1908 and 1912 tournaments, although exitted at Round 1 in 1920. A dispute between the FA and FIFA over the inclusion of professionals saw the FA withdraw from Olympic football in 1924 and 1928, and saw no football at the Olympics at all in 1930.

After the creation of the FIFA World Cup, it was agreed that Olympic football would become exclusively amateur, leading to the team competing again in the 1936 Games, this time incorporating players from other Home Nations. After the break caused by World War II, the team then competed in every games from 1948 until 1972, albeit failing to qualify for the main tournament after 1960. In this period the team's best performance was 4th place in 1948 at the second Games hosted in London, under manager Matt Busby.

After the FA abolished the distinction between amateur and professional players in 1974, it stopped entering a team. By the 1992 games after various rule changes, teams could compete at the games using professionals, but restricted to under 23 years old, with only three over-23 players allowed per squad. Despite this, Great Britain did not enter a football team again until London won the right to host the 2012 games. The FA are once again organising the team, with Stuart Pearce appointed manager in October 2011. A women's team will also compete for the first time at the 2012 Games.

Origins
The FA was formed in London 1863, when thirteen teams met to draw up a shared rule list for football, in order to facilitate matches between clubs. The question of the geographical remit of this organisation does not appear to have been asked, with the FA being formed before the rise of international football. The first football matches between national teams were arranged by the FA, who invited English and Scottish players to form representative teams. The Scottish teams were made up almost entirely of Scottish residents in England and in order to encourage more Scottish based players to compete, an organisation in Scotland was sought to form the Scottish team. For the 1872 game between Scotland and England in Glasgow, Queen's Park Football Club took on this role, and this game is now recognised as the first international match. Within a year, the Scottish Football Association (SFA) was founded to facilitate these matches, and to organise football in Scotland more broadly. The third national football association, the Football Association of Wales was founded in 1876 and a fourth, the Irish Football Association, (IFA), was founded in 1880.

The practice of playing internationals between the four countries of the United Kingdom (also known as the home nations) was thus developed before football associations were developed elsewhere in the world and, no 'United Kingdom football association' was ever formed. Outside of the UK, the first national associations were formed in 1889 (in Denmark and the Netherlands), and these also began to pick their own national teams. When football was included at the 1900 Olympic Games, however, many nations were still struggling to raise a team, and so club teams entered instead. Upton Park represented the UK, winning the gold medal.

1908–1936
For the 1908 Olympic Games in London, the FA persuaded the IOC to include a football tournament, which they organised. A team, made up entirely of English players, was entered. Some sources continue to refer to this team as the England national amateur football team, whilst others still simply label all participations as Great Britain. Although the team competed as the United Kingdom and are listed as such, the official match report refers to "the English team". An arrangement was reached with the other Home Nations' football associations, under which a Great Britain team consisting of amateur players organised by the FA would enter future tournaments.

Great Britain won the first Olympics football tournament in 1908, which was hosted in London. The football tournament was organised by the FA and all the matches were played at White City Stadium. Great Britain won all three of their matches, defeating Sweden and Netherlands in the first two rounds. They met Denmark in the final, defeating them 2–0 with goals from Vivian Woodward and Frederick Chapman. The team repeated this success at the 1912 Games. Again, Britain won all three matches and defeated Denmark in the final, this time 4–2. Woodward, who scored in the previous final, was captain for this tournament.

At the 1920 Summer Games, Britain lost in the first round in a surprise defeat to Norway. Britain had played only amateur players, while other nations selected their team from all available players. The tournament formed part of a rift which developed between the FA, who wanted the Olympics to remain an amateur only competition, and FIFA, who were keen on having a full football world championship. This resulted in the FA leaving FIFA, as well as withdrawing from the 1924 and 1928 football tournaments. Eventually, however, an agreement was reached in which the Olympic football tournament would be for amateur players only, with the FIFA World Cup created to include all players, professional and amateur.

There was no football tournament at the 1932 games, so Britain's return to Olympic football came at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Great Britain were defeated in the quarter-finals, losing 5–4 to Poland.

1948–1970
Following the Second World War, Great Britain competed in all Olympic football tournaments from 1948 through to 1972. The 1948 tournament, which was hosted in London, was the team's most successful. By this time, it was recognised that Britain's amateur players were not of the same quality as they had been in earlier years, due to the rise of the professional game. By contrast, teams in nations which had not yet developed professional leagues were able to field their strongest sides. Manager Matt Busby picked a squad made up of players from all of the 'home nations', and Britain progressed to the semi-final with wins over the Netherlands and France. Having lost the semi-final to Yugoslavia, Britain once again faced Denmark. This time, however, they were defeated 5–3 and missed out on a bronze medal. Wembley Stadium hosted Great Britain's final two matches, though they also played at Craven Cottage and Highbury.

After 1948, Great Britain were never a significant threat at the Olympics again. They were eliminated after losing their opening match to Luxembourg in 1952, and qualified for the 1956 only after other teams withdrew, before being beaten by Bulgaria in the quarter-finals. Their final appearance at an Olympic Games came in 1960. The squad was again selected from all of the home nations, with matches between the national amateur sides being used to chose a best 19. Great Britain were eliminated in the first round, losing one, drawing one and winning one of their three matches. After that Great Britain failed to qualify for the next three Olympics, with their final match being a 5–0 qualifying round defeat by Bulgaria in 1971 following a 1–0 victory at Wembley Stadium against the same team.

In 1974, the Football Association stopped recognising a distinction between professionals and amateurs, with all player subsequently registered simply as 'players', whether paid or unpaid. This ended the existence of the England national amateur football team, which had always been the basis for the British Olympic team. As such, the FA stopped entering a football team into Olympic competition.

1972 to 2008
For the 1984 Summer Olympics, professional footballers were allowed to compete at the Olympics for the first time. Initially, European and South American teams were banned from playing players who had competed in the FIFA World Cup, but from the 1992 Summer Olympics eligibility for all nations was restricted to players aged under 23, except that three players of any age are allowed in the squad. In Europe, the qualification for the Olympic football tournament is the UEFA Under–21 Championship, which each of the Home Nations enter. On three occasions, teams from Great Britain have finished in the qualifying positions:


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 * 1996 –
 * 2008 –

The British Olympic Association initially refused to rule out the possibility of entry for the 2008 Summer Olympics, but a team was not entered. England qualified for the Olympics by reaching the semi-finals of the 2007 Under–21 Championship, but Italy took their vacated place by winning a play-off match against Portugal. The England women's team also qualified for the 2008 Olympics, through their performance in the 2007 World Cup. They were denied a place at the Olympics because the other three Home Nations refused to give their consent.

Reformation for London 2012
Due to the success of the London 2012 Olympic bid, the United Kingdom gained the right to enter a team in the football tournament as host nation. The British Olympic Association (BOA) stated it would enter a football team, but the Scottish Football Association (SFA) refused even to attend meetings at which the Home Nations were to discuss the possibility and the Football Association of Wales (FAW) withdrew from the negotiations. The Irish Football Association (representing Northern Ireland) stated in October 2007 that they would not take part in a unified team, leaving the English Football Association as the only association willing to take part. The SFA's opposition to the plans were rooted primarily in the fear that the Home Nations would be forced to field a combined team in all competitions. This would mean the loss of the special status of the Home Nations, established under FIFA's constitution. {| Various fans, politicians and sports-people all gave their opinions with regards to the creation of a team. A 2005 opinion poll published by the BOA claimed that a majority of Scots supported the creation of a British team for the 2012 Olympics. A joint statement issued by the official fan clubs of all four Home Nations voiced their opposition to the plan. Various prominent politicians also offered their opinion as to whether there should be a British team in the 2012 Olympics. Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated during the 2008 Olympics that he wanted a British team and would work towards that happening, although he acknowledged that it could affect the autonomy of the Home Nations. First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond then stated his opposition to a British team, arguing that Brown must be "seriously out of touch with Scotland" to support it.
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FIFA President Sepp Blatter initially assured each of the British Associations that their status would not be affected by fielding a combined team in 2012. The SFA refused to change its position, arguing that Blatter's personal opinion and permission might not matter once he has left office, and that they did not wish to jeopardise their status. Blatter seemed to change his view in March 2008, when he stated that "they should enter only a team composed of players from England" and he suggested that the independent status of the four British associations could be harmed by a unified team. UEFA chief executive David Taylor, a former chief executive of the SFA, said in August 2008 that a British Olympic team would threaten the existence of the individual home nations. Taylor also said that the unique status of the Home Nations had come under attack before from other FIFA members, and that it was "difficult to see what guarantees could be given" to protect that status. At a conference held in conjunction with the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, the prospect of a UK team for the 2012 Olympics was discussed by the FIFA Executive Committee, who gave their approval.

The executive committee confirmed that the participation in the 2012 London Olympic Games of a single team representing Great Britain would not affect the existing individual status of the four British football associations. For the Olympic Games, they have to play in one entity. The ball is now in their turf. We expect a solution that will be presented to us for the month of March.

From the world of sport, world 400m hurdles champion Dai Greene said that he felt that there should not be an Olympic football tournament because the Olympics is not the pinnacle of that sport. He also expressed fears that coverage of the football team would overshadow interest in the other competitors. Sebastian Coe, the director of the 2012 Olympics, regularly spoke out in support of the team.

A compromise was eventually reached between the four associations, whereby a squad of English players only would represent the United Kingdom. The football associations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales sent a joint letter to FIFA stating that they would not participate, but that they would not object to England participating alone. This agreement was challenged by the BOA, who wanted to select players from all four countries and claimed it would be potentially discriminatory to only select English players. Jim Boyce stated that there is no legal restriction on players being selected by the BOA and the SFA admitted that it would have no legal grounds to prevent Scottish players from participating. It was then confirmed that the FA intended to select players from outside England. Eligible non-English players such as Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey expressed their desire to play in the squad, having posed for a photo-shoot wearing the replica shirts of the team.

Pre-tournament preparations
The FA announced in October 2011 that Stuart Pearce would be the manager. After this announcement, Pearce drew up an initial long-list of players who he wanted to consider for the squad, and wrote to all of these players to inform them of his choice. Pearce said that players who did not want to be included would be able to inform him of their wishes at that stage. It was stated in December 2011 that none of the players selected for the England squad for the 2012 UEFA European Championships would be selected, in order to avoid player fatigue. In January 2012, it was revealed that 191 players had been contacted, with 7 declining to be considered for the team. A further cut was announced in April 2012, with the shortlist of eligible players reduced to around 80. The final pre-tournament cut occurred in early June, when a squad of 35 players was submitted to FIFA.

Great Britain were placed in group A for the Olympic tournament prior to the draw. The draw was held on 24 April 2012 and added Uruguay, UAE and Senegal to Great Britain's group. The details of a pre-tournament friendly were announced a few days later. Although two friendlies had been predicted, only one match against Brazil was scheduled for the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough on 20 July. The game will be part of a double-header alongside Great Britain women against Sweden.

On 28 June, it was announced that David Beckham would not be in the squad, although Micah Richards, Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy would be included as the three over-age players. The full squad for the Olympic Games was announced on 2 July 2012 containing 13 English and 5 Welsh players but no Scottish or Northern Irish players were selected.

Colours
The official kit for the 2012 Olympics, designed by Stella McCartney and manufactured by Adidas, was unveiled alongside the uniform for all Team GB Olympic competitors in March. The front of the shirt is modelled on the right-hand side of a union flag, with the colours consisting of white and various shades of blue in keeping with the design of the uniforms in other sports. The back of the shirt is navy blue, as are the shorts and socks. The kit has a red trim. The change kit is pale blue and white, with varying shades displaying the same union flag design as the home kit. The crest is on the left breast of the shirt, and consists of a white shield with the generic Team GB logo in blue, with the words London 2012 below it.

Composition
The composition of the team has varied over time. All players in the 1908, 1912, 1920 and 1956 squads were English, while in other years players from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales were all included. The 2012 squad contains 13 English and 5 Welsh players but no Scottish or Northern Irish players.

London 2012 squad
The Great Britain squad for the 2012 Olympic Games was announced on 2 July 2012, with Ryan Giggs named as captain.

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