England is set to wait to see if its European Championship qualifier against Wales passes off peacefully before finalizing plans for a one-off series of matches against its British rivals.
The Football Association wants to mark its 150th anniversary in 2013 by playing Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland at Wembley Stadium.
The Home Nations Championship ended in 1984 amid problems with hooliganism that have largely been eradicated from British football.
And FA general secretary Alex Horne believes that recent peaceful visits from Glasgow by fans of Rangers and Celtic show that staging the matches would be manageable.
But a key test will come when England fans travel across the border to Wales in March for the Euro 2012 qualifier.
''It's one of the reasons we're not rushing into anything,'' Horne said Tuesday. ''We might wait and see what happens at the Millennium Stadium.''
Horne said the FA has no plans to resurrect the Home Nations tournament, insisting that playing the other home nations regularly wouldn't help an England side that has won only one major title: the 1966 World Cup.
''It's wrong for me to assume that it's the right thing to do for football development,'' Horne said. ''It's wrong for me to assume that it's right for the football management to impose those four matches every couple of years during an international friendly calendar when people need to prepare for different opposition - qualifying opposition.''
Horne also said that England would also mark its anniversary by playing top sides from outside of the British Isles.
''We're talking to three or four other big, top-six internationally ranked countries about playing in 2013 as well,'' Horne said.
Meanwhile, the FA's finances have been boosted by a new sponsorship deal with automaker Vauxhall, which is worth about 30 million pounds ($47 million) until July 2014.
The British brand of the General Motors Co. has filled the void left by Nationwide, which ended its 11-season association with the FA last year after Horne said the building society was ''undervaluing the long-term brand value of England.''
But while Vauxhall is sponsoring the England team, the carmaker's managing director Duncan Aldred doesn't expect the players to drive their modest vehicles.
''I don't expect they'll buy one and if I could have an Aston Martin, I might choose one as well,'' he said.
