Football in England
Football in England | |
---|---|
The England national team playing at Wembley (2007). | |
Country | England |
Governing body | FA |
National team | England |
First played | 1863 |
National competitions | |
Club competitions | |
International competitions | |
Association football is a national sport in the United Kingdom, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association football clubs, England has more clubs involved in the code than any other country as well as the world's first club (Sheffield F.C.), the world's oldest professional association football club (Notts County F.C), the oldest national governing body (the Football Association), the first national team, the oldest national knockout competition (the FA Cup) and the oldest national league (the Football League). Today the UK's top domestic league, the Premier League, is one of the most popular and richest sports leagues in the world.[1]
The England National Football Team has won the World Cup once, in 1966. A total of five English club teams have won the UEFA Champions League (European Cup).
History of English football
Middle Ages
Football was played in England as far back as medieval times. The first written evidence of a football match came in about 1170, when William Fitzstephen wrote of his visit to London, "After dinner all the youths of the city goes out into the fields for the very popular game of ball." He also went on to mention that each trade had their own team, "The elders, the fathers, and the men of wealth come on horseback to view the contests of their juniors, and in their fashion sport with the young men; and there seems to be aroused in these elders a stirring of natural heat by viewing so much activity and by participation in the joys of unrestrained youth." Kicking ball games are described in England from 1280.[2]
In 1314, Edward II, then the King of England, said about a sport of football and the use of footballs, "certain tumults arising from great footballs in the fields of the public, from which many evils may arise."[2] An account of an exclusively kicking "football" game from Nottinghamshire in the fifteenth century bears similarity to association football.[3] By the 16th centuries references to organised teams and goals had appeared. There is evidence for refereed, team football games being played in English schools since at least 1581.[2] The eighteenth-century Gymnastic Society of London is, arguably, the world's first football club.
Developments in 19th century
The Cambridge rules, first drawn up at Cambridge University in 1848, were particularly influential in the development of subsequent codes, including association football. The Cambridge Rules were written at Trinity College, Cambridge, at a meeting attended by representatives from Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester and Shrewsbury schools. They were not universally adopted.[4] During the 1850s, many clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the English-speaking world, to play various forms of football. Some came up with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably, Sheffield Football Club (the world's oldest club), formed by former public school pupils in 1857,[5] which led to formation of the Sheffield & Hallamshire Football Association in 1867. In 1862, John Charles Thring of Uppingham School also devised an influential set of rules.[6] His brother, headmaster of the school Reverend Edward Thring, was a proponent of football as an alternative to masturbation, seen as weakening the boys, and through football hoped to encourage their development of perceived manly attributes which were present in the sport.[7] These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association (The FA) in 1863, which first met on 26 October 1863 at the Freemasons' Tavern in Great Queen Street, London.[4][4] The Sheffield FA played by its own rules until the 1870s with the FA absorbing some of its rules until there was little difference between the games. A match between Sheffield and Hallam F.C. on 29 December 1862 was one of the first matches to be recorded in a newspaper.[2]
With the modern passing game believed to have been innovated in London [2][8] and with England being home to the oldest football clubs in the world dating from at least 1857, the world's oldest football trophy, the Youdan Cup, the first national competition, the FA Cup founded in 1871, and the first ever association football league (1888) as well as England having the first national football team that hosted the world's first ever international football match, a 1–1 draw with Scotland on 5 March 1870 at The Oval in London,[9] England is considered the home of the game of football.
On 8 March 1873, the England national team's 4–2 win over Scotland at the Oval was the first ever victory in international football.[10] The late nineteenth century was dominated by the growing split between the amateur and professional teams, which was roughly aligned along a North-South divide. Northern clubs were keen to adopt professionalism as workers could not afford to play on an amateur basis, while Southern clubs by the large part stuck by traditional "Corinthian" values of amateurism. Eventually, in 1885 the FA legalised professionalism, and when Aston Villa director William McGregor organised a meeting of representatives of England's leading clubs, this led to the formation of the Football League in 1888. Preston North End were inaugural winners in 1888–89, and were also the first club to complete the double of both winning the league and the FA Cup. Aston Villa repeated the feat in 1896–97.
The League expanded over the next 25 years as football boomed in England, from one division of twelve clubs in 1888, to two divisions by the 1892–93 season, with a total of 28 clubs and with the gradual addition of more clubs, a total of 40 by 1905–06. It remained at 40 until the league was suspended after the 1914–15 season with the outbreak of World War I. During this time clubs from the North and Midlands dominated, with Aston Villa, Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle United all winning three or more league titles in the period leading up to World War I. During the war, competitive football was suspended. However, an unofficial "Wartime Football league" was played from 1915–16 to 1918–19, although the FA Cup was suspended until after the war.
In the 1920–21 season the Football League was expanded, with the new Third Division, which expanded the league south of Birmingham. Each division had 22 clubs. The next season the league was again expanded with the Third Division divided into North (with 20 clubs) and South (with 22 clubs) sections, making a total of 86 clubs in the Football League. In the 1923–24 season the Third Division North was expanded to 22 clubs, making a total of 88 league clubs.
After half a century of cup finals and internationals being hosted at various venues across England, the national stadium at Wembley was opened in 1923, with the "White Horse Final" being the first FA Cup final to be played there. Bolton Wanderers defeated West Ham United to win this landmark game.
The inter-war years were dominated by Huddersfield Town, Everton and Arsenal, who won eleven of the eighteen league titles contested between them, with Huddersfield and Arsenal each grabbing a three consecutive titles, and Arsenal taking five in total, as well as two FA Cups. Both Huddersfield and Arsenal were managed by Herbert Chapman, who moved from Huddersfield to Arsenal after the Yorkshire club's second successive title, and died just before Arsenal won their third successive title.
By the turn of the 1930s, the national side regularly played against other national teams from outside the British Isles.[10] However, the FA's resignation from FIFA in 1928 meant that England did not contest any of the first three World Cups. The 1939–40 season was abandoned in September 1939 following the outbreak of World War II. However, as with World War I, a special wartime league was played throughout the war years, with the FA Cup again suspended. Ten regional "mini-leagues" were initially established in 1939 as well as the Football League War Cup which ran six seasons from 1939 to 1945 with West Ham United, Preston North End, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers winning the trophy while in 1943–44 Aston Villa and Charlton Athletic shared the trophy after drawing 1–1. Various leagues and cups, mostly on a regional basis, were organised throughout the war years for five seasons until the FA Cup resumed in 1945–46. The Football League returned the following season.
Post-World War II
The English national team suffered two shock defeats in the early 1950s: a 1-0 loss to the United States at the 1950 World Cup, and a 6-3 defeat to Hungary at Wembley in 1953. However, Wolverhampton Wanderers defeated the Hungarian club Budapest Honvéd,[11] a match which inspired the creation of the European Cup. Chelsea were persuaded against participating in the first season of the European Cup in 1955–56, but Manchester United ignored such advice and went on to reach the semi-final of the 1956–57 edition, losing to the eventual winners Real Madrid. In the following season's European Cup, Manchester United was involved in the Munich Air Disaster: this also affected the national team as three of the players who lost their lives - Roger Byrne, Tommy Taylor and Duncan Edwards - were established England internationals. Two English teams, a London XI and Birmingham City, both lost to Barcelona in the first two finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1958 and 1960.
The Football League was re-organised for the 1958–59 season with Third Divisions North and South discontinued. The top half of each regional Third Division from the previous season formed a new Third Division, while the lower halves formed the new Fourth Division. Modernisation followed in the 1960s, with revolutions in the game such as the George Eastham case allowing players greater freedom of movement, and the abolition of the maximum wage in 1961.
Tottenham Hotspur became the first club to win the Double in the 20th century in 1960–61, and the first English club to win a European trophy, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1962–63 when they beat Atlético Madrid 5–1 in the final. The most marked success of the era, however, was Alf Ramsey's England team, which won the 1966 FIFA World Cup on home soil after controversially beating West Germany 4–2 after extra time, the only time the national team has won the trophy. In the late 1960s English clubs dominated the last years of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, with wins for Leeds United, Newcastle United and Arsenal. Manchester United became the first English club to win the European Cup in 1967–68 when they beat Benfica 4–1 at Wembley in the final. Liverpool (four), Nottingham Forest (two) and Aston Villa (one) won the European Cup in a successful period between 1977 and 1984.
The rise of football hooliganism marred the game throughout the 1970s and 1980s, which caused a decline in match attendance. In August 1974, a Blackpool fan was stabbed to death at the back of the Spion Kop, Bloomfield Road at Blackpool's home match with Bolton Wanderers.[12] It was widely reported as being the first hooligan death at an English football match, and other clubs who gained notorious reputations for hooliganism during the 1970s and 1980s included Chelsea, Millwall, West Ham United and Leeds United. The nadir came in May 1985, when Liverpool fans hooliganism, combined with poor policing and infrastructure, led to the deaths of 39 Juventus fans before the European Cup final, in the Heysel Stadium disaster and a five-year ban on English clubs in European competitions. Due to the ban, many English star players transferred to continental clubs. England's ageing and poorly built stadiums were responsible for two disasters, at Bradford in 1985 and Hillsborough in 1989, killing 56 and 96 people respectively.
In 1986–87 automatic promotion and relegation between the Football League and non-league was introduced, with the bottom club in the league being relegated to the Conference. Eventually this was increased to two clubs in 2002–03. In the 1980s, play-offs were introduced throughout the Football League for promotion each season, with one club each season being promoted via the end of season play-offs in addition to those clubs promoted automatically.
The post-Hillsborough Taylor Report forced the conversion of major stadia to all-seater, which was a requirement at all clubs in the top divisions by the 1994-95 season. At the same time, the money from television coverage was increasing rapidly, due to England reaching the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup and a concerted effort to drive out hooliganism reinvigorated the national game.
Premier League era
In the spring of 1992, 22 of the 26 clubs in the First Division (which then included Southampton) resigned en masse from the Football League, forming a new top-level competition, The FA Premier League, overseen by the FA, largely to capitalise upon their status as the biggest and most wealthy clubs in the country, and negotiate more profitable television rights. The Football League was consequently re-organised, with the Second, Third and Fourth Divisions renamed as the First, Second and Third Divisions respectively. Thus, the First Division, while still the top level of the Football League, became the second level of the entire English football league system with the top clubs inheriting the promotion play-off system from the old Second Division. The Premier League has been won by 5 clubs in its 21 seasons, with Manchester United winning on 13 occasions. English clubs have also won European tournaments since being permitted to compete after the Heysel disaster, the first English team to win the UEFA Champions League being Manchester United in 1999. The 2008 final, for the first time, was played between two English teams, Manchester United and Chelsea.
League system
The Football League, established in 1882 by Aston Villa director William McGregor, was the first professional football league in the world. Since its founding, however, many other leagues have been founded in England. Sunday leagues are played each weekend by clubs, the study made by the FA sees to this. Over the years there has been an increasing effort to link all these leagues together in a Pyramidal structure allowing promotion and relegation between different levels. The primary motivation for this drive is to maintain the possibility that any club in England may dream of one day rising to the very top, no matter what status they currently hold. In a study made by FIFA in 2006 there are around 40,000 clubs registered with the FA, which is 11,000 more than any other country, the closest being the Brazilian Football Confederation who have 29,000 registered clubs. Even without taking relative population into account, England has more football clubs than any other country in the world.[13]
Premier League
The Premier League was founded in 1992 after England's top clubs broke away from the Football League in a successful effort aimed at increasing their income at the expense of clubs in the lower divisions. Links with The Football League were maintained, and each season the bottom three clubs are relegated from the Premier League and replaced by three from the Championship. The Premier League is contested between 20 clubs each season. Each club in the Premier League in any given season owns one twentieth of a share in the league itself, meaning that they are all supposedly equal owners with equal rights and responsibilities.
The Football League
Although the oldest league in the world, The Football League now ranks second in the hierarchy of English football since the split of England's top clubs in 1992 to form the FA Premier League. The Football League has 72 member clubs evenly divided among three divisions, currently named the Championship, League One and League Two. Despite the organisational split, promotion and relegation of clubs still takes place between the Premier League and the Football League.
Non-league football
Below the Football League is what is commonly known as "nonleague", examples include Bath City, Luton Town and FC Halifax Town. This term can be confusing, as it refers to those clubs outside the Football League, although they still play in organised league competitions. In recent years, the top few levels have been consolidated into the National League System, operated by the FA. Most clubs in the Conference National division are fully professional, the remainder are semi-professional.
There is automatic promotion and relegation between League Two and the Conference National, and for several levels below the Conference, although this becomes more irregular further down the league system. The non-League system is often known as the "pyramid", because the number of leagues at each level begins to increase the further down through the levels, with each league covering a smaller geographic area.
Amateur football
Although the FA abandoned a formal definition of "amateur" in the early 1970s, the vast majority of clubs still effectively play as amateurs, with no financial reward and the leagues are not part of the National League System.
The various County Football Associations, which are based roughly on the historic county boundaries, are the local governing bodies of football in England. They govern all aspects of Sunday league football. Not all County Football Associations are run on county basis. Each armed service has one, for instance such as the Army Football Association which administers football within the British Army.
The Amateur Football Alliance (AFA) is the largest organised amateur competition, being particularly strong in the London area. The AFA is also a County Football Association and as such governs leagues such as the Arthurian League which contains two former FA Cup winners, Old Etonians who won the FA Cup twice, in 1879 and 1882 as well as Old Carthusians who were FA Cup winners in 1881.
Sunday league football in England tends to be lower level amateur football, which is also sometimes referred to as Pub League due to the number of public houses who field teams in Sunday leagues. Each local County Football Association governs all aspects of Sunday league football.
Smaller-sided versions of the game such as Five-a-side football are popular. Futsal is also a growing sport in England. These are often played informally, but there are many competitive small-sided leagues running across the country.
Reserve leagues
The top division for reserve teams of professional clubs is the Premier Reserve League, which was founded in 1999 and is split into Premier Reserve League North and Premier Reserve League South, both with ten participating teams.
Beneath that operate the Central League for Football League clubs reserve teams in the Midlands and North of England, and the Football Combination for clubs from the South of England and Wales.
The Central League was formed in 1911 and currently has 28 teams, split into three divisions - Central, North and South. The winners of each division and the best runner-up compete in the end-of-season play-offs to decide the league champions. Whilst the Central League is for Football League reserve teams, The West Division contains a Manchester City side which uses a mix of reserve team and youth team squad players and in 2007–08 they were Central League champions. The Central League also organises the Central League Cup, although not all clubs enter the cup.
The Football Combination was formed in 1915 and currently has 30 teams. The Combination is also split into three divisions - East, Central and Wales & East. Whilst the majority of teams are Football League reserve teams, the Combination also currently has the reserve teams of three Conference clubs - Forest Green Rovers, Lewes,and Salisbury City. The Football Combination also organises the Combination Challenge Cup, although not all clubs enter the cup.
There is no promotion and relegation between the reserve team leagues. When a first team is relegated from the Premier League, their reserve team withdraws from the Premier Reserve League to either of the other two leagues and is replaced by the reserve team of the club promoted from the Championship.
Below the professional club reserve leagues, many clubs also operate reserve teams, which play in separate Reserve leagues, such as the Lancashire League. Some lower leagues, such as the North West Counties Football League organise their own reserve leagues. And, at some lower levels of the pyramid, reserve teams play against first teams.
Youth leagues
Many club sides have youth teams. The top level of youth football is the Premier Academy League, founded in 1997, which is for all Premier League and Football League clubs that have Academy sides. The league, which currently has 40 clubs, is divided into four groups each with ten teams. The winners of each group contest the end-of-season play-offs to decide the league champions.
The second tier youth league is the Football League Youth Alliance, also founded in 1997, in which those Football League clubs that have Centres of Excellence status field their youth teams. The league, which currently has 58 clubs, is divided into four regional conference leagues. The Youth Alliance also operate the annual Youth Alliance Cup.
The FA Youth Cup is a nationwide cup competition for Under-18 teams organised by the FA. Over 4000 clubs enter the FA Youth Cup each season.
Cup competitions
There are several cup competitions for clubs at different levels of the football pyramid. The two major cup competitions are the FA Cup and the Football League Cup, with the winners of those competitions qualifying for the UEFA Europa League.
- The FA Cup, first held in 1872, is the oldest and most respected national cup competition in the world. It is open to around 600 clubs in levels 1–11 of the football pyramid.
- The FA Community Shield is a single match played each August between the FA Cup winners and the Premier League champions.
- The Football League Cup (currently known as the Capital One Cup) is England's second major cup competition, and is contested by the 92 Premier League and Football League clubs.
- The Football League Trophy (currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy) is a competition for the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two.
- The FA Trophy is for clubs playing in levels 5–8 of the football pyramid (steps 1–4 of the National League System), i.e. the twelve divisions of the Football Conference, the Southern Football League, the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League.[14]
- The FA Vase is for clubs in levels 9–10 of the football pyramid (steps 5–6 of the National League System)[14]
- The FA Inter-League Cup (NLS Cup) was formed in the 2003–04 to provide an English representative in the UEFA Regions' Cup. It is contested by representative sides from leagues at level 11 of the English football pyramid (level 7 of the National League System), which is roughly the county level, together with a few other leagues permitted by the FA. The first winner of the NLS Cup was the Mid Cheshire League, who beat the Cambridgeshire County League 2–0 in May 2004.
- A number of lower leagues organise their own cup competitions, such as the North West Counties Football League who run a League Cup and a Division One Trophy.
- Many County Football Associations organise their own cup competitions involving Premier League and Football League clubs as well as non-league clubs in some counties. Most league clubs tend to use reserve or youth teams whereas non-league clubs will use their first team. County cups include the Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior Cup, which is one of the oldest surviving cup competitions in the world, the Birmingham Senior Cup which began in 1875 with its first final in 1876 making it the oldest known surviving regional football cup competition in the world and which has featured all of the major West Midlands clubs over the years with Aston Villa winning a record number of times, the Lancashire Senior Cup which is competed for by Premier League and Football League clubs from the historic county of Lancashire, including Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Everton and Burnley, along with Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic, Bolton Wanderers, Blackpool, Preston North End, Oldham Athletic, Rochdale, Bury and Morecambe. The Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy is for senior non-league clubs in the same county. Everton, Liverpool and Tranmere Rovers enter the Liverpool Senior Cup using their reserve or youth teams, along with local Merseyside non-league clubs, such as Burscough and Marine. Other competitions include the London Senior Cup and the Middlesex Senior Cup.
- The FA Sunday Cup began in 1964 and is a national knockout competition for all Sunday league teams. The 2008 final was played at Anfield.[15]
- The AFA Senior Cup is an amateur football competition organised by the Amateur Football Alliance and contested by the first teams of clubs affiliated to the Alliance.
- Although not an FA-affiliated contest, the Masters Football contest is a contest between former players and is refereed by former Premier League Referees
There have also been a number of other cup competitions which are no longer run:
- FA Amateur Cup (1893–1974)
- Sheriff of London Charity Shield (1898–1907, 1931–1934 and 1965–66)
- Anglo-Italian Cup (1970–1973, 1976–1986 and 1992–1996)
- Watney Cup (1970–1973)
- Texaco Cup (1971–1975)
- Anglo-Scottish Cup (1975–1981)
- Super Cup (1985)
- Full Members Cup (1985–1992)
- The Conference League Cup (1979 - 2009) was for clubs in level 5–6 i.e. the three divisions of the Football Conference.
Current English national cup summary
Level | League(s) | FA Cup | Football League Cup | Football League Trophy | FA Trophy | FA Vase |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Premier League | X | X | |||
2 | Football League Championship | X | X | |||
3 | Football League One | X | X | X | ||
4 | Football League Two | X | X | X | ||
5 | Conference Premier | X | X | |||
6 | Conference North / South | X | X | |||
7 | NPL / SFL/ IL Premier Division | X | X | |||
8 | NPL / SFL/ IL Division One | X | X | |||
9 | Various | X | X | |||
10 | Various | X | X | |||
11 | Various | X | X | |||
Qualification for European competitions
Clubs who do well in either the Premier League, FA Cup or League Cup can qualify to compete in various UEFA-organised Europe-wide competitions in the following season. The number of English clubs playing in Europe in any one season can range from seven to nine, depending on the qualification scenarios. Currently, England is awarded the following places in European competitions:
Competition | Who Qualifies | Notes |
---|---|---|
UEFA Champions League | Club finishing 1st in the Premier League | |
Club finishing 2nd in the Premier League | ||
Club finishing 3rd in the Premier League | ||
UEFA Champions League Playoff-Round for Non-Champions | Club finishing 4th in the Premier League. | However if an English club wins the Champions League but fails to qualify for the following year's tournament in one of the above slots, then they will take this spot and the club finishing 4th in the table will instead be entered into the UEFA Europa League. Seedings will be adjusted, as the title holder enters at the group stage. |
UEFA Europa League | Any English club that wins the UEFA Europa League and has not already qualified for a European competition | By the UEFA Europa League regulations (Regulation 1.06),[16] this club's entry into the UEFA Europa League will not be at the expense of any other entries to which its national federation is entitled. |
UEFA Europa League Play-Off Round | Club finishing 5th in the Premier League | If the fifth-placed club has already qualified for Europe through the FA Cup, then the next-highest Premier League finishers get this place |
FA Cup winners | If the FA Cup winners have already qualified for the UEFA Champions League, by Regulation 1.04),[16] the runners-up qualify for the spot; if they have also qualified for the Champions League, the next highest league finisher not already qualified for Europe takes the place. In either of these cases, if the new club has a lower league finish than a club starting in an earlier round, the clubs will swap their starting rounds. | |
UEFA Europa League Third Qualifying Round | League Cup winners | If the League Cup winners have already qualified for Europe by a high Premier League finish, then the next highest-finishing Premier League club gets this place |
UEFA Europa League First Qualifying Round | FA Premier League club with the best UEFA Fair Play ranking that has not already qualified for Europe, but only if England has one of the top three positions and has a fair play score of above 8. |
In addition, once in a European competition, it becomes possible to qualify for others:
- All the winners of the Champions League Play-Off Round go forward to the Champions League
- All the losers of the Champions League Play-Off Round go forward to the UEFA Europa League
- All the winners of the UEFA Europa League Play-Off Round go forward to the UEFA Europa League
- Any clubs playing in the Champions League that finish third in the group stage go into the UEFA Europa League Round of 32
Welsh clubs
A number of Welsh clubs play in the English league system. Prior to 1996, these clubs, as members of the Football Association of Wales, were entitled to enter the Welsh Cup, and thus eligible to take the European place that came with winning the competition. However, from 1996 onwards, these clubs were prevented from taking part, which meant that they would no longer be able to claim a European place representing Wales. However, these clubs remained as members of the FAW, meaning that it was unclear whether they would be eligible to claim one of England's European places in the event that they met the qualifying criteria. This was not a major issue as for many years the Welsh clubs were in the lower divisions of the Football League and tended not to make the latter stages of either the FA or League Cups. However, in 2008, Cardiff City reached the final of the FA Cup, which led to UEFA and the Football Association needing to reach a consensus on the club being one of England's representatives in the event of them winning the competition (this became moot as they lost the 2008 FA Cup Final).[17][18][19] However, the question of participation in European competition was only definitively resolved in 2012, when Cardiff reached another major final (this time the League Cup Final, which they again lost). UEFA stated that there would be no bar to Cardiff City or Swansea City being eligible for one of England's places; at the same time however they prevented the FAW from offering the European place for winning the Welsh Cup to teams playing in the English league system (the FAW had invited the six clubs playing in England to participate in the 2011–12 Welsh Cup, and had hoped to persuade UEFA to allow them to give these clubs the right to claim the European place).[20] In 2013, Swansea became the first Welsh club to gain a place representing England by winning the League Cup and qualifying for the 2013-14 Europa League.
National teams
The England national football team represents England in international football. It is one of the two oldest national football teams in the world, the other one being Scotland. England is one of only eight national teams to have won the World Cup and did this in 1966. They are one of the more prominent teams on the global stage, rarely dropping outside of the top ten rankings of both FIFA and Elo. They were the most successful of the Home Nations in the British Home Championship with 54 wins (including 20 shared wins) before the competition was suspended in 1984.
There are also a number of other national teams from the Under-16 team to the Under-21 team, the latter of which is considered to be a feeder team for the national team. In addition there is an England B team which occasionally plays games as support for the national team. The England C team (formerly the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Professional team) represents England at non-league level. They compete annually in the Four Nations Tournament as well as in friendly matches throughout the year.
Women's football
The first recorded women's football match in England was more than 100 years ago. Women's football was very popular for many years but it was stopped by a ban made by the Football Association from 1921 to 1962.[21] It is only in recent years that women's football has begun to recover and receive some serious attention with televised matches (such as the FA Women's Cup final and matches of the national team), international games being held at larger stadia and, to a lesser extent, the comedy film Bend It Like Beckham.
As with the men's game, the league is organised into a pyramid system. It has nine levels, with the semi-professional FA WSL, launched in 2011, at the top. Unlike the men's pyramid and the lower levels of the women's pyramid, there will be no promotion from or relegation to the former top level, the FA Women's Premier League National Division, until at least the end of the 2012 WSL season. Doncaster Rovers Belles LFC (previously Doncaster Belles LFC) were founded in 1969 and are one of the most successful clubs in England. They are one of only two clubs outside London to have won the FA Women's Premier League National, the other team being Everton LFC. The Belles have also won the FA Women's Cup six times and been runners-up seven times. Fulham LFC were for a number of years the top club in England and were the first club in Europe to turn professional in 2000 before reverting to semi-professional in 2003. Doncaster Rovers Belles and Everton have since become charter members of the WSL.
Arsenal LFC, who turned fully professional not long after Fulham, have dominated the game in England in the 2000s with Everton LFC also successful. Arsenal have won the FA Women's Cup nine times, and also won the FA Women's Premier League National Division ten times and the FA Women's Premier League Cup nine times before the launch of the WSL. They also won the UEFA Women's Cup in the 2006–07 season. In the 2011 season, the first for both the WSL and its cup competition, the FA WSL Continental Cup, Arsenal claimed the league-cup double. Before the launch of the WSL, Everton won the league title once and were runners-up twice. They have also won the FA Women's Cup once and the FA Women's Premier League Cup once.
Burton Brewers 57-0 loss against Willenhall Town on 4 March 2001 in the West Midland Regional Women's Football League, Division One North may be a British record for the biggest defeat in a football match.[22]
Stadiums in England
Wembley Stadium is the national stadium in England. It is also the largest stadium in the country with a capacity of 90,000. It is owned by the FA and stages England home matches, the FA Cup final and semi-finals, League Cup final, Football League Trophy, FA Trophy, FA Vase as well as the Promotion play-off finals of the Football League and the Conference National. Old Trafford with a capacity of 76,212 is the largest club stadium, with the Emirates Stadium holding 60,355 and St James' Park holding 52,387. All Premier League clubs play in all-seater stadia. Most professional clubs have either moved to new purpose-built stadia or redeveloped their stadium. Even at non-league level there have been big improvements with the likes of New Bucks Head the home of Telford United with a capacity of 6,300, being one of the best in non-league and Princes Park with a capacity of 4,100, the home of Dartford, one of the most ecologically sound ever built.[23] Some clubs moved out of their old stadiums into newly developed council built and owned stadia, where they are tenants. Clubs include Doncaster Rovers at the Keepmoat Stadium, which is owned by Doncaster Council, Hull City at the KC Stadium, which is owned by Hull City Council and Coventry City at the Ricoh Arena which is owned jointly by City Council and the Alan Edward Higgs Charity. The 92 Club is a society, in order to be a member of which, a person must attend a football match at the stadium of every current Premier League and Football League club in England and Wales.
Seasons in English football
The following articles detail the major results and events in each season since 1871–72, when the first organised competition, the FA Cup, was created. Seasons in italics are wartime seasons, when official national competition was suspended, although regional football continued.
See also
- English football league system
- St George's Park National Football Centre
- Sport in England
- Football in the United Kingdom
- Football in London
- Football in South Yorkshire
- National Football Museum
- Football Supporters' Federation
- Football records in England
- List of English football champions
- Timeline of English football
- PFA Players' Player of the Year
- FWA Footballer of the Year
- PFA Young Player of the Year
- Football in Greater Manchester
References
- ↑ "english premier league is the richest in the world". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "History of Football". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
- ↑ Magoun, Francis Peabody (1929). Football in Medieval England and Middle-English literature. The American Historical Review, vol 35, No. 1.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "History of the FA". The Football Association. 2004-03-29. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
- ↑ Harvey, Adrian (2005-05-17). Football, the First Hundred Years: The Untold Story of the People's Game. Routledge. p. 126. ISBN 0-415-35018-2.
- ↑ Winner, David (2005-03-28). "The hands-off approach to a man's game". London: The Times. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
- ↑ Winner, David, Those Feet: A Sensual History of English Football, (Bloomsbury, 2005), ISBN 978-0-7475-4738-9, pp. 9–11
- ↑ Tyler, Martin; Soar, Phil (1987-09-21). Encyclopaedia of British Football. HarperCollinsWillow. ISBN 0-00-218290-4.
- ↑ Younis, Armaan (2005-01-16). "When and where was the first football match held?". The Times of India. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "England - International Results". RSSSF.com. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
- ↑ "Wolves Beat Honved". British Pathe. Retrieved 2006-06-14.
- ↑ "Thirty Years Ago". Rothmans International plc. 1975. Retrieved 2005-08-13.
- ↑ "FIFA Big Count 2006: 270 million people active in football" (PDF). FIFA Communications Division. 2007-05-31. p. 12. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 The FA Trophy and FA Vase competitions replaced the FA Amateur Cup, which was the leading competition for amateur non-League teams for many years.
- ↑ "Hetton Lyons secure FA Sunday Cup". BBC. 2008-04-28. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Regulations of the UEFA Cup 2007/08" (PDF). UEFA. April 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ↑ "Platini makes Cardiff FA cup vow". BBC Sport. 12 March 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
- ↑ "FA to review Cardiff's UEFA case" BBC Sport Retrieved on 18 March 2008
- ↑ "FA approves Cardiff for UEFA cup" BBC Sport Retrieved on 25 April 2008
- ↑ "Uefa give Swansea and Cardiff European assurance". BBC Sport. 21 March 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ↑ "Quite unfit for females (1921)". Retrieved 2010-07-15.
- ↑ "The Worst Team in the World?". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 2001-03-22. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ↑ "Football stadium brings club home". BBC News. 2005-11-14. Retrieved 2008-09-24.
External links
- All levels of English football from Non League UK
- Latest football news, fixtures and results from the BBC
- League321.com - English football league tables, records & statistics database.
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