How come we don't compete as the United Kingdom

As the title states why don't England Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland compete internationally as the United Kingdom or Great Britain.

I understand we are classed as separate countries but we compete as Great Britain in the Olympics and we are all governed under the same body and under the same monarchy. I can't think of any other countries or group of countries worldwide who this also applies to.

We competed in football as Great Britain at the Olympics despite Fifa saying this would damage our right to still compete as separate nations.

Are we still recognised as separate countries from an international political point of view? because whenever I am asked to give my nationality English is never an option it is always United Kingdom.

I'm not after a tribal debate about why we don't want Scottish or Welsh players in our international team as I like the rivalry it brings.

It only appears to be sport where we are still considered separate entities just wondered why this was the case to be honest.

 

Because we all have different FA's mate, simple as that.

 

Its been that way long before I was born so havn't thought about it too much. Think Billy has nipped it in the bud.

 

The basic answer is travel costs. All the English league was formed around the Midlands, south Yorkshire and sourth Lancashire. They didn't want Sunderland in until we paid their away expenses, and there were no London clubs in it. So what chance did one of the most famous clubs of that time - Queen's Park of Glasgow - have of getting in? So, as Billy says, they formed their own FAs, their own leagues and cups. It was pretty much a British internal matter anyway - few other countries had adopted football at that time (the only curious exception being the USA - the first 'soccer' club in the world outside UK was formed in Boston very early. I think they were called the Orioles). FIFA is an association of FAs, and if you have four FAs, you're perfectly entitled to enter four teams.

 

What's the difference between Holland & the Netherlands?

 

I don't know . . . . what is the difference between Holland & The Netherlands ?

I know that there is no such country as Holland

 

Netherlands is the name of the country, which is made up of 10 provinces, I think. Two of these provinces are North Holland and South Holland which includes the main cities, such as Amsterdam and The Hague. So if you go to the Netherlands, chances are you will also visit Holland!

 

Holland is actually an area within the Netherlands. There may even be 2, a North Holland and South Holland.

I'm guessing they're a bit like our counties.

@Safc83 just gave a better answer. Smartarse

 

The correct name for this tulip growing, windmill building, hagelslag eating, container ship moving, ocean conquering nation is the Netherlands.

But confusion is understandable -- the general region been renamed a lot over a thousand including as:

• The Dutch Republic
• The United States of Belgium and
• The Kingdom of Holland

But it's not just history that makes this country's name confusing because the Netherlands is divided into twelve provinces:

• Groningen
• Drenthe
• Overijssel
• Gelderland
• Limburg
• Brabant
• Zeeland (Which, by the way, is the Zeeland that makes New Zealand, new)
• Friesland (With adorable little hearts on its flag)
• Flevoland
• Utrecht, and here's the confusion:
• Noord (North) Holland and
• Zuid (South) Holland

These provinces make calling the Netherlands 'Holland' like calling the United States 'Dakota'. Though unlike the Dakotas, which are mostly empty, save for the occasional Jackalope, the two Hollands are the most populated provinces and have some of the biggest attractions like, Amsterdam and Keukenhof.

Chances are if it's Dutch, and you've heard of it, it's in one of the Hollands.

Even the government's travel website for the country is Holland.com -- officially because it sounds friendlier, but unofficially it's probably what people are actually searching for.

Confusion continues because: People who live in the Hollands are called Hollanders, but all citizens of the Netherlands are called Dutch as is their language. But in Dutch they say: Nederlands sprekende Nederlanders in Nederland which sounds like they'd rather we call them Netherlanders speaking Netherlandish. Meanwhile, next door in Germany, they're Deutsche sprechen Deutsch in Deutschland. Which sounds like they'd rather be called Dutch.

This linguistic confusion is why Americans call the Pennsylvania Dutch Dutch even though they're Germans.

To review: this country is the Netherlands, its people are Dutch, they speak Dutch. There is no country called Holland, but there are provinces of North and South Holland.

Got it? Great, because it's about to get more complicated.

The Netherlands is part of a Kingdom with the same name: The Kingdom of the Netherlands -- which is headed by the Dutch Royal Family.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands contains three more countries and to find them we must sail from the icy North Sea to the Caribbean and Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten.

These are no territories, but self-governing countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and as such they have their own governments, and their own currencies.

Geography geek side note here:

While Aruba and Curaçao are islands, Sint Maarten is just the Southern Half of a tiny island also named Saint Martin the other half of which is occupied by France and also named Saint Martin. So despite being separated by Belgium on the European map, The Kingdom of the Netherlands and the French Republic share a border on the other side of the world on an island so nice they named it thrice.

But why does the Kingdom of the Netherlands reach to the Caribbean anyway? Because, Empire.

In the 1600s the Dutch, always looking to expand business, laid their hands on every valuable port they could. For a time, America's East Coast was 'New Netherland' with its capital city of New Amsterdam. There was New Zealand, as mentioned previously, and nearby, the king of the islands, New Holland. Though the empire is gone, these three Caribbean nations remain.

And while four countries in one kingdom, isn't unheard of, it doesn't stop there, because the country of the Netherlands, also extends its borders to the Caribbean and three more islands: Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba.

These are not countries in a Kingdom, but are cities of the Country of the Netherlands and they look the part. Residents of these far-flung cities vote in elections for the Dutch government just as any Hollander would. Though, weirdly, they don't belong to any province and they don't use the Dutch currency of Euros, they use Dollars instead. It's kind of like if Hawaii wasn't a state, but technically part of the District of Columbia, all the while using the Yen.

These cities of the Country of the Netherlands and these countries in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, are together are known as the Dutch Caribbean. And their citizens are Dutch citizens. Which, because the Kingdom of the Netherlands is a member of the European Union, means these Dutch Caribbeans are also Europeans.

So in the end, there are 6 Caribbean islands, four countries, twelve provinces, two Hollands, two Netherlands and one kingdom, all Dutch.

 

Impressed - a very well covered explanation N

 

Not my own work. I went to Holland/Netherlands on holiday this year (Duinrell), and it was something I'd looked up already.

 

It was obviously just 'googled', like

 

If you're interested Neil, the founder of New Amsterdam, on the east coast of USA, now has a cigarette named after him - Peter Stuyvesent. The British later bought the city and, I think, the province. They renamed it after an English city - New York.

 

N - we'll researched and informative all the same - hm wonder what DA views are here - no messing with him esp after his MOD s answer - give press something to write - classic imo

 

I'm sure they were reffered to as Holland football wise in the 1980s etc though? When Van Basten and Gullit were playing. Can't recall them as being called the Netherlands in those days...

 

So do you actually have to come from Holland to be Dutch or just from the Netherlands?

 

Oh lord have mercy.
I wish I'd never asked.

 

I was scrolling down expecting a punchline Billy!

 

I read that Advocaat flew back to Holland!!

 

But was it North or South??