Background:
I wanted to do something a little different and decided to look at an alternate reality where the FA actually act rather than talk nonsense all of the time.

Cast your minds back to the distant past of July 2013, Greg Dyke has called for a panel of football 'experts' and tasked them with finding ways to improve the England international team of the future.

This save takes up that challenge and starts with a shock announcement from the FA that could well change the face of English football at both club and international level forever...

Interesting idea, good luck!

Live this idea

GD - Greg Dyke
HW - Howard Wilkinson
GC - Greg Clarke
RH - Roy Hodgson
M - Media (various)

GD - Good morning everyone, thank you for coming. We know you have a lot of questions and we will try to get through as many as possible today.

M - Greg, Sky Sports, we are curious, how does this move benefit the current England setup?

GD - Well, one of the main points that kept getting raised time and time again was the small amount of time the international squad spends together. The arguments are that, like any team, they need time to 'gel' and without that we could only expect a group of individuals rather than a team.

M - So are you saying that the current team lacks cohesion?

RH - Not at awl, we have a good set of pwayews wight now, some of whom pway togethew weguwawly awweady. But pwayews who wowk well as smawl gwoups awen't as effective as pwayews who pway as a team.

M - Hi guys, Daily Mail, my question is to Mr Clarke, how exactly is this going to work. Surely the players a team like this demands would need to be in the top flight but you can't just add a team to a league you don't control?

GC - That's a very good question, and one we put a lot of thought into. We wanted to find a way to create the kind of club that could compete properly in the current league set up without causing too much disruption. Obviously there will be some turmoil as we need to secure the players we want but in the long run we aim to make this fair to the teams we will be taking them from as well as the players themselves.

M - That's all very well, but how will this team fit into the current structure?

GC - Well, we decided that it would be best to look at crisis clubs that exist in the Championship and work with one of them to 'rebrand' it into England FC. That way we get to help an established club out of a sticky situation and at the same time place our team into the highest league the FA has influence over. The players may not like being out of the Premier League but I for one, am confident that they'll be back there next season anyway.

M - TalkSport, so which club in crisis is going to benefit from the FA and won't there be a conflict of interests with disciplinary hearings and such?

GD - We are in talks with a couple of Championship sides to see who would be best placed to house the team, it's important we get this right so we won't be naming the club until we are 100% sure. However, I do want to reassure fans that we will do everything possible to preserve as much of the club we select as possible. There will be a new name, the England kits too, and a whole new squad of players but that is better than the alternative… administration.
As for the question of it being a conflict of interests, this club will sit within the league and therefore will abide by the same rules and regulations as everyone else. There is nothing to be gained by showing favouritism and I can assure you now that none will be shown.

M - That's all well and good in theory but how can you prevent bias from creeping in when the club is owned and run by the very organisation that claims to govern them?

HW - That is a fair enough question, and one we had considered also. We decided that no-one from Greg's panel or the FA in general would be involved in the day to day running of the club and that the back-room staff, board and management would all consist of the cream of the current English crop of club level staff. The club will be run like any other, don't worry about that.

M - Hi guys, the Sun, so who is gonna manage this team of international flops?

HW - That is totally unfair, that these players haven't achieved success at an international level is far removed from being a flop. These guys are at the peak of their profession, are you considered a flop because you only work for the Sun…?

M - Well… no, I hope not… no…

HW - You probably are, but that is neither here nor there, my point is that these players are primed to finally reach their potential and as such we aim to give them a manager who knows how hard it can be at both club and international level. A living legend who can inspire and get the best out of his players.

M - Who…?

GD - Thank you gentlemen, that is all we have time for today. We will see you all again soon, I'm sure of it.

Interesting idea will be following

This looks excellent.

In a daring move from the FA, they are now proposing to enter a team into the leagues.

But will it work?

We look at the pros and cons and analyse the potential knock-on effects of this shock announcement.

Pro:
It will certainly give the England internationals a chance to gel together as a cohesive unit.

Con:
Those players will lose out on the benefits that can be gained from playing with other nationalities.

Pro:
England can develop its own style rather than trying to imitate the successful nation of the moment.

Con:
An established team from the leagues will have to fade in the mists of time.

Pro:
There will be a team that all neutrals can default to without fear of reprisal.

Con:
The players needed for England FC will have to come out of some of biggest teams in the country, how will this affect their coming seasons?

Pro:
A team dedicated to the development of young national talent can only help produce a bright future for the international squad.

Con:
Are we being robbed of the excitement of the international matches by seeing these players together on such a regular occurance…
…or…
…Pro:
Are be being provided with an unlimited amount of excitement by seeing the best of English football playing together on regular occasions?

One thing is for sure, this is sink or swim time for both the England internationals of the present… and the FA itself.

We'll be watching closely, something tells me the rest of the world will be too.

This looks really good. Hope it's a story that lasts. Good luck

A statement released earlier today by Greg Dyke went some way to answering some of the burning issues:

He then went on to explain about the rebrand and how this will affect the current set up of the club:

In the final section of the statement, Greg went on to explain about the staff and player set up that could be expected to be seen at the club soon:

The questions left now are, how will the Leeds United Faithful react and who is the front runner for the management job?

Thanks to everyone who are read/replied so far. I intend to pick up the pace with this a bit when life dies down but in the mean time i'll drag out the tension a bit... who will the manager be?!?!

Seems like a good and interesting idea. Good luck as I will be following

In yet another shock announcement from the FA we can now confirm who has been selected to manage the newly formed England FC. The man, the legend and now the manager?


Earlier today the FA unveiled Alan Shearer as their choice for the hot seat at both club and international level leading to much speculation about appointing a virtually untested manager in the most pressurised job in managerial history.

We had the good fortune, and better contacts, to speak with Greg Dyke about the decision earlier today.

US - Us
GD - Greg Dyke

US - Greg, thanks for meeting with us on what must be a very busy day for you!

GD - No problem, there are a lot of questions to answer and the sooner those answers get out there the less the backlash over what is undoubtedly, on the face of it, a very unexpected appointment.

US - Well we certainly appreciate your honesty, it bodes very well for this interview! As you rightly said, this is an unexpected appointment. Could you maybe explain a bit of the thought process that went into this decision?

GD - Certainly. We decided very early on that this whole process required a fresh approach. We wanted to ensure that the teams were led by someone who knew the pressures of both club and international level as a player, someone who was well regarded in the football world still today and more than anything a real man of the people.

US - So was Alan your first and only candidate?

GD - We saw a number of people who fitted the criteria but the philosophies that Alan put forward matched our own almost word for word. In the end it was a no-brainer.

US - Who were the other candidates, and could you elaborate a little on the style of football we can expect to see?

GD - Naturally I can't name any names, that wouldn't be fair. However, I'm sure one of the candidates won't mind me hinting at his interest in the role. Let us just say that this particular candidate was one of the front runners and is well known for his affiliation to a popular brand of potato snack.
As for the agreed upon philosophies, we want what all England fans want. Free-flowing attacking football built on a solid defensive line, what we don't want to see is a poor imitation of the spanish or german model but a whole new identity founded in this country for this country.

US - We certainly hope Alan can deliver that! However, with very little managerial experience… and not much of that went well… are you not worried that hiring an untried manager for such a high pressure job will backfire spectacularly?

GD - Not at all, Alan's experience at Newcastle was an almost impossible task in the first place. He took over a struggling team for a very short space of time. Obviously we looked at his record which was less than impressive, I'm sure he won't mind me saying, but for us it was more important to look at how he handled that pressure rather than the results. He will be starting with a new side from the start, have time to settle into the role and establish himself before the season starts and that is something I know Alan is eager to do. We have full faith in his ability to deliver the desired results and will not consider any other possibility at this point in time.

US - Well, if nothing else, it will certainly be an interesting season all round. When will we get chance to speak Alan?

GD - Obviously he is eager to speak to the press and put across his plans for the public to consider. However, we have put a press embargo on him for the next week or so to ensure he has time to settle into the club and make some of the important decisions that require his full attention. We have picked his staff, with his consent and approval, who we will be announcing soon but Alan's primary focus now is to establish his chosen formations, tactics, training regime and most importantly select his club squad.

US - We shall look forward to the next couple of weeks then, thanks for your time Greg.

GD - Thanks for having me.


Alan Shearer's eight games as Newcastle manager had not gone well at all, with only one victory and two draws they accrued a paltry five points out of a possible twenty-four which saw Newcastle exit the Premier League for the first time in 16 years.

Having not gained a permanent management position for the following season he doesn't even have the experience of the Championship to fall back on. How this season will go is anyones guess but we certainly aren't going to speculate until we've seen the squad, staff and heard from the man himself!

The board is made up of experienced chairman Steve Gibson who has parted company, reluctantly, with Middlesbrough in order to serve his nation during this exciting time. He will be joined by managing director Peter Kenyon, who has a wealth of experience dealing with high profile clubs, and directors David Gill and Constantine Gonticas. David has stepped down from his position of vice-chairman of the FA in order to take on this role, we feel this was the best course of action in order to avoid a conflict of interests while Constantine joins the board from his similar role at Millwall where he is highly regarded.

Reporting directly to the board is, of course, the club and national manager Alan Shearer who is currently hard at work selecting his squad and negotiating for their release from their current clubs. A task no-one envies.

Alan will be ably assisted by his coaching staff; Peter Drake, Brian Kidd, Tony Whelan and Kevin Hitchcock. Tony Strudwick and Tony Colbert have agreed to come on board and handle the fitness training while the youth team manager Jason Wilcox, under Tony Carr; the head of youth development, will work closely with his coaches Peter Farrell and Eamon Mulvey.

Steve Round has kindly agreed to come on board to act as Alan's second in command and will also help with the running of the reserve team and friendly fixtures which will allow the manager to focus on dealing with the first teams of club and country.

Reporting directly to Alan will be the chief scout Steve Rowley and the head physiotherapist David Fevre. Steve will be heading up the scouting pool of Martyn Glover and Les Kershaw while David will work closely with Dave Galley and Gary Lewin to ensure the continued health and recovery of the squad, he will also ensure that the youth team are well looked after by Richard Goddard.

As the squad settles in and the club begins to grow we hope that Alan will see fit to add to this initial line up.