Football was added to the sports agenda at the Olympic Games in London in 1908 and Great Britain were the proud winners of the very first gold medal. It wasn't until 1992, though, that professional footballers were allowed to take part and football events for women were only introduced at the Atlanta Games in 1996.

A variety of stadiums across the UK will be used to stage the two and a half week tournament, including St James's Park in Newcastle, Hampden Park in Glasgow, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Old Trafford in Manchester, Villa Park in Birmingham and Wembley Stadium in London.

Brazil is renowned for its success when competing in the FIFA World Cup, but strangely has never yet managed to win a gold medal in the Olympic football tournament. Will 2012 be their winning year?