British, eh?
It's funny how suddenly they are British. In football they are Scots, Welsh, English, Northern Irish - I've always wondered why the Brits are allowed to have 4 sides while everybody else has only one. I don't know of another sport that gives them this unfair privilege - anybody?
If anything it's a disadvantage because it splits up the countries as players who are Scottish can't play for England etc.
Not so sure about that. If I have the choice between sending one very good team which could stumble during Q and/or the tournament or sending 4 reasonably good squads - I dunno: if one of them stumbles, there's still 3 more. There's always the possibility that one of them becomes a tournament team to rise to the occasion...
Well, the fact is Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are too small to have much of an impact. England are the only team that are, supposed to anyway, much good. Sometimes the three smaller nations have a few good players, however, the rest of the team is not up to standard, so the good players don't get the rewards they probably merit at international level and they can't play for England. For example, George Best being from Northern Ireland, and Ryan Giggs playing for Wales. Two great players, England would loved to have had them, but it didn't work out. Only rarely (and thus very exciting occasions, coming from somebody from a tiny nation) do the smaller nations do something extraordinary, hence, the big deal about Northern Ireland being on a good run a while and Scotland continuing that good run in football. Anyway, that's the way the politics of the United Kingdom are and people from just about everywhere outside of the country (or countries
) struggle to grasp the concept.
P.S. There was talk of an all-Ireland football team and an all-Ireland domestic football league, which, again, shows that for the majority of the time there is strength in numbers.
Ayrton Senna: WDC 1988,
1989, 1990, 1991
McLaren: WCC 1974, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998,
1999, 2007McLaren: WDC 1974, 1976, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2008