Home Nations Tournament

[Soul Rider]

OK, i've ben thinking about this. Should a football equivalent of the 6 nations tournament be started, but just limited to maybe the Home nations - England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

It could be played just like the old 5 nations rugby was in the seasons without a Major Chamionship, every other season between the World Cup and the Euro's.

It might give us a chance to win a tournament..

Discuss.

 

[Spamalot]

No, the rugby 6 nations only works because club rugby carries on when the 6 nations is on, this wouldnt work in footall as club comes first. Also it would be so one sided it would be a joke.

 

[Soul Rider]

What like the Rugby? Teams have ups and downs, Didn't Northern Ireland recently beat England? It is unpredictable, but more importantly it gives our players tournament practice. I agree it may be difficult to work with timings, but i still think it would be fun to see.

 

[JohnnyG]

I take it you're not old enough to remember this before then?

 

[elroberto]

It would be better than the meaningless friendlies they have now and a good moneyspinner too, the networks would all be after it.

 

[Big Kev]

I take it you're not old enough to remember this before then?

Just what I was thinking, makes you feel old, doesn't it.

 

[Weebull]

The trouble with a straight tournament is that it would need to take place over a short period of time (just a few weeks), and holding it any point during the season would cause even more fixture clog ups. Rugby clubs don't have a 20-team league, two national cups and a load of European fixtures to deal with, so the 6 Nations impacts them less. Putting it in the summer would mean we could only hold it every odd year, but it could work.

Ther other option would be to spread the games thinly over the year, replacing the friendlies we have now. Dunno how feasible that is though.

 

[elroberto]

Or they could get rid of the friendlies, play the club games during these periods and have a short 3 week spell for the tournament.

 

[Drawoh Tesremos]

Such a tournament was scrapped long ago because of lack of interest.

When I was young, England and Scotland played away matches on Saturdays against Northern Ireland and Wales, during November, with home matches mid-week against the other teams. NI v Wales was usually midweek in march, and England v Scotland was on a Saturday in march. There was usually a full league programme going on in England at the same time, which shows just how little interest there was in the tournament. The Scots did not arrange a league programme when England played Scotland - for them it had a similar interest to the FA Cup final in England. It was shown live on TV in Scotland, but not in England.

Later on, in an attempt to put some life into the competition, all matches were played over a two week period at the end of the season, but that didn't last long.