THE Football Association are in talks over a move to revive the home international tournament.
Car giant Vauxhall, due to be unveiled as new England sponsors with a record-breaking deal today, are understood to have been the key movers behind a planned revival of the home internationals and want it in place as soon as next season.
The return of the tournament would see England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland compete against each other for the first time since 1984.
The FA have held talks about a new home international tournament but want to wait until after Euro 2012 is out of the way.
Vauxhall are also poised to complete further sponsorships with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland within the next week as part of a campaign to become the driving force of football across Britain.
England will play top African side Ghana – quarterfinalists in last year’s World Cup – in a friendly on March 29 but a planned friendly against Thailand in June has been scrapped.
The announcement that the Thailand match, timed to commemorate the 65th anniversary of King Bhumibol’s accession to the Thai throne, has been scrapped comes as no surprise.
The match was tied in to England’s 2018 bid but no deal had been signed and following the bid’s failure it always looked likely that the FA would look again at the fixture.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here