The United Kingdom national football team is a
football team
A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...
that represents the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Despite football being the most popular sport in the country, the team has not played since 1965 as separate teams represent each
home nation
Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...
(
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
and
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
) in all major international
football tournament such as the
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
and
UEFA European Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...
, as well as various friendlies. It is the home nations which are FIFA affiliated and not the United Kingdom as a whole.
The United Kingdom national team has only played in friendlies and other ceremonial games. The one place where the United Kingdom has competed in a major football tournament as a whole is at the
Summer Olympic Games, where it is represented by the
Great Britain Olympic football team
The Great Britain men's 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 Footb ...
, which despite the name can also include Northern Ireland players, who can choose to represent either the British or Irish teams.
A United Kingdom football team participates regularly at the
Summer Universiade
The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and " Olympiad".
The Universiade is referred ...
football tournament.
Background
When the world's first football association,
The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...
(FA), was formed in 1863, its geographical remit was not clear: there was no specification of whether it covered just England, all of the United Kingdom, the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
or even the entire world. The question was answered when the
Scottish Football Association (SFA) was founded in 1873.
The third national football association, the
Football Association of Wales
The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Welsh national football team, its corresponding women's team, as well as the Welsh ...
(FAW) was founded in 1876 and a fourth, the
Irish Football Association
The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became the Northern Ireland national football team.
...
(IFA), was founded in 1880. Football therefore developed with separate associations and national teams for each of the
countries of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK), since 1922, comprises three constituent countries and a region: England, Scotland, and Wales (which collectively make up the region of Great Britain), as well as Northern Ireland, ...
or "
Home Nations
Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...
".
Representative international matches between England and Scotland were played
as far back as 1872, and the Home Nations formed the
International Football Association Board
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is the body that determines the Laws of the Game of association football. IFAB was founded in 1886 to agree standardised Laws for international competition, and has since acted as the "guardia ...
(IFAB) in 1886 to co-ordinate matches between their teams.
FIFA was formed by non-British associations in 1904, and by 1913 the Home Nations were in FIFA and FIFA was on the IFAB. In 1921, around the time of the
partition of Ireland
The partition of Ireland ( ga, críochdheighilt na hÉireann) was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. ...
, the
Football Association of Ireland (FAI) split from the IFA and disputed its authority.
In 1923, an agreement between the IFAB and FIFA meant the FAI would represent the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...
and the IFA
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
; also, FIFA agreed that relationships between the Home Nations would be outside its remit.
[
] England and Scotland separately played internationals against various European teams, but the Home Nations withdrew from FIFA in 1928, in a dispute over amateurism, and did not rejoin until 1946, missing the first three
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
s.
England have been the only Home Nation to have any major success internationally, winning the
1966 World Cup
The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...
. Scotland have qualified for the final tournaments of eight World Cups and three
European Championships, but have never progressed beyond the group stage of any international tournament. Wales reached the semi-finals of the
European Championships in 2016, and Wales have qualified for World Cup finals twice - in
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
and
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
while Northern Ireland haven't qualified for a World Cup Finals since
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
**Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal enter ...
.
This is sometimes raised as an argument in favour of a single United Kingdom national team: based on statistical analysis. In June 2006, it was estimated that a United Kingdom national team would have had a one-third greater chance of winning the
2006 World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
, than England did at the tournament's outset. Opponents of the plan argue that the existing footballing identities of the fans of the Home Nations should not be sacrificed simply to stand a better chance of success.
There has been limited support for the creation of a permanent British national team. Although often hypothetical in nature, such a proposal has been put forward by prominent government ministers, including
Jack Straw
John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...
and
Tony Banks.
In July 2014, after England performed poorly in the
2014 World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...
, Conservative MP
Laurence Robertson
Laurence Anthony Robertson (born 29 March 1958) is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Tewkesbury since 1997 and served as Chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee for seven years, from 201 ...
submitted an early day motion, calling for a ''United Kingdom Football Team''.
Matches
Despite this, the Home Nations have previously united to play two friendly internationals against '
Rest of Europe' representative sides. On both occasions, they included all four Home Nations:
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
and
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
(despite Northern Ireland's participation, both matches were played under the name of 'Great Britain').
*10 May 1947;
Hampden Park,
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
: Great Britain 6–1 Rest of Europe
[Great Britain's Easy Win Over The Rest Of Europe]
video footage from official Pathé News
Pathé News was a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 to 1970 in the United Kingdom. Its founder, Charles Pathé, was a pioneer of moving pictures in the silent era. The Pathé News archive is known today as British Pathé. Its col ...
archive
*13 August 1955;
Windsor Park
Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual renta ...
,
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
: Great Britain 1–4 Rest of Europe
[England Player Honours – International Representative Teams](_blank)
England Football Online, 14 February 2005. Retrieved on 5 July 2006.
RSSSF
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around th ...
1947: the Match of the Century
The 1947 game, dubbed the 'Match of the Century', was played to celebrate the return of the Home Nations to
FIFA, which they had left in 1920.
For the match, played at Scotland's Hampden Park in front of 135,000 spectators, the Great Britain side wore a navy blue strip in honour of the host association. The gate receipts, totalling £35,000, helped boost the finances of FIFA, which had been damaged by the lack of competition during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
On that occasion, the Great Britain team consisted of:
:
Frank Swift
Frank Victor Swift (26 December 1913 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who played as a goalkeeper for Manchester City and England. After starting his career with local clubs near his home town of Blackpool, in 1932 he was signed b ...
(England),
George Hardwick
George Francis Moutry Hardwick (2 February 1920 – 19 April 2004) was an English footballer, manager and coach. During his time as an active player, he was a left-sided defender for Middlesbrough. He was also a member of the England national f ...
(England),
Billy Hughes (Wales),
Archie Macaulay
Archibald Renwick Macaulay (30 July 1915 – 10 June 1993) was a Scottish football player and manager.
Playing career
Born in Falkirk, Macaulay started his playing career in junior football and joined Rangers in 1933, where he became a regular ...
(Scotland),
Jackie Vernon (Ireland),
Ron Burgess (Wales),
Stanley Matthews
Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while sti ...
(England),
Wilf Mannion
Wilfrid James Mannion (16 May 1918 – 14 April 2000) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward, making over 350 senior appearances for Middlesbrough. He also played international football for England. With his blonde ...
(England),
Tommy Lawton
Thomas Lawton (6 October 1919 – 6 November 1996) was an English football player and manager. A strong centre-forward with excellent all-round attacking skills, he was able to head the ball with tremendous power and accuracy.
Born in F ...
(England),
Billy Steel
William Steel (1 May 1923 – 13 May 1982) was a Scottish professional footballer who played for St Mirren, Morton, Derby County, Dundee and the Scotland national team.
One of Scotland's greatest inside forwards, Billy Steel combined a bril ...
(Scotland),
Billy Liddell
William Beveridge Liddell (10 January 1922 – 3 July 2001) was a Scottish footballer, who played his entire professional career with Liverpool. He signed with the club as a teenager in 1938 and retired in 1961, having scored 228 goals in 534 ap ...
(Scotland).
1955: Irish FA's anniversary
The 1955 game was played to celebrate the
Irish Football Association
The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became the Northern Ireland national football team.
...
's seventy-fifth anniversary. For this reason, the match was held at Belfast's
Windsor Park
Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual renta ...
, and the British team took to the field wearing Northern Ireland's green strip. The Great Britain team fielded comprised:
:
Jack Kelsey
Alfred John "Jack" Kelsey (19 November 1929 – 18 March 1992) was a Welsh international football goalkeeper, who also played for Arsenal. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers to play for Wales.
Early life
Jack Kelsey was born at ...
(Wales),
Peter Sillett
Richard Peter Tudor Sillett (1 February 1933 – 13 March 1998) was an English Association football, footballer. He played for Chelsea F.C., Chelsea and Southampton F.C., Southampton as a right-back, and made three appearances for England natio ...
(England),
Joe McDonald (Scotland),
Danny Blanchflower (Northern Ireland),
John Charles
William John Charles (27 December 1931 – 21 February 2004) was a Welsh footballer who played as a centre-forward or as a centre-back. Best known for his first stint at Leeds United and Juventus, he was rated by many as the greatest all-ro ...
(Wales),
Bertie Peacock (Northern Ireland),
Stanley Matthews
Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while sti ...
(England),
Bobby Johnstone
Robert Johnstone (7 September 1929 – 22 August 2001) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Selkirk, Hibernian, Manchester City, Oldham Athletic and Witton Albion. Johnstone also represented Scotland and the Scottish League.
Johnston ...
(Scotland),
Roy Bentley
Roy Thomas Frank Bentley (17 May 1924 – 20 April 2018) was an English football player and manager.
A former forward, Bentley played 367 games for Chelsea and captained the club to their first League Championship in the 1954–55 season. H ...
(England),
Jimmy McIlroy
James McIlroy (25 October 1931 – 20 August 2018) was a Northern Ireland international footballer, who played for Glentoran, Burnley, Stoke City and Oldham Athletic. He was regarded as one of Burnley's greatest players, having played 497 matc ...
(Northern Ireland),
Billy Liddell
William Beveridge Liddell (10 January 1922 – 3 July 2001) was a Scottish footballer, who played his entire professional career with Liverpool. He signed with the club as a teenager in 1938 and retired in 1961, having scored 228 goals in 534 ap ...
(Scotland).
Other matches
An All British XI played the
Football League at
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a association football, football stadium in the Walton, Liverpool, Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area ...
, Liverpool on 4 November 1939. The match, finishing 3-3 was on behalf of the
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...
Fund, raising £1,214.
Two other games were played between Wales and a team representing the rest of the United Kingdom, with players from England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The first match, in 1951, commemorated the seventy-fifth anniversary of the
Football Association of Wales
The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Welsh national football team, its corresponding women's team, as well as the Welsh ...
. The second match, in 1969, commemorated the
investiture
Investiture (from the Latin preposition ''in'' and verb ''vestire'', "dress" from ''vestis'' "robe") is a formal installation or ceremony that a person undergoes, often related to membership in Christian religious institutes as well as Christian k ...
of the
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
. In both cases, the England, Scotland and Northern Ireland select team played under the name of 'Rest of the United Kingdom'.
*3 December 1951;
Ninian Park
Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixtu ...
,
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
: Wales 3–2 Rest of the United Kingdom
*21 July 1969;
Ninian Park
Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixtu ...
,
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
: Wales 0–1 Rest of the United Kingdom
There was also a match played at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
in 1973 to commemorate the entry of the United Kingdom,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and Denmark into the
European Economic Community.
This match, called "The Three" v "The Six", involved a select team from those three countries playing against a selection of players from the
original six members of the EEC: West Germany, Belgium, Netherlands,
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
, France and Italy.
Ten of the thirteen players used by "The Three" were from the United Kingdom, with only
Johnny Giles
Michael John Giles (born 6 November 1940) is an Irish former association football player and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s. After retiring from management in 1985, Giles served as t ...
and two Danish players representing the other two countries.
Henning Jensen
Henning Jensen (17 August 1949 – 4 December 2017) was a Danish football player who played professionally for German club Borussia Mönchengladbach, Spanish club Real Madrid and Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam where he won the domestic league champi ...
and
Colin Stein
Colin Anderson Stein (born 10 May 1947) is a Scottish former footballer, who played for Hibernian, Rangers (two spells), Coventry City and Kilmarnock. Stein was part of the Rangers team that won the 1971–72 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and he ...
scored as The Three won 2–0.
A Great British team lined up against another Rest of Europe XI in 1965 for
Stanley Matthews
Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while sti ...
' testimonial. Europe won 6–4. A
Scotland XI team played a Rest of Great Britain team in a
testimonial match
A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...
for
Alan Mullery
Alan Patrick Mullery (born 23 November 1941) is an English former footballer and manager. After enjoying a successful career with Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur, and the England national team in the 1960s and 1970s, he became a manager working with ...
; Scotland were defeated 3–2 at
Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against ...
on 22 March 1976.
Results
At the Olympics
From the
1900 Summer Olympics to the
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
, and again for the
2012 Summer Olympics, the UK has competed in either the
Olympic football tournament
Football at the Summer Olympics, referred to as the Olympic Football Tournament, has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except 1896 (the inaugural Games) and 1932 (in an attempt to promote the new FIFA Wo ...
or its qualifying competition. During the first tournament, played as a
demonstration sport at the
1900 Summer Olympics but retrospectively accredited by the
IOC
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
,
Upton Park F.C. represented the UK and won gold. Following this Great Britain won gold medals at the
1908
Events
January
* January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica.
* January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 4 ...
and
1912 Games.
All 'Great Britain' Olympic football teams were organised by
The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...
(FA) with the acquiescence of the other Home Nations'
football associations, and after the FA scrapped the distinction between
professional
A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...
and
amateur players in 1974, no more British Olympic teams were entered.
Although professional players were allowed into the Olympics from 1992, no British teams were entered because the individual home nations, rather than a unified team, participated in the qualifying competition.
The 2012 Summer Olympics were hosted by London, which meant that Great Britain qualified as right of being host nation. After much discussion between the Home Nations and opposition from the
Northern Irish
Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...
,
Scottish and
Welsh associations, men's and women's teams organised by the English FA were entered to the 2012 Olympics.
For the 2020 Games in Tokyo, an agreement was reached between the four FAs for a women's team to complete in the event. The side reached the quarter finals of the tournament.
At the Universiade
At the
Universiade
The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and " Olympiad".
The Universiade is referred ...
, the United Kingdom team has won three
medal
A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...
s: two
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
medals in
2011 and
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
and a
bronze medal in
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...
.
References
{{National sports teams of the United Kingdom
Football in the United Kingdom
European national and official selection-teams not affiliated to FIFA
Former national association football teams