LONDON 2012: Team GB football teams could be repeated for Rio and beyond

 

By James Toney, Sportsbeat

BRITISH Olympic Association officials want Team GB football to be part of every future Olympic campaign.

HISTORIC: Captain Ryan Giggs hold a Great Britain football team pennant before their pre-Olympic friendly with Brazil, a game they lost 2-0 

In news that will strike fear into the Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh Football Associations, who are totally opposed to the formation of a British team, they expressed a desire that the London 2012 team would not be one-off.

Great Britain haven't competed in an Olympic football finals in 52 years and haven't even tried to qualify for the past 40 years.

When a host nation place was offered, it was thought entry would be a unique opportunity but now Team GB officials want to explore trying to qualify by right for the 2016 Rio Games.

And it's a campaign that will only grow in momentum if Stuart Pearce and Hope Powell's do well in the coming weeks.

"It's once every four years and we should always be here," said BOA deputy chef de mission Sir Clive Woodward, who guided England to Rugby World Cup success in 2003 and coached the British Lions in 2005.

"Surely the more exposure you can give our young footballers to playing in a big tournament the better. It is going to be a benefit for all the home nations' hopes at European Championships or World Cups. 

"We should use the Olympics as a test to see where we are up to against other countries."

One option would be for England to represent Great Britain in the Olympic qualifying campaign, which is decided by results in the men's under-21 European Championships for men and the FIFA Women's World Cup.

Team GB captain Ryan Giggs, one of five Welsh players in Stuart Pearce's 18-strong men's squad, has already said he hopes Great Britain become a regular in Olympic football competition.

And after working so hard to get football teams at the Games, British Olympic Association chief executive Andy Hunt admits it would be a shame for a team never to be appear again.

"Let's get through these Games but we would love Team GB to compete in men's and women's football going forward but they've have to get there on merit," he said. 

"Our footballers' eyes have been completely opened to being part of a multi-sports team. They were taken back and very humbled by the environment they came into and are now massively passionate about the Olympic movement and what this is all about. 

"This is also massively important to the women's game and the Olympics will give them a profile they've never had before."