With England qualifying for the World Cup Finals last night, but the other home nations failing, I thought it apt to revisit that old debate about the Home Internationals, which took place between England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland from 1894 to 1984. Northern Ireland are technically the current holders of the title of champions of Britain, as they won the contest the final summer it was played.

Often overshadowed by larger competitions, such as the World Cup, the Home Internationals began a steep decline in 1977 when crowd trouble marred Scotland’s 2-1 victory over England at Wembley. Scots fans famously broke the crossbar of one goal and dug up parts of the pitch to take home as souvenirs. The Troubles in Northern Ireland and hooliganism in general did not help either.

Until recently I would have said it may be time to bring it back the contest, at least as a biennial end to the season when none of the countries will be involved in major tournaments. But the recent West Ham-Millwall clashes served as a reminder of what can happen when old enemies meet after a long break. Perhaps they had been over excited by the straight-to-DVD release of Green Street 2 or the forthcoming remake of the great Alan Clarke film The Firm, but the revival of this kind of large scale aggro recalled the bad old days, when England fans shamed the nation with Nazi salutes and violence in 1995, largely at the behest of groups of far-right agitators.

Yet Euro ‘96 the following year was a largely peaceful affair, often credited with saving the game in Britain (and also attracting the middle classes, which is loved or loathed in equal measure by followers of the game). So perhaps we can be grown up when we choose.