Team GB?

[factor-fiction]

I still don't understand why the team is called Great Britain (as written on all shirts) and the national anthem is described as the national anthem of Great Britain when the team includes athletes etc from Northern Ireland. Shouldn't we be Team UK?

[andrew1707]

But it doesn't just represent the UK. Included are The Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and most of the The British Overseas Dependencies (Gibraltar, Falklands,Pitcairn, Montserrat, Anguilla etc)

This would be a bit of a mouthful so they re-branded as Team GB for brevity and to try and unite all the sports into one team.
I bet they paid the marketing people a fortune to come up with the name.

[Dee-M-See]

Mark Cavendish and Peter Kennauagh both Isle of Man, Manx born and bred lads, must be something good in the water over there

[andrew1707]

MoonRocker: Are you English by any chance?

[New Judge]

It's not pedantry, MR. It's a matter of fact.

I know it has been so for as long as I can recall. I vividly remember,when I took a passing interest in such matters, David Coleman almost losing his voice when shouting "It's [David] Hemery Great Britain, Hemery Great Britain" as the runner powered to the UK's only athletic gold medal in the 400m hurdles at the 1968 Games.

But I, too,do not understand why it should be "Team GB". I have heard all sorts of explanations, the most credible of which seems to suggest that when GB registered its entry to the first modern games in 1896 Ireland (in its entirety) did not exist as a nation in its own right and was part of Great Britain. However, things move on and the Olympic movement has had plenty of changes to accommodate so it should not be beyond its wits to sort out this matter which must have been a problem since 1922.

I understand the (UK) government wanted the team referred to as "Team GB and Northern Ireland" (which had been attempted at earlier games) but it is not difficult to understand why it did not catch on. Apparently competitors from Northern Ireland can (for some unfathomable reason) choose to participate for either "Team GB" or Ireland. However, in my view, if they opt to take part under the Union Flag then they should expect to form part of the team of the United Kingdom.

Of course this problem may not have been quite so insoluble had not the ridiculous title "Team GB" gained a hold. No other nation seems compelled to entitle its team in such a way and if we reverted simply to "United Kingdom" or even "UK" for those challenged by multiple syllables the problem may be satisfactorily solved.

[johnk]

Does it really matter?

[Duncer]

Yes! As someone from Northern Ireland my passport says quite clearly, "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", so team GB does not cut it for me, no matter how much it may suit the marketing people. It should be team UK.

[Duncer]

Hardly a "whine" when you're being excluded Moonrocker?

Is it really too much to ask for geographical accuracy?

[HowardKennitby]

If we are going for absolute accuracy here then the term needs to account for overseas Dependencies and Protectorates as cited by Andrew.

How about "Team UK+"

[Duncer]

I'd settle for that. :-)

[factor-fiction]

Thanks for your considered replies, MoonRocker.
Do I qualify for your label of ABAO , whatever that means?

[andrew1707]

But what about the Non-UK parts of Team GB? They probably don't like the current name... but would Team UK be any more acceptable?

What about Team Britain?

Or we could just try and Fosters off the most number of people by calling it Team England!!!

Hmm, Team Coe has a ring to it!!!

[Baldric]

Another MR appears to have been suspended

[factor-fiction]

Hi andrew1707- you wrote: "But what about the Non-UK parts of Team GB? They probably don't like the current name"
Are there some parts?

[mightyWBA]

It's only recently being called "Team GB" an example of Americanised "branding"..Personally I don't like it.
As far as the Internatonal Olympic Committee are concerned our national team is registered as "Great Britain and Northern Ireland",before the Republic of Ireland was formed it was Great Britain and Ireland.

We aren't called the United Kingdom because the "United Kingdom" also includes 14 overseas territories,some of whom have their own Olympic teams.

[commoner]

LOL....and it includes Yorkshire..which a sort of country in it's own right ..and has more golden athletes than many of the BIG countries....so there!..LMAO..

[JonnyBoy12]

I, too, think it should be called Team UK as that is what this country is officially called.

[Sipowicz]

The country is officially called "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". I don't mind which one is used, as long as it isn't preceded by "Team"!

[New Judge]

I think you will find, WBA, that the fourteen overseas territories to which you refer are not part of the United Kingdom. They come under the jurisdiction of the UK and share the Queen as their Head of State, but they do not form part of the United Kingdom. Similarly the three Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man do not form part of the UK.

The issue of Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies is smoke and mirrors. It is straightforward. The UK is made up of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. A team calling itself “Team GB” does not include Northern Ireland and if I were Duncer (or Mary Peters) I’d be peeved.