Celtic Home Nations

[Gribz 841]

Thumbs up to this idea - I like Ecks thinking here of playing England at the new Wembley aswell

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6329523.stm

 

Tentative talks have taken place designed to revive the Home Internationals - but with the Republic of Ireland likely to replace England.

Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic are said to be keen - with England and Wales less so.

 

"I would relish the thought of it," said said Scotland boss Alex McLeish. "I'm not one for meaningless friendlies, but this is different."

 

However, McLeish wants to play England in a friendly at the new Wembley.

 

The English Football Association are compiling a list of friendlies for the new stadium.

 

"If the English FA are thinking about opposition for the new Wembley, I hope we're in their thoughts," said McLeish. "It would be fantastic to go there."

 

 

If England don't take part, we could have a Celtic League with an invitation to the Republic

 

Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez

 

 

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez has confirmed his association's interest in a revived Home Internationals tournament.

 

"IFA chief executive Howard Wells and president Jim Boyce are very much for the Home Internationals," he told the Scotland On Sunday newspaper. "Lobbying is taking place.

 

"I don't think England would partake though, as getting beaten by Northern Ireland leaves the manager's job on the line.

 

"So, if England don't take part, we could have a Celtic League with an invitation to the Republic."

 

The Scottish Football Association stresses that it is "very much in the conceptual stage" but that staging the competition over two years was one possibility.

 

SFA chief executive David Taylor said: "We would like to see some way of introducing some format, some sort of competition.

 

"If we had a different European Championship, with more teams qualifying for the finals, there may be more dates freed up.

 

"This is all speculation because the big difficulty is finding dates in the calendar.

 

"If there were dates then the opportunity may arise.

 

"Certainly, with Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England and maybe even the Republic of Ireland, it's one of those ideas which is still kicking around."

 

An England Football Association spokesman said: "We only have two or three friendlies a year and it's difficult to see how the Home Nations would fit in.

 

"We also try to play non-European opposition to prepare for the World Cup."

 

And a Football Association of Wales spokesman added: "It would be hard to turn down Brazil because we had a Home Nations game."

 

The Home International tournament lasted for a century until 1984.

 

This is someone id welcome the return of. I can only remember the Rous Cup with Scotland and England, but would love to see the home nations like Wales v NI and Scotland v Wales etc even without England. It creates a huge interest and is worth playing for every 2 years.