Football in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom plays its international football as separate Home Nations teams of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Some people, such as politician Tony Banks, have argued for the UK having just one team to represent it for all competitions but all four football associations are very much against such an idea.
This is because qualification is based on the UEFA Under-21 championship, which means it is impossible for Great Britain to qualify as the national teams participate separately in that competition.
The Scottish Football Association was particularly strident in this view, fearing that a single UK team would jeopardise the independent status all four Home Nations enjoy.
One argument is that it would replace so-called "meaningless friendlies" with a proper tournament that would raise the interest of both the players and fans.
However there has been a lack of enthusiasm for such a proposal, particularly from England; as time has passed, The Football Association has grown in commercial power beyond that of the other three home associations, so that it could be claimed that friendlies against major footballing nations from Europe and South America are worth more than playing the home nations.
In December 2006, Lawrie Sanchez suggested that a tournament featuring the three home Celtic nations plus the Republic of Ireland could be organised.
This was further elaborated in February 2007 when Alex McLeish, the newly appointed manager of Scotland, expressed interest in playing against the home nations and the Republic of Ireland.
Accepting that England would probably not be interested in a new Home Championship, he said, "If the English FA are thinking about opposition for the new Wembley, I hope we're in their thoughts."
Both England and Wales were less enthusiastic, stating that with the number of friendlies played each year it would "be difficult to see how the Home Nations would fit in".
Some of the overseas territories have full or associate membership in the corresponding regional federations: The history of women's club football in the United Kingdom dates back to the early 20th century.
The first recorded women's football match in the United Kingdom was played in 1895, between two teams of factory workers.
Despite the progress made in the early days of women's football in the United Kingdom, the sport faced numerous obstacles, including discrimination and a lack of funding.
Despite facing discrimination and lack of funding in the past, women's football in the United Kingdom has seen a significant growth in popularity and success over the years.
Today, the sport boasts a large following with over 150,000 registered female players and has gained significant media coverage and sponsorship.
The Great Britain Women have historically not competed at football in the Summer Olympics for the same reason as the men's team.
The success at London 2012 gave hope for a unified team to complete at Rio 2016 but no agreement between the four football associations could be reached.
Premiership club The New Saints began playing their home matches on the English side of the border in Oswestry in 2007.
More recently, rules have been tightened, with the competitions only open to teams who play in that nation's football league system.
The nature of the governance of the game in the United Kingdom, with four separate associations, has led to the anomaly of clubs based in one of the four nations playing in competitions run by another.
At present, this encompasses the following clubs playing senior football: Berwick Rangers, The New Saints and Derry City are members of the association that runs the competitions in which they participate.
This distinction is important especially where European competition is concerned, and both TNS and Derry City have represented Wales and Ireland several times in Europe.
In 2008, Cardiff City reached the final of the FA Cup, which meant they would have been eligible for one of England's places in Europe had they won.
British clubs have also been runners-up on eleven occasions (Liverpool (3), Manchester United (2), Celtic (1), Leeds United (1), Arsenal (1), Chelsea (1), Tottenham Hotspur (1) and Manchester City (1)) Celtic became the first British club to win the Cup in 1967, beating Italian side Inter, who had won two of the previous three finals, 2–1 in Lisbon.
The first English team to win the competition was Manchester United, who defeated two-time winners Benfica of Portugal 4–1 at Wembley the following year, in 1968.
As a result of the Heysel Stadium disaster of 1985, English clubs (though not those of other British associations) were banned from European competition.
British clubs have also been successful in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the UEFA Cup/Europa League, with a total of ten wins in the two competitions (all English), together with twelve runners-up placings (including three Scottish).
The network also airs domestic games from foreign league and regularly shows La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, and MLS matches.
[20] Sky Sports, by whom they were previously shown, broadcast Nations League and tournament qualification games for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland in addition to other selected international matches.
St George's Park National Football Centre, Burton upon Trent was officially opened on 9 October 2012.
