Sitting here tonight I have just witnessed the might Glasgow Rangers scrape through to the UEFA Cup Final with a penalty shoot out against Italian giants Fiorentina. Earlier this week we saw Manchester United see off foreign opposition to make it to the Champions League Final, with Liverpool and Chelsea battling it out to join them – Chelsea eventually came through in extra time. British football is on the up and we are seeing the headlines we want to see at last!

The last few months have been dogged by police arrests, possible charges against the owners of Birmingham City Football Club and in-fighting at Liverpool between the two former friends who own the club. Until this week it had all been doom and gloom and much of the good work done on the pitch had gone unnoticed. Now is the time to sit back and take stock, British Football is back!

However, maybe we are getting a little carried away with the whole situation. League football is on the up, but each of the National teams of the UK have failed to qualify for this years Euro 2008 tournament which will see no British interest for the first time for many many years. We still need to get our National teams into gear!

While it would be hard to criticise Scotland, yet again they have fallen at the final hurdle when qualification seemed to be staring them in the face – even a double over France was not enough. All of the other National teams, including England, were struggling from day one and fell away badly at the end. So what can we do? How can the National team benefit from this new found hope?

The hope is that an all English Champions League Final and Ranger in the UEFA Cup Final will see many young boys return to football, boys that have been lost for some time. Let us use this success to plant the seeds for the future, to bring on the home grown players, and let British Football be great again!