Football in England
| Football in England | |
|---|---|
600+ leagues)[1] | |
National competitions | |
Men's Competition
Women's Competition | |
Club competitions | |
| |
International competitions | |
The
History of the men's game
Middle Ages
Football was played in England as far back as
In 1314,
19th century developments
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2020) |
The 19th century saw the codification of the rules of football at several public schools, with those of Rugby School (first published 1845) and Eton College (first published 1847) being particularly influential, in addition to those of Harrow, Winchester and Shrewsbury.[6] The need for alumni of different public schools to be able to play against each other resulted in several sets of "compromise laws", often known as Cambridge rules, being drawn up at the University of Cambridge between the 1830s and the 1860s.[6]
In the second half of the century, a culture of independent "football clubs" began to thrive. It was through the spread of football in elite social groups that allowed the growth of such clubs. It was common for sons descendant of elite locals to return to their home from school and form their own clubs.[7] In 1894, Charles Miller, a young elite son of a Scottish father and Brazilian mother, returned home after his studies in Southampton with a new profound passion for football.[8] Miller spread this passion of football to his fellow peers in a local athletic club and began to organise local football matches.[9] More importantly, colleges that trained teachers encouraged educators to spread the passion of football and even set up their own football clubs.[10] This encouragement of educators to spread the enthusiasm for football aided in the global diffusion of football. For example, William Leslie Poole, a teacher at the English High School in Montevideo, is acknowledged as the founder of the first football club and league in Uruguay.[11]
Particularly in London and Sheffield, with
Between 1863 and 2021, the FA and Sheffield rules co-existed, with each code at times influencing the other. Several games were played between Sheffield and London teams, using both sets of rules. After several disputes, the two codes were unified in 1877 when the Sheffield Football Association voted to adopt the FA laws, following the adoption of a compromise throw-in law by the FA.
International football began
The first official international, Scotland v England, was played on 30 November 1872 at Hamilton Crescent, the West of Scotland Cricket Club's ground in Partick, Glasgow. It was a 0–0 draw watched by 4,000 spectators.[citation needed] On 8 March 1873, England's 4–2 win over Scotland at Kennington Oval was the first-ever victory in international football.[16]
The late nineteenth century was dominated by the growing split between the amateur and professional teams, which was roughly aligned along a
Early 20th century: Expanding the league
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
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, which until then had been sparsely represented in the Football League. 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
The inter-war years were dominated by
By the turn of the 1930s, the national side regularly played against other national teams from outside the British Isles.[16] 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.
Late 20th century: World War II aftermath
The English national team suffered two shock defeats in the early 1950s: a
Two English teams, a
The Football League was reorganised 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.
The most marked success of the era, however, was
In the late 1960s English clubs dominated the last years of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, with wins for
The first half of the 1960s saw the promotion of two sides to the First Division who would achieve great success as this level for many years afterwards:
Manchester United also faced competition from their local rivals Manchester City, who overcame a dismal first half of the decade (which included three seasons in the Second Division) to pip United to the league title in 1968, win the FA Cup in 1969 and claim their first piece of European silverware in 1970 when they lifted the European Cup Winners' Cup.
West Ham United also played a major role in English football in the 1960s. They won their first silverware in 1964 when they won the FA Cup, and went on to win the European Cup Winners' Cup a year later. In 1966, they provided three key players in England's World Cup winning side – goalscorers Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters as well as captain Bobby Moore.
Liverpool enjoyed even more success during the 1970s. They won a further league title,
Leeds United added a further league title and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, as well as their first FA Cup, before
Although Leeds United were still in the First Division at the decade's end, they failed to win any trophies after Revie left the club. The England team, meanwhile, continued to struggle, failing to qualify for the 1978 World Cup, with Revie defecting to coach the United Arab Emirates side just before this latest disappointment. Things began turn around under his successor Ron Greenwood, who ended the decade by securing England's qualification for the 1980 European Championships, the first major tournament England had qualified for in 10 years.
Derby County, promoted to the First Division in 1969 after a lengthy absence, emerged as a force during the 1970s, winning the league title in 1972 under the controversial but effective management of Brian Clough, and again in 1975 under Clough's successor Dave Mackay. Clough, after a disastrous 44-day spell as Don Revie's successor at Leeds United, enjoyed even greater success at Nottingham Forest, taking the East Midlands club to promotion in 1977, the league title and League Cup in 1978 and to a further League Cup and the European Cup in 1979, before retaining their European crown in 1980. During this run of outstanding success, Clough also shelled out British football's first £1million transfer fee for the Birmingham City forward Trevor Francis, who signed for Forest in February 1979. Also among his acquisitions was the goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who went on to win a record of 125 full caps for England.
The rise of football hooliganism marred the game throughout the 1970s and 1980s, which contributed to a decline in match attendance. Other factors in falling attendances were the dismal economic conditions and rising unemployment which plagued the British economy for most of the 1970s and into the 1980s, with many clubs in the north of England being hit particularly hard.
Many of English football's most famous and successful clubs reached low ebbs during the 1970s and 1980s, in many cases at least partly due to financial problems.
In August 1974, a Blackpool fan was stabbed to death at the back of the Spion Kop,
In
Another major change which took place in English football during the second half of the 1980s was a restructuring of the divisions. During the 1986 close season, the
The 1970s saw the
The 1980s saw five different clubs reach the First Division for the first time. In 1981,
Eventually, promotion and relegation between the Conference and the Football League 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.
Liverpool remained the most successful club side in England during the 1980s, winning the league title six times and the FA Cup twice (including the double in 1986). They also won four successive League Cups, and before the Heysel disaster they won the European Cup in 1981 and again in 1984, bringing their total number of victories in European football's biggest competition to four.
Everton also enjoyed a resurgence in the 1980s. Following the appointment of
Manchester United endured a difficult time in the 1970s following the retirement of Matt Busby as manager. They suffered relegation to the Second Division in 1974, but achieved instant promotion and went on to win the FA Cup in 1977. The 1980s brought more success for the club, who won the FA Cup in 1983 and again in 1985 under the management of Ron Atkinson. They were captained by Bryan Robson, who also captained the England team for much of the decade, and had been Britain's most expensive footballer on his £1.5million arrival at the club in October 1981. Atkinson was succeeded by Alex Ferguson as manager in November 1986, but by the end of the decade United had gone more than 20 years without winning the league title, although they had finished in the top four on no less than seven times during the decade.
Tottenham Hotspur also enjoyed success during the 1970s and 1980s. They won the League Cup twice during the early 1970s as well as the inaugural UEFA Cup in 1972, but suffered relegation to the Second Division in 1977. They achieved instant promotion under recently appointed manager Keith Burkinshaw, who then guided Spurs to back-to-back FA Cups and then another UEFA Cup triumph before stepping down as manager in 1984. Their North London rivals Arsenal won the League Cup in 1987 and ended their 18-year wait for the league title in 1989, when they beat Liverpool at Anfield in the final minute of the last game of the season to clinch the championship trophy on goals scored.
The summer of 1988 saw the first £2million+ transfer fees paid by British clubs. Tottenham Hotspur signed 21-year-old
The England team made considerable progress during the 1980s after the barren performances of the previous decade, qualifying for every major tournament between 1980 and 1990, with the exception of the 1984 European Championships, although their best run in any of these competitions was a quarter-final appearance at the 1986 World Cup.
The post-Hillsborough Taylor Report forced the conversion of major 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. The ban on English clubs in European competitions was lifted in July 1990, although Liverpool still had to serve an additional year and it would be a further five years before all of the English places in European competitions were restored.
Manchester United marked a winning return for English clubs in European competitions by winning the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1991, having lifted the FA Cup a year earlier. Enjoying a run of success under Alex Ferguson, they clinched the League Cup in the 1991–92 season, although a shortage of goals in the second half of that season did cost them the league title, which was instead won by a resurgent Leeds United. Liverpool also enjoyed a good start to the 1990s, winning their 18th league title in 1990, but were then stunned by the resignation of Kenny Dalglish as manager in February 1991. His successor Graeme Souness, who had enjoyed great success with the club as a player a decade earlier, guided the Reds to FA Cup glory in 1992.
Arsenal, the 1989 champions of the English First Division, won another league title in 1991, losing just once all season. The FA Cup also headed to North London that year, although it was won by Tottenham Hotspur, who lifted the trophy for a record eighth time.
In the last season of the English Football League being the highest division, Leeds United won their first league title ever since 1974.
1992–present: Premier League era
In the 1991–92 season, following two years of widespread speculation about the leading clubs of English football forming a breakaway league from the Football League, the 22 clubs competing in the First Division 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 new league came into force for the 1992–93 season. The Football League was consequently reorganised, 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 was reduced to 20 teams after the 1994–95 season.
The Premier League has been won by seven clubs in its 30 seasons, with
The early Premier League years saw the transfer record fee in English football broken many times in a relatively short period of time, and rise at a rate barely comparable with even that of the late 1970s. The biggest fee paid by an English club during the Football League era was the £2.9million paid by Liverpool for
The first decade of the premier league was dominated by Manchester United who won the championship in 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2001 and then won again in 2003 and in 1999 completed a
Since the creation of the Premier League, a number of England's leading clubs have relocated to new stadiums. After several smaller clubs adopted this approach rather than update their ageing homes in the late 1980s and early 1990s, newly promoted Middlesbrough became the first top flight club to relocate to a new stadium when they moved into the Riverside Stadium for the 1995–96 season, ending a 92-year residence of Ayresome Park. Two years later, Middlesbrough's north-east rivals Sunderland left their historic Roker Park home for the new 42,000-seat Stadium of Light (which has since been expanded to hold nearly 50,000 seated fans) on the banks of the River Wear. Also in 1997, Derby County, Stoke City and Bolton Wanderers all moved into new all-seater stadiums.
A number of clubs who initially chose to convert their existing homes into all-seater stadiums went on to relocate to new stadiums to gain a larger capacity from the turn of the 21st century, particularly those who had progressed throughout the league and attracted a higher demand for tickets since the early 1990s.
The beginning of the new century also saw the construction of a new national stadium at Wembley. The old Wembley Stadium had been converted to an all-seater format by 1989, but its capacity was reduced to 78,000 from its previous capacity of 100,000. By the mid 1990s, plans were afoot for refurbishment or complete reconstruction of the stadium. The eventual plan was for the old stadium to be demolished and a completely new 90,000-seat stadium to be built in its place. The old stadium finally closed in October 2000 and it was anticipated that the new stadium would be completed in 2003, but a series of delays meant that demolition of the old stadium did not take place for two years after the last game was played, and the new Wembley was not opened until March 2007.
Men's League system
The English Football League, established in 1888 as The Football League by Aston Villa director William McGregor and renamed "English Football League" in 2016, 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.[21]
Traditionally men's league fixtures are played on Saturdays at 3pm, although more recently high-profile matches are played across weekend afternoons and evenings to allow television broadcasts. European fixtures are typically played on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
Premier League
The
English Football League
Although the oldest league in the world, the
National League
Clubs not playing within either the Premier League or the three levels of the English Football League are commonly stated to be playing "non-League football". This use of the term non-league can be confusing, as these lower level clubs do indeed play with in organized league structures, but these lower level leagues are outside of the Premier and English Football Leagues; hence the term "non-league" football.
In recent years, the top few levels have been consolidated into the National League System, operated by the FA. Most clubs in the National League division are fully professional.[citation needed]
There is promotion and relegation between League Two and the National League, and for several levels below that, 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
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.
Regional
They are three leagues at a regional level; Northern Premier League, Isthmian League and Southern League. Each have a top and multiple, single level, lower divisions.
County
The various
The
Sunday League
Scaled-down teams
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
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
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 two National League sides, 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 organised 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 400 clubs enter the FA Youth Cup each season.
Men's 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 EFL Cup, with the winners of the FA Cup qualifying for the UEFA Europa League and winners of the EFL Cup qualifying for the UEFA Europa Conference League.
- The FA Cup, first held in 1871, is the oldest national cup competition in the world. It is open to around 600 clubs in levels 1–10 of the football pyramid.
- The FA Community Shield (formerly Charity Shield), first held in 1908, is a single match played each August between the FA Cup winners and the Premier League champions.
- The EFL Cup (Football League Cup), first held in 1960, is England's second major cup competition, and is contested by the 92 Premier League and EFL clubs.
- The EFL Trophy (currently known as the Papa John's Trophy), first held in 1983, is a competition for the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, and 16 Premier League and Championship under-23 sides.
- The FA Trophy, first held in 1969, 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 National League, the Southern Football League, the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League.[22]
- The FA Vase, first held in 1974, is for clubs in levels 9–10 of the football pyramid (steps 5–6 of the National League System)[22]
- The Cambridgeshire County League2–0 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 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.[23]
- The AFA Senior Cupis 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) was for all teams outside the Football League, which in theory were amateur
- Sheriff of London Charity Shield (1898–1907, 1931–1934 and 1965–66) was an early predecessor to the Community Shield
- Anglo-Italian Cup (1970–1973, 1976–1986 and 1992–1996) also involved Italian clubs
- Watney Cup (1970–1973) was an invitational tournament for select clubs across Football League divisions
- Texaco Cup (1971–1975) was an invitational tournament also involving teams from Scotland and all Ireland
- Anglo-Scottish Cup (1975–1981)
- Super Cup(1985)
- Full Members Cup(1985–1992) was for clubs in levels 1–2 and ended with the Premier League separation.
- The Conference League Cup (1979–2009) was for clubs in level 5–6 i.e. the three divisions of the Football Conference.
Current national cup eligibility
| Level | League(s) | FA Cup | EFL Cup | EFL Trophy | FA Trophy | FA Vase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Premier League | Yes | Yes | Academies | No | No |
| 2 | English Football League Championship | Yes | Yes | Academies | No | No |
| 3 | English Football League One | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| 4 | English Football League Two | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| 5 | National League Top Division | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| 6 | National League North / South | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| 7 | NPL / SFL/ IL Premier Division | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| 8 | NPL / SFL/ IL Division One | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| 9 | Various | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| 10 | Various | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| 11 | Various | No | No | No | No | Yes |
Most successful men's clubs
The most successful men's football club of all time are Liverpool with a total of 69 competitive honours, closely followed by Manchester United with 67 honours. The next two most successful are Arsenal and Chelsea.
In the all-time league table since 1888–89, Liverpool are once again the most successful club in terms of points achieved. This is followed by Arsenal, Everton, Manchester United, and Aston Villa.[24]
The popularity of Premier League clubs
Many successful Premier League clubs are also successful on social media with a large international fanbase. Six of the top 20 most popular football clubs on social media in the world, as of 28 September 2023, are from England:[25]
| # | Football club | Country | Followers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid |
Spain | 415 million |
| 2 | FC Barcelona | Spain | 391.7 million |
| 3 | Manchester United |
England | 224.5 million |
| 4 | Paris Saint-Germain |
France | 189.6 million |
| 5 | Manchester City |
England | 156.3 million |
| 6 | Chelsea FC |
England | 151.7 million |
| 7 | Juventus |
Italy | 147.1 million |
| 8 | Liverpool FC |
England | 136.9 million |
| 9 | Bayern Munich |
Germany | 130.7 million |
| 10 | Arsenal FC |
England | 104.1 million |
| 11 | Tottenham Hotspur |
England | 95.3 million |
| 12 | AC Milan | Italy | 70.3 million |
| 13 | Juventus |
Italy | 64.1 million |
| 14 | Borussia Dortmund | Germany | 57.1 million |
| 15 | Flamengo |
Brazil | 52.5 million |
| 16 | Atlético Madrid | Spain | 50.9 million |
| 17 | Al-Ahly |
Egypt | 46.9 million |
| 18 | Galatasaray |
Turkey | 44.9 million |
| 19 | Al-Nassr |
Saudi Arabia | 43.8 million |
| 20 | AS Roma | Italy | 35.1 million |
UEFA qualification
From the 2015–16 season, the various permutations allow for a maximum of five English clubs to qualify for the UEFA Champions League and five for the UEFA Europa League.[26] From the 2018–19 season, the top four clubs in Europe's four highest ranked leagues qualify directly to the group stages.[27] These leagues are currently England, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The minimum quota is for four English clubs to qualify for the UEFA Champions League and three for the UEFA Europa League.
| Competition | Who qualifies | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League group stage | Club finishing 1st in the Premier League | |
| Club finishing 2nd in the Premier League | ||
| Club finishing 3rd in the Premier League | ||
| Club finishing 4th in the Premier League | ||
| UEFA Champions League Winners | From the 2018–19 season, the UEFA Champions League Winners will gain entry to the UEFA Champions League in the group stages.[28] | |
| UEFA Champions League play-off round for non-champions | UEFA Europa League Winners | Prior to the 2015–16 season, there was a limit of four clubs from each association entering the Champions League. If a club outside of England's top four won the Champions League, the 4th placed club would be demoted to the Europa League in the following season. This occurred in the 2011–12 season when Chelsea won the Champions League but only finished sixth in the Premier League. They replaced Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League, who were demoted to the Europa League as the final English representative in the Champions League.
From the 2018–19 season the UEFA Europa League winners will gain entry to the UEFA Champions League in the group stages.[28] From the 2018–19 season, if English clubs win both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, and neither finish the Premier League in a position that qualifies them for the UEFA Champions League, the following will happen:
|
| UEFA Europa League group stage | FA Cup winners | If the FA Cup winners qualify for the UEFA Champions League or the UEFA Europa League via the domestic championship, by Regulation 3.04,[30] the highest ranking non-qualified league club qualifies, taking the lowest Europa League spot (the League Cup spot – the League Cup inherits the League spot, and the League inherits the FA Cup spot). |
| Club finishing fifth 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 | |
| UEFA Europa Conference League play-off 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 |
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
Women's football
 | This section needs to be updated. (August 2019) |
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.[31][why?]
Women's football in England is organised into a
Stadiums
Capacity
Ownership
Some clubs moved out of their old stadiums into newly developed council built and owned stadiums, where they are tenants. Clubs include
Visiting all league club stadiums
The 92 Club is a society, 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.
Largest English football stadiums by capacity
| Overall Rank | Stadium | Location | Capacity | Built | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wembley Stadium | London | 90,000[34] | 2007 | England national football team | Previously occupied by the older Wembley Stadium (1923). |
| 2 | Old Trafford | Manchester | 74,310[35] | 1910 | Manchester United | |
| 3 | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium | London | 62,850[36] | 2019 | Tottenham Hotspur | |
| 4 | London Stadium | London | 62,500[37] | 2012 | West Ham United | Previously known as the Olympic Stadium. Regulated capacity reduced from 66,000 to 62,500. |
| 7 | Anfield | Liverpool | 61,276[38] | 1892 | Liverpool | |
| 5 | Emirates Stadium | London | 60,704[35] | 2006 | Arsenal | Known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions |
| 6 | City of Manchester Stadium | Manchester | 53,400[35] | 2003 | Manchester City | Commercially known as the Etihad Stadium. |
| 8 | St James' Park | Newcastle upon Tyne | 52,305[35] | 1892 | Newcastle United |
Disasters
- Burnden Park disaster, 1946
- Munich air disaster, 1958
- Bradford City stadium fire, 1985
- Heysel Stadium disaster, 1985
- Hillsborough disaster, 1989
Seasons
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
- Football in London
- English football league system
- Football in the United Kingdom
- Football records in England
- List of English football champions
- Timeline of English football
- English football on television
- Football refereeing in England
- List of football stadiums in England
References
- ^ a b "Registering Club Players in Whole Game". The FA. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
- ^ "What is the most popular sport in England?". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ Dalleres, Frank (23 January 2019). "Real Madrid topple Man Utd in Deloitte Football Money League". cityam.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ^ a b c "History of Football". Spartacus Educational. Archived from the original on 18 April 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
- ^ Magoun, Francis Peabody (1929). Football in Medieval England and Middle-English literature. The American Historical Review, vol 35, No. 1.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-13-824258-6.
- ISBN 9780197520956.
- ^ [7] Ibid., 185.
- ^ [8] Ibid.
- ^ [9] Ibid.
- ^ [10] Ibid.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-41-535018-1.
- ^ Harvey, pp. 144–145.
- ^ "Meeting of the Sheffield Football Association". Sheffield and Rotherham Independent. lxi (5722): 7. 24 April 1877. Archived from the original on 24 April 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
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Further reading
- Bebber, Brett. Violence and Racism in Football: Politics and Cultural Conflict in British Society, 1968–1998 (2016).
- Boyle, Raymond, and Richard Haynes, eds. Power play: Sport, the media and popular culture (Edinburgh UP, 2009).
- Davies, Hunter. Davies The Glory Game (2nd ed. 2000) on the Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs)
- Harvey, Adrian. Football, the First Hundred Years: The Untold Story of the People's Game. (2005).
- Haynes, Richard. "A pageant of sound and vision: football's relationship with television, 1936–60." international journal of the history of sport 15.1 (1998): 211–226.
- Huggins, Mike. "Association Football, Betting, and British Society in the 1930s: The Strange Case of the 1936 'Pools War'." Sport History Review 44 (2013): 99–119.
- Taylor, Matthew. The association game: a history of British football (Routledge, 2013).
- Tyler, Martin and Phil Soar. Encyclopaedia of British Football. (HarperCollinsWillow, 1987).
- Winner, David. Those Feet: A Sensual History of English Football (Bloomsbury, 2005)
External links
- All levels of English football from Non League UK Archived 13 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- Latest football news, fixtures and results from the BBC
- League321.com – English football league tables, records & statistics database.
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