Home Nations Championships - Worth Bringing Back?

[The Doctor]

I meant the Home Nations, back in 1984.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983%E2%80%9384_British_Home_Championship

 

This match has been a right advert for bringing them back hasn't it?

 

Ah, definitely - this has been a cracker of a match.

 

Imagine it at Hampden though, Wembley never generates an atmosphere - only noise comes from that ****ing band and, if the visiting team are utter nutjobs from the other side of the wall, visiting fans. Get it up where the home fans actually occasionally make some noise and it'd be a cracker to go to.

[Rincewind]

The lat one 29 years ago? I used to look forward to them

[Guest Bilo]

BRING THE BUGGERS BACK! 

[ADK]

It'd be good if it was an actual tournament. I'd like us to do that simply because FIFA are making such a mess of the international tournaments.

[Kitchandro]

No. There's too many friendlies as it is and I couldnt care less about the other home nations. Argentina and Germany are the big games for England these days and even then, if theyre not at the World Cup there isn't that much interest in them (though I did love that 3-2 win against the Argies a few years ago).

 

Tonight may have been a very good football match but I haven't even been bothered to tune into the highlights. Maybe it's different for people who are really into England but there can't be too many of them around these days.

[Pride_Of_The_Midlands]

Sounded like a great atmosphere.

[Finnegan]

Yeah okay, you had an okay game against Scotland.

We all got nil together in Dublin, in an empty stadium, with Bale, Ramseyand Collins "injured." That's the reality, chaps.

[Jordan]

It would take a lot to get interest in a home nations tournament back to where it was two or three generations ago, but I've got a few ideas that may make it a little more interesting for fans:

-Hold it either every two or every four years

-Play the tournament on three dates in three separate stadiums (say, Wembley, Hampden, and the Millenium Stadium)

-Have each match day be a double-header, where one ticket gets you in to both games on the night.

Scotland vs England in Glasgow, Wales vs England in Cardiff, and England vs Ireland or Northern Ireland at Wembley would sell enough tickets with a few more sold to the other fans that the crowds wouldn't be so bad (certainly not Nations Cup 2011 bad).

However, this would only work in a 4-team tournament, so it couldn't have both Ireland and Northern Ireland.

[Guest Bilo]

It would take a lot to get interest in a home nations tournament back to where it was two or three generations ago, but I've got a few ideas that may make it a little more interesting for fans:

-Hold it either every two or every four years

-Play the tournament on three dates in three separate stadiums (say, Wembley, Hampden, and the Millenium Stadium)

-Have each match day be a double-header, where one ticket gets you in to both games on the night.

Scotland vs England in Glasgow, Wales vs England in Cardiff, and England vs Ireland or Northern Ireland at Wembley would sell enough tickets with a few more sold to the other fans that the crowds wouldn't be so bad (certainly not Nations Cup 2011 bad).

However, this would only work in a 4-team tournament, so it couldn't have both Ireland and Northern Ireland.

 

It didn't anyway after Irish independence; British nations only competed.

[Leicesterpool]

Waste of time, besides England are way too busy! 

[Jordan]

It didn't anyway after Irish independence; British nations only competed.

Of course... I was going to mention that if this tournament were to be revived, and the Wembley/FA cash cow were involved, I would be certain that Ireland would want in. I accidentally omitted that thought from my post, though.

[Bob Weasel Fox]

Yes for me

[Les-TA-Jon]

I totally understand all of the barriers for this to happen - i.e:

 

- Potential for crowd trouble

- Low attendances

- Finding room for the fixtures etc

 

But I think it's crazy that we've got England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland - which are all football mad countries and all so geographically close - and yet we never play each other. 

 

When we played Scotland the other day, wasn't that the first time in 14 years?! We all love watching derby games, whether it's Leicester vs Forest/Derby, Derby vs Forest, Man U vs Man City, Tottenham vs Arsenal etc, but we never get to see the home nations playing each other.

 

You could either do it every 2 or 3 years, in between Euros and World Cups (which none of the others ever qualify for anyhow!) or as others have suggested you could do it over the course of the season, with a round of fixtures here and there, much like international breaks. 

 

You could even reduce the worries of the club sides, by adding rules to the squads - i.e all players 23 or under, plus three 23 or over. 

[Super_horns]

I know there will be worries about crowd trouble but it seemed to pass without any trouble on Wednesday and whilst I know they won't be in it against the Republic too.