Cracker they play international football for Wales which is recognised as an independant football nation by FIFA, Team GB is a team they roll out when it suits them, which has no recognition in world football, by playing for that team against the wishes of our national association, which may i add is affiliated to FIFA , it is well documented that there is a very real risk to our autonomy within world football, these players have quite clearly shown where their interests lie, and it is not with the Welsh national team, so that puts in to question their loyalty to Wales.
Valley in footballing terms your country is Wales not Great Britain or the UK so no they are not representing their country, lets hope they will be as excited about going to support the token Welshman in a United Kingdom team at Wembley stadium if this all goes tits up, because that what you will be doing. because for the likes of joe allen and neil taylor their international careers will be over.
MabonJack I know you are passionate about them not being in TeamGB , but with respects we have had all the discussion about this in other threads. We disagree on this subject, I know where you stand, you know where I stand. Can we just agree to disagree and move on ?
Totally agree dill, beckham should have gone instead of a real trator.... I'm sure this is team GB that are playing in the Olympics and as all the players are British then they are all have the right to represent britain like every other sport that will be taking part.....is Dai green wrong to represent GB or should he only represent wales... stop clutching at straws and realise its a great honour to be chosen as a british subject to represent Great Britain......not many can say that....
Makes me laugh a bit to see people convientily jump into bed with the FAW & Blatter sometimes . Who cares if it something rolled out once in a while , gives players a chance at a bit of recognition they might never receive from there home country . Didn't Great Britain win the first few Olympic gold medals at the turn of last century ? . And if they did was there any players from Wales on the team back then ?
Look at it like this ... two things happened today to totally **** up the heads of the FAW and the Cardiff mob. 1) Swansea dominates the Team GB. 2) Coleman - Swansea boy - manages the Welsh National Team, and has asked Hartson - another Jack bastard - to join his staff (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18670374) They must be having fits. Jacks rule - let's just revel in it, national politics aside, because quite frankly it appears that Wales is not united otherwise they (FAW / Cardiff) would be proud of our club, what we've accomplished and where we are. But FAW / Cardiff mob / media other than the locals will take any opportunity to snipe. We are Jacks. Jacks rule!
Cracker my loyalty is to the country of my birth and always will be, the whole argument from the FAW is not to jump in to bed with blatter, and the english fa, that is what the argument is about, great britain and the uk do not have football team they never have, those teams do not exist
Yankee i dont know if you are a welshman, but this is about our national team not swansea city and as a welshman it is a worrying development, that may in a short while come home to roost,
Mabon you country of birth is The United Kingdom, look at your passport or driving licence, or the money in your pocket or who governs us. Wales is a principality and part of the UK it's not a country.
It's just an opportunity for sportsmen and sportswomen to come together and play/perform as GB rather than England, Scotland, Wales & N.Ireland. It's the same for all sports at the Olympics whether you're an athlete, cyclist, boxer, synchronised swimmer or whatever. I don't get all the aggravation over it tbh.
valley the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland is not a country it is a soverign state Which has a constituent country called WALES and that is where i was born, but in footballing terms Wales is a country within FIFA, you will not find a team called UK anywhere within FIFA I think you will find that Wales is a constituent country of the UK the same as scotland ,n ireland and england, the principality tag was quietly repeeled in parliament in the eightiesl
Welshman .... Yes I am, but I am not so myopic, insular, and insecure to think that we are at risk care of losing our football independence. If we lose ours with Scotland and Northern Ireland, then so does England .... because England wouldn't be able to complete as England they'd have to slum it up with the rest of us from the hinter lands and compete as Team GB in UEFA and FIFA tournaments ... and do you really think they'd let that happen. There's nothing so special about England that they could continue to stand alone if the rest of us fall. And .. as things stand, if we added some real tikki-takka Welsh talent to that anaemic hoof ball squad that England currently field the rest of UEFA and FIFA would have to watch out, cause we'd start to win tournaments and do you really think they'd let that happen.
Glad for the 3 of them....can only see one being a starter though and that is Allen. Now I'm all for them having a Team GB for the Olympics (yes timing is an issue as it is so close to the start of the season) but hell let them have a pop at the international stage...likelihood is is that it will be the biggest stage they will probably get to play in. As for the argument about the autonomy of the FAW/Welsh national team etc, I understand the stance against the TeamGB but, purely being devil's advocate, surely it is equally detrimental for the autonomy/recognition of the FAW etc that the 4 (possibly 5) biggest clubs in the country DON'T play in the Welsh League system, with the majority of them wanting NOTHING to do with the FAW!! In the long term that surely would be more detrimental than the one off tournament for a special occasion???
I think you will find that the UK is a country, it is a member of the UN, it has it's own parliament that can set laws, it's own money. And no matter what you say Mabon you are part of it, the same as majority of us on here. I am proud to be Welsh as well as British, there is nothing wrong with that. To be frank you are going on all the negatives on being British, and nothing on the positives, and that in my opinion is something you are entitled to do, but you are stuffing this anti British thing down our throats
my passport says im British and therefore i if i was any good could play for GB just like any other GB subject, It has nothing to do what part of GB you were born, all that is required is that you were born in the united kingdom and as far as i can see all those who have been selected have the right of birth to represent great Britain....I'm proud of them for reaching the accolade in the highest order of not only representing wales but one step higher representing Britain in the sport they are in whether its Joe Allen or dai green.
Do you think the big guns in FIFA give a toss about england, if Oceana and concacaf and the african nations start to flex their muscles which they have started to do things will be very different, just look back to englands world cup bid that will tell you the answer. Yankee i make it a point of not watching England games unless they are playing Wales of course
identity there is no accolade higher than representing your country Wales in football, you are aware that the olympic tournament is an under 23 competition , and you are saying that the olympic tournament is a step up from playing for Wales in a world cup or european championship tournament. i beg to differ
Exactly Superswan and sadly if you saw the news today about soldiers killed in afghan they were British services personnel, and sadly yet more are killed for nothing in my opinion. But they represented our country which is the united kingdom, and two of them were welsh. Sorry for bringing that here, but our armed services represent the whole country, the same for our police, ambulance services and fire brigade. And our athletes in the Olympics represent us all, there is enough bad stuff in the world as it is, so let's celebrate being British .
Well I for one am proud of all our lads, and Caulker as well. It nice to see our club and players get this recognition, for our style of play. I'm not going to get into the debate about Great Britain and Wales, the why's and wherefore. I'm Welsh and proud of it, but I'm also British. I'm really looking forward to going to Wembley to see team GB, and will cheer the whole team on. I will where my Swans shirt there with pride, to support our boys. Let's all get behind the team as this can only raise the Swansea's profile even more.
