British Home Championships Driven By New Sponsors – Positive or Negative?

Forget the title race in the Premiership for a second or the sack race for that matter as my focus this week is on the possible return of the Home Championships in Britain since 1986.

The new England sponsors Vauxhall Motors are the main driving force behind the return of the `friendly’ international football matches between England, Scotland and Wales. Within hours of completing their 20 million pound sponsorship, Vauxhall Motors stepped on the gas to bring back the fierce championships that were brought to a halt after Scotland fans invaded the pitch in 1977 after a 2-1 win at Wembley. Weakened line ups followed this as the breaks were applied to the competition.

From a personal point of view I would welcome these types of games being introduced once again as I have no recollection of them taking place as I was born in 1992.

The championships have several positives and negatives which will decide whether the competition can go through the gears and gather some momentum.

England vs Scotland will most certainly see sparks fly but will surely be more beneficial than non competitive friendly matches which usually results in either manager still not knowing their best team or preferred formation.

Fixture congestion could prove to be a frustrating traffic jam for managers but will provide a summer of football for fans when the World Cup and European Championships are absent. It will also provide an opportunity for some young potential stars to show they are worthy of a Rolls Royce to be included in their next contract.    

The Football Association will be counting the coppers in their piggy banks rather than the coppers in yellow jackets outside Wembley as I don’t see hooliganism being such a problem as it was previously.

This will provide the FA with extra funds to pour into the tank of the Burton National Football Centre but more than likely will be used to pay off the debts of Wembley stadium.

Some players might feel like having a rest in a service station along the roads of New York or Las Vegas but some will be keen to prove themselves and clock up the extra miles.

The British media will of course tailgate the International managers but when has an English manager never been under pressure?

Weakened teams will also hopefully be thing of the past as of course this is not the FA Cup.

For me, International matches for England have been in the wilderness for a long time but with help from the Vauxhall Motors Satellite Navigation system, the England football team will pass its MOT in the summer of 2013 and win the competition.