Home Nations
{{Short description|Nations in Great Britain and Ireland}}
{{redirect|Home Country|the book|Home Country (book){{!}}Home Country (book)}}
{{distinguish|Home counties|Domestic dependent nations}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
File:United Kingdom labelled map7 vector.svg
Home Nations is a collective terminology in sport,{{Cite web|url=https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/cy/news/view/2626132-government-communication-service-visit|title=Ymweliad Gwasanaeth Cyfathrebu'r Llywodraeth|website=Prifysgol Caerdydd}} usually referring to England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. When a sport is governed by a council representing the island of Ireland, such as the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), the term can refer to the nations of the constituent countries on the island of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and the island of Ireland as a whole.
The term was originally used when the whole island of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. The synonymous "Home Countries" (not to be confused with the "home counties") is also sometimes used.
Association football
{{Main|Football in the United Kingdom}}
{{See also|List of football matches between British national teams}}
In association football, the Home Nations originally referred to the then four national teams of the United Kingdom: England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.{{cite book |last=Scott |first=Les | title=End to End Stuff: The Essential Football Book |publisher=Random House |location=London |date=2008 |page=446 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cqhm26eVPYMC&pg=PA446 |isbn=978-0-59306-068-1 |access-date=25 April 2013}} Today, the term refers to the teams of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales – the teams that contested the British Home Championship until 1984{{cite book |editor-last=Nauright |editor-first=John |editor2-last=Parrish |editor2-first=Charles |title=Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Oxford, England |date=2012 |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cqhm26eVPYMC&pg=PA446 |isbn=978-1-59884-300-2 |access-date=25 April 2013}} – although references to the Home Nations sometimes erroneously include the Republic of Ireland team.{{cite web |title=Football For All U 18 schools to defend Championship title |publisher=Football Association of Ireland |date=5 April 2010 |url=http://www.fai.ie/domestic-a-grassroots/football-for-all/100811-football-for-all-u-18-schools-to-defend-championship-title.html |access-date=25 April 2013 }}
Rugby union
{{main|Rugby union in the British Isles}}
File:The Home Nations Flags flying above The Anchor Bar in Bryansford Road - geograph.org.uk - 5675105.jpg in Newcastle, Northern Ireland; Ireland is represented by the flag of the Irish Rugby Football Union]]
In 1883, the first Home Nations Championship was played between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. At this point in its history, the competition contained only teams from the UK. In 1910, France officially joined the competition and it was renamed the Five Nations Championship. Despite the partition of Ireland and the secession of the Republic of Ireland from the United Kingdom, the island of Ireland still fields a single team and is referred to as a Home Nation in the context of rugby union.{{citation|title=Rugby for Dummies|author1=Mathew Brown|author2=Patrick Guthrie|author3=Greg Growden|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=New Jersey|year=2010|isbn=9780470677087|quote=Home Nations: England, Ireland, Scotland Wales [appears in glossary]}} When France was expelled from the international championship in 1932, the tournament reverted to being known simply as the Home Nations tournament until the readmission of France immediately after the 1939 tournament, just before World War II caused its suspension until 1947. Since the admission of Italy in 2000, the tournament has been known by its current name, the Six Nations Championship.
Victories by any Home Nation over the other three in one Championship season is a Triple Crown.{{cite web|url=http://www.rbs6nations.com/en/history.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511163328/http://www.rbs6nations.com/en/history.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 May 2008 |title=Official RBS 6 Nations Rugby : History |publisher=IRB |access-date=12 October 2010 |quote=Victory by any Home Nation over the other three Home Nations is a 'Triple Crown'. }} The Home Nations also contribute players to a unified team known as the British and Irish Lions. Southern Hemisphere teams who beat all four home nations in one tour are said to have a Grand Slam Tour.{{cite web |first=James |last=Mortimer |date=5 April 2010 |url=http://www.allblacks.com/news/12609/A-look-at-the-All-Blacks-touring-Grand-Slams |title=A look at the All Blacks touring Grand Slams |publisher=allblacks.com, the official website of the All Blacks and NZ Rugby |access-date=14 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306025418/http://www.allblacks.com/news/12609/A-look-at-the-All-Blacks-touring-Grand-Slams |archive-date=6 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:Politics of the United Kingdom
Category:Sport in Northern Ireland
Category:Sport in the Republic of Ireland