I'd add that if it's going to be a 24 team format then give Germany, Spain and a few others automatic entry. Unrealistic and wouldn't make anyone any money but would make sense.
It's a money-making expansion, UEFA charge membership fees, entry fees, match fees and receive very large 'largesse' from the participating FAs, it's a gravy train second only to FIFA...
Not that bloody post, this one: It was me at me at my humble and contrite best. Not a bad character trait if I do say so myself. In fact, owing to that effort on my behalf, a modicum of gratitude would not be out of line here, Stanley.
I've been in Gibraltar too and it certainly wasn't a toilet as you said before. Gibraltar is not a Monaco i'll give you that but its quite nice place to spend day if you are around.
I find that you could be stood in a landfill site and if the Sun is shining brightly in the sky, you'd reckon its not a bad spot.
Why thank you, kind and learned comrade. I must have had too much Guinness to spot it last night. My posts usually take exactly as long as my (admittedly feeble) typing skills allow me to write them, no real thinking through beforehand, so sometimes I don't express myself in quite the right words, which is what happened yesterday with all that nationality stuff.......
Each to his own Igor, it was a bit too 'Ye Olde England' in Spain for me, and I'm not a fan of aggressive monkeys either.
I do agree to some extent Watford, but if we did that then how would those teams improve ?? As a teenager i remember many times seeing Turkey get thumped 8-0 at the old Wembley...and look at them now.
Im not so keen about the sun but beer was good there and few beautiful senoritas as a company didnt done any harm either......Not a bad place if you ask me. More like a piece of britannia but with better climate.
Playing more 'competitive' games against similar quality teams has to be better for them that getting stuffed. A country with Turkey's resources should always catch up eventually as the larger minnows such as Kazakhstan should some day.
You've got a fair point there mate. Just it all seems a little bit 'elitist' to omit the smaller sides from competition.
interesting draw for Finland too, maybe we finally have a chance to get to the finals from group F Greece Hungary Romania Finland Northern Ireland Faroe Islands It will be tough, but Greece/Hungary are beatable. Romania always difficult. Have to get a good start to the campaign. Did you know? It took Finland 19 UEFA European Championship qualifiers to record their first win, beating Greece 3-0 and following that up with a 2-1 triumph over Hungary at the start of their 1980 campaign.
Quite a few dumb ass comments on Gibraltar here, I lived very close to and have worked in Gibraltar for a couple of years and some of the remarks made on here are way off the mark and indeed would insult the few QPR supporting Gibbos that I know. As for resembling a toilet, well most of the towns and boroughs you guys live in would give it a run for its money. Without turning this into a political thread you should read about the history of the Napoleonic wars and the cessation of Gibraltar to UK for perpetuity. You should also marvel at the engineering feats of the Royal Engineers back in the day tunneling through miles of limestone to create strongholds and roads. Gibraltar may not be everyone's cup of tea but it should remain British as long as its people want, above all it is a very strategic point for the region. Gibraltar would have been so proud and honored to have played Spain but at least they got Germany instead along with Scotland and Ireland. Good luck Gibraltar, you will need it.
Why not? More interesting than QPR at present. Gibraltar is a British overseas territory of course and not a country in its own right. This means its shares the same sovereignty and jurisdiction as the rest of Britain but has its own independent government. At a footballing level God only knows why it is allowed a separate entry into the Euros - the next thing you know the Swiss Guard will be putting together a squad for Vatican FC. At a political level it is no different from the Falkland Islands and deserves the same consideration. For right or wrong, these places are completely British from a cultural perspective which is the only thing that matters IMO. Geography is an irrelevance particularly as we are all part of the EU family anyway. I mean, it's not as if we will want to take Scotland back into the UK by force should they become independent...
I forgot to mention that give Gibraltar a few years and they will be far more competitive than than those other small footballing greats, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Malta, Cyprus, etc...... As for Scotland and their independence, well let them have it, in fact it would be even better if the Iapetus Ocean re-opened.
My subjective view based on my time in Gibraltar is just as valid as your subjective view. At least its based on direct experience, I doubt you have visited all the places posters on here live but still manage to slag off so blithely. I made no comment on its past or future, we were just exploring why it was an issue of tension in football terms. What do your Spanish friends in the bars of Madrid think? It's obviously an anomaly and anachronism, but I make no claim to have any view or insight into what its future should be, or who should decide it. I am interested in where people would draw the line on self determination though. We assert it for the people of Gibraltar (29,000 of them, although the British government agrees independence is not an option for them, as that would require Spanish support, so they don't have true choice) obviously we are allowing the Scots a shout, what about Bristol, Staines or wherever? Anyone remember Passport to Pimlico? I have some personal experience here, having worked for the Government in Hong Kong at the time Margaret Thatcher signed the agreement to hand it back to China - that also included territory ceded to Britain 'in perpetuity' - Hong Kong island and parts of Kowloon. So we've done it before, and to a hideous regime as well.
This. Euro 2016 qualifiers are really the chance Finland have hoping for a long time. After a very long time we have finally a group in which we even have a chance to go through. Greece, Hungary,Northern Ireland and Romania are all tough countries to beat but not impossible ones. If we lost any points to Faroe Island we definately are not good enough to even dream about qualification to Euro 2016. Intresting times ahead.......
