Going for Gold

There is much talk at the moment of Great Britain’s participation as a united football team at this year’s Olympics.

The will he/won’t he debate about David Beckham continues – will he be allowed to pull on his boots asone of the over 23s allowed to represent his country?

It’s just over a century ago that football became an official Olympic sport….and England’s involvement in that inaugural year saw them win gold.

Four years later they took the honours again, and in this, the 100th anniversary of that back-to-back win, there is a great deal of anticipation about what is now the GB 2012 team.

Beckham, who has just turned 37, will be twice the age of some of his potential team mates, but is still determined to go for gold with the team’s 18-man squad.

Coach Stuart Pearce has yet to make a decision on the inclusion – or otherwise – of arguably Britain’s most famous footballing export.

In the Frame

Another football veteran, Ryan Giggs, is also in the Olympic frame, having put himself forward for consideration as a Team GB possible.

Giggs, 38, is keen to experience the atmosphere of a world-class tournament, having never reached the world cup finals during his remarkable career. His mother country, Wales – he was born in Cardiff - have not reached the world cup finals since long before he was born.

Beckham’s former stable mate at Manchester United, Giggs is keen to link up with his old playing partner for the first time in nine years.

With Euro 2012 looming, and the new Premiership season due to kick off only a few days after the Olympic final, there are understandably some concerns about the toll London 2012 may take on the British team.

But the call of their country in what may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will surely be irresistible for those players under consideration:

Joint Oldest National Team

Most national football teams represent a sovereign state, but while Team GB is made up of Great Britain’s home nations, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have a dispensation to maintain their own separate national sides.

England themselves are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland – the two sides met in the very first international in 1872. For the record, the match ended in a 0-0 draw.

They are one of only six national teams to have won the FIFA world cup on home soil, when England saw the likes of Bobby Charlton and Geoff Hurst win the coveted trophy for the first – and last – time in 1966.

Copywriter Nicki Williams is a Manchester United – and David Beckham – fan. She works for sports specialists Gear-Zone, who have everything in store for the summer of football ahead