The Football Association
| UEFA | |
| Founded | 1863 |
|---|---|
| FIFA affiliation | 1905 |
| UEFA affiliation | 1954 |
| President | Prince William of Wales |
The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. The FA has a unique place in the history of football.
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Overview
The FA is a member of UEFA and FIFA, and holds a permanent seat on the International Football Association Board (IFAB). Unlike other national football associations, it does not take the national name (ie. English) in its title (compared to the Scottish Football Association, for example).
All of England's professional football clubs are members of the Football Association. The FA is responsible for the appointment of the management of the England men's and women's national teams and the organization of the FA Cup (the nation's most prestigious cup competition). Although it does not run the day-to-day operations of the country's top league, the Premier League, it has veto power over the appointment of the league Chairman and Chief Executive and over any changes to league rules.[1] The Football League, England's second tier league, consisting of The Championship, League One and League Two, is self-governing.
The game is controlled at the local level, by 43 County Football Associations affiliated to The Football Association but with responsibilities for organising and running football activities in their area. The Jersey, Guernsey, and Isle of Man Football Associations are organised as County Football Associations below the FA.[2] A hierarchy of leagues operates throughout the game, each taking responsibility for the administration of their own activities, such as membership, fixtures and registrations.
The FA owns and runs both Wembley Stadium and the National Football Centre (The National Football Centre is currently under construction with a target for completion set for 2010).
History
For centuries before the first meeting of the Football Association in the Freemasons' Tavern in Great Queen Street, London on 26 October 1863, there were no universally accepted rules for playing football. In each public school the game was formalised according to local conditions; but when the schoolboys reached university, chaos ensued when the players used different rules, so members of Cambridge University devised and published a set of Cambridge Rules in 1848 which was widely adopted. Another set of rules, the Sheffield Rules, was used by a number of clubs in the North of England from the 1850s.
Twelve London football clubs met in 1862 to agree common rules. The founding clubs present at the first meeting were Barnes, Civil Service, Crusaders, Forest of Leytonstone (later to become Wanderers) , N.N. (No Names) Club (Kilburn), the original Crystal Palace, Blackheath, Kensington School, Percival House (Blackheath), Surbiton and Blackheath Proprietary School; Charterhouse sent their captain, B.F. Hartshorne, but declined the offer to join. Many of these clubs are now defunct or play rugby union.
Central to the creation of the Football Association and modern football was Ebenezer Cobb Morley. He was a founding member of the Football Association in 1862. In 1863, as captain of the Mortlake-based club, he wrote to Bell's Life newspaper proposing a governing body for the sport that led to the first meeting at the Freemason's Tavern that created the FA. He was the FA's first secretary (1863-6) and its second president (1867-74) and drafted the Laws of football that determine the way the game is played internationally today at his home in Barnes, London. As a player, he played in the first ever match in 1863. He is, therefore, considered the father of Association Football.
The first version of the rules for the modern game was drawn up over a series of six meetings held in the Freemasons' Tavern from October till December. At the final meeting, F. M. Campbell, the first FA treasurer and the Blackheath representative, withdrew his club from the FA over the removal of two draft rules at the previous meeting, the first which allowed for the running with the ball in hand and the second, obstructing such a run by hacking (kicking an opponent in the shins), tripping and holding. Other English rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA but instead in 1871 formed the Rugby Football Union. The term "soccer" dates back to this split to refer to football played under the "association" rules.
An inaugural game using the new FA rules was initially scheduled for Battersea Park on 2 January 1864, but enthusiastic members of the FA couldn't wait for the new year and an experimental game was played at Mortlake on 19 December 1863 between Morley's Barnes team and their neighbours Richmond (who were not members of the FA), ending in a goalless draw. The Richmond side were obviously unimpressed by the new rules in practice because they subsequently helped form the Rugby Football Union in 1871. The Battersea Park game was postponed for a week, and the first exhibition game using FA rules was played there on Saturday 9 January 1864. The members of the opposing teams for this game were chosen by the President of the FA (A. Pember) and the Secretary (E. C. Morley) and included many well-known footballers of the day.
Finances
The FA's main commercial asset is its ownership of the rights to England internationals and the FA Cup. Turnover for the year ending 31 December, 2007 was £237.9 million.[3] The FA owns the new Wembley Stadium, which opened in 2006, via its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Limited. For the 4 seasons from 2008 to 2012, the FA has secured £425 million from ITV and Setanta for England and FA Cup games domestic television rights, a 42% increase over the previous contract, and £145 million for overseas television rights, up 272% on the £39 million received for the previous four-year period.[4]
The FA's income does not include the turnover of English football clubs, which are independent businesses. As well as running its own operations the FA chooses five charities each year to which it gives considerable financial support.[5][6]
In November 2007, Radio 5 Live estimated the cost to the FA of non-qualification for Euro 2008 to be in the direct region of £5million, with loss of revenue to the UK economy likely to run into the billions.
Competitions
The FA also runs several competitions:
- FA Premier League
- FA Cup
- FA Trophy
- FA Vase
- FA Women's Cup
- FA Women's Premier League Cup
- FA Youth Cup
- FA Sunday Cup
- FA County Youth Cup
- FA Community Shield
- FA National League System Cup
- FA Futsal Cup
Principals
The FA has a figurehead President, since 1939 always a member of the British Royal Family. The Chairman of the FA has overall responsibility for policy. Traditionally this person rose through the ranks of the FA's committee structure (e.g. by holding posts such a the chairmanship of a county football association). In 2008 the politician Lord Triesman was appointed as the FA's first "independent chairman", that is the first from outside the football hierarchy. The day to day head of the FA was known as the Secretary until 1989, when the job title was changed to Chief Executive.
| Office | Name | Start yeartime | End yeartime |
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Arthur Pember | 1863 | 1867 |
| E. C. Morley | 1867 | 1874 | |
| Major Sir Francis Marindin | 1874 | 1890 | |
| Lord Kinnaird | 1890 | 1923 | |
| Sir Charles Clegg | 1923 | 1937 | |
| William Pickford | 1937 | 1939 | |
| The Earl of Athlone | 1939 | 1955 | |
| The Duke of Edinburgh | 1955 | 1957 | |
| The Duke of Gloucester | 1957 | 1963 | |
| The Earl of Harewood | 1963 | 1971 | |
| The Duke of Kent | 1971 | 2000 | |
| The Duke of York | 2000 | 2006 | |
| Prince William of Wales | May 2006 | ||
| Chair | Sir Charles Clegg | 1890 | 1937 |
| A. G. Hines | 1938 | ||
| M. Frowde | 1939 | 1941 | |
| Sir Amos Brook Hirst | 1941 | 1955 | |
| Arthur Drewry | 1955 | 1961 | |
| Graham Doggart | 1961 | 1963 | |
| Joe Mears | 1963 | 1966 | |
| Sir Andrew Stephen | 1967 | 1976 | |
| Professor Sir Harold Thompson | 1976 | 1981 | |
| Sir Bert Millichip | 1981 | 1996 | |
| Keith Wiseman | 1996 | 1999 | |
| Geoff Thompson | 1999 | 2008 | |
| Lord Triesman | 2008 | ||
| Secretary | E. C. Morley | 1863 | 1866 |
| R. W. Willis | 1866 | 1868 | |
| R. G. Graham | 1868 | 1870 | |
| Charles Alcock | 1870 | 1895 | |
| Sir Frederick Wall | 1895 | 1934 | |
| Sir Stanley Rous | 1934 | 1962 | |
| Sir Denis Follows | 1962 | 1973 | |
| E. A. Croker | 1973 | 1989 | |
| Chief executive | Graham Kelly | 1989 | 1998 |
| Adam Crozier | 2000 | 2002 | |
| Mark Palios | 2003 | 2004 | |
| Brian Barwick | 2005 | ||
| Executive Director | David Davies | 1998 | 2000 |
| Acting Chief Executive | 2002 | 2003 | |
| 2004 | 2005 | ||
Main Board
- Chairman
- Lord Triesman
- Vice-Chairman & Kent FA
- Barry Bright +
- Chief Executive
- Brian Barwick
- Devon FA
- Dave Henson +
- Essex FA: Michael Game +
- Bolton Wanderers Chairman
- Phil Gartside ^
- Manchester United Chief Executive
- David Gill ^
- Gloucestershire FA
- Roger Burden +
- Premier League Chairman
- Sir Dave Richards ^
- Hampshire FA
- John Ward +
- Ipswich Town Chairman
- David Sheepshanks %
- Norwich City F.C. Chief Executive
- Neil Doncaster %[7]
Equations:
+ = National Game Representative
^ = Premier League Representative
% = Football League Representative
References
- Green, Geoffrey (1954) The history of the Football Association, Naldrett Press
- Butler, B. (1991). The official history of the Football Association, Queen Anne Press, ISBN 0-356-19145-1
Internet
- ↑ "The Premier League and Other Football Bodies". Premier League. Retrieved on 2007-05-17.
- ↑ "The Regional Structure". FA.com website. Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
- ↑ FA 2007 Report and Financial Statements
- ↑ New Deals Sweet for FA, football365.com, 31 October 2007.
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ Evening News 24 - Doncaster takes on enforcer’s role
See also
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External links
- The FA official site
- Tom Bower Has the Blazer Brigade doomed football? Guardian July 2, 2005
- Royal Engineers Museum When the Royal Engineers won the FA Cup 1875
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Women's football in England
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The Football Association
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Football in the United Kingdom
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International football
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