Four Nations Tournament
Founded1979
Abolished2008
RegionEurope
Number of teams4
Most successful club(s)England semi-pro national team (7 titles)

The Four Nations Tournament was an annual football competition in Europe contested by semi-professional national teams. England were the most successful side with seven wins and they won the last edition in 2008.

The original competition was held between 1979 and 1987 (featuring England, Scotland, Italy and the Netherlands). The tournament returned between 2002 and 2008 after a hiatus (featuring England, Republic of Ireland, replaced by Gibraltar in 2008, Scotland and Wales). The revived competition was played at the end of the British domestic football season.

History

From 1979 to 1987 it was known as Torneo delle Quattro Nazioni per Rappresentative di Lega, and was originally competed for by Scotland Semi-Pro, England Semi-Pro, Netherlands Amateurs and Italy Serie C U-21s. The tournament was cancelled in 1986 and was scrapped from 1988 to 2001.[1]

When the tournament returned in 2002, the semi-pro teams of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales competed. The Gibraltar full national team replaced Ireland in 2008.[1][2]

The tournament was won seven times by England, three times by Wales and Scotland, and twice by Italy.[1]

The 2009 tournament was supposed to be held in England.[3] There were rumours of a Scotland withdrawal and in turn being replaced by a Northern Ireland semi professional team.[3] Scotland withdrew from the competition altogether and the team was disbanded in November 2008 because of a lack of funding.[4] Gibraltar also decided against returning in 2009.[5] This left only two teams signed up for the 2009 competition.[5] The 2008 tournament was in fact the last edition.

Format

The first tournament consisted of two semi-finals, a final and a third/fourth play-off. Every other tournament was a group stage with each national side playing each other once in a round robin format. The competition was always hosted as a one-off tournament by one of the competing nations, usually the competition was stage by each competing national side within a period of every four years.[1]

Winners

Year Winner Second Third Fourth
England 1979 England Semi-Pro Holland Amateurs Italy Serie C U-21 Scotland Semi-Pro
Netherlands 1980 Scotland Semi-Pro England Semi-Pro Italy Serie C U-21 Holland Amateurs
Italy 1981 England Semi-Pro Italy Serie C U-21 Scotland Semi-Pro Holland Amateurs
Scotland 1982 Scotland Semi-Pro England Semi-Pro Holland Amateurs Italy Serie C U-21
England 1983 England Semi-Pro Scotland Semi-Pro Holland Amateurs Italy Serie C U-21
Italy 1984 Italy Serie C U-21 England Semi-Pro Holland Amateurs Scotland Semi-Pro
Netherlands 1985 Scotland Semi-Pro England Semi-Pro Italy Serie C U-21 Holland Amateurs
Scotland 1986 Competition cancelled
Scotland 1987 Italy Serie C U-21 England Semi-Pro Scotland Semi-Pro Holland Amateurs
1988–2001 No competition held
England 2002 Wales Semi-Pro Rep of Ireland Semi-Pro England Semi-Pro Scotland Semi-Pro
Wales 2003 England Semi-Pro Scotland Semi-Pro Rep of Ireland Semi-Pro Wales Semi-Pro
Scotland 2004 Wales Semi-Pro Scotland Semi-Pro England Semi-Pro Rep of Ireland Semi-Pro
Republic of Ireland 2005 England Semi-Pro Scotland Semi-Pro Wales Semi-Pro Rep of Ireland Semi-Pro
England 2006 Wales Semi-Pro England Semi-Pro Rep of Ireland Semi-Pro Scotland Semi-Pro
Scotland 2007 England Semi-Pro Wales Semi-Pro Scotland Semi-Pro Rep of Ireland Semi-Pro
Wales 2008 England Semi-Pro Wales Semi-Pro Scotland Semi-Pro Gibraltar

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Four Nations Semi-Pro Tournament (1979-2008)". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  2. ↑ "Rhyl and Bangor City players in Wales squad for Four Nations". Daily Post. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Four Nations Tournament 2009". Unofficial Blog. 7 November 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  4. ↑ "SFA pulls plug on semi-pro team". The Scotsman. 7 November 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Four Nations Set to Fold". Welsh Premier. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
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