So long as FIFA for once shows honesty

This is a contradictory statement. Does not compute!!!

Just a fleeting visit? No inflammatory rants today?

*falls of chair in shock of someone in agreement*

I personally prefer football teams to stay as they are with England, Scotland etc but in the Olympics we're represented as GB so if we have a problem with that then thats our problem. I see no reason why the four associations cant band together and make this happen. It'd be ridiculous if we pass up the possibility of medals because them Ulster's wont play with them English b******s.

A) You'd never get the Welsh, Scottish and most notably the Northern Irish FA to join forces with the English Football Association.

B) Currently the four associations are "split from FIFA" somewhat, i think what you mean is should we all pull out of FIFA and have the Great Britain FA and run ourselves or something.

C) Doing that would cause more harm than good, it wouldnt help us in the slightest. Withdrawal from FIFA means we'd never gain participation to a World Cup again, leaving aside the fact we're usually pretty useless at it if the other three associations were with us they'd have no chance of qualifying either, and who's to say if England werent in a FIFA qualifying group then the Welsh or somebody couldnt win it in our absence? Suddenly if England pulled out, the other three would suddenly become FIFA's friend. And its not just the tournament, the money we bring in through gate receipts and tourism even for FIFA organised friendlies is alot of money which all helps repay the £900million spent on Wembley Stadium. FIFA would probably try and possibly succeed in banning all players which participate under the control of the FA from participating in a FIFA competition, which means the high quality foreign players will stop coming to England, we'll miss out on their quality, ability to sell the Premier League brand, currently the best League in the world will suffer as a result, the lucrative trips to the far east etc will be a thing of the past, essentially we'd be sticking ourselves in football wilderness.

D) Another problem with that idea is we'd never get worldwide support, we think that everybody hates FIFA but thats not true, the Western European nations arent too happy with them at the moment for obvious reasons but the rest of the world is content to go along with whatever they say. The Concacaf nations would be very keen to remain involved, the likes of the African association have benefitted from FIFA's corruption (they'd have never got a World Cup but for it), the Russians, the Oceana Football Confederation need to remain on FIFA's good side as they're convinced they should host a World Cup before too long and being in FIFA's good books by whatever means is their only hope of doing so, so you will not get the support of the other confederations.

E) The chances of pulling out of FIFA and not receiving some form of punishment from UEFA also is slim, bye bye Champions League im guessing.

F) The main problem is, we'd stand alone in this battle, it wouldnt benefit us, it'd only be to our deteriment and for what? To still not receive a World Cup? I dont see anything we could gain from that. We'd make a stand against them and the rest of our "friends" would no doubt then turn round and stick with FIFA, everyone else would be more than happy to take our place.

Unworkable. Sorry.

Thats it, bend over missy.

Im going right off you very quickly you know.

A northerner who doesnt like football. Who knew. She was my perfect woman up until that point. Feisty and mouthy being the other favoured qualities.

League up there, I presume? Sorry, but Rugby falls into the same pit as football: endless whining about injuries.

Yes but where you live a bunch of fat women running into each other having a scrap is a daily occurence on the street also, why pay to go watch it?

I do seem to be coming across as a right middle class boy lol

Left wing. [shudder]

Oh I see. Well you can draw your own conclusions from my DT reading :-P

So you're half a golfer!

I like putting my head between someones legs but only in a certain situation.

And i thought your left wing remark was weak *sad face*

That's what I always thought. But what's the point of a contrived fight??

I'm not saying that they shouldn't occur, simply that I've never seen the appeal to bashing someone with whom you previously had no greivance. For me, one of the best moments in sport is in a snooker match when the referee has to replace the cue ball. It is done by judgment, and the referee will consult both players to decide on the final position of the ball. No hystrionics, kicking, punching, spitting, arm waving etc.

There are lots of people to whom I would like to deliver a slap in the chops-but there is usually an underlying reasons behind that.

It's a stress release. It's good exercise. That's the point. But it's moot for me, since I my eyesight is too bad to see who's on the field anymore!

Too much studying!! Says you, Captain Geek. :-P