Football in England

Association football is a national sport in England, 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.

England is home to, amongst others, the world's oldest association football club (Sheffield 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 England's top domestic league, the Premier League, is one of the most popular and richest sports leagues in the world,[1] and is home to some of the world's most famous football clubs.

History of English football The modern global game of association football

was first codified in 1863 in London. The impetus for this was to unify English public school and university football games.

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

Stadium of English football 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.

Stadium of English footballOld 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

Northern Ireland national football team

The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association (IFA). In 1921, the jurisdiction of the IFA was reduced to Northern Ireland following the secession of clubs in the soon-to-be Irish Free State, although its team purported to remain the national team for all of Ireland until 1950, and used the name Ireland until the mid-1970s. The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) organises the separate Republic of Ireland national football team.

England national football team England are one of eight

national teams to have won the FIFA World Cup, which they did in 1966 when they hosted the finals. They defeated West Germany 4–2 in extra time in the final. Since then, their best performance at a World Cup was a fourth place finish in 1990. They reached the semi-finals of the UEFA European Championship in 1968 and 1996. 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.

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football

team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872. Scotland maintains its own national side that competes in all major professional tournaments with the exception of the Olympic Games, as Scotland is not a member of the International Olympic Committee. The majority of Scotland's home matches are held at the national stadium, Hampden Park, with friendly matches sometimes hosted at club stadiums.

Wales national football team

The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international tournament once in their history, when Wales qualified for the 1958 FIFA World Cup. However, Wales did progress through UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying to the quarter-final, which was played on a home and away leg basis.

Although part of the United Kingdom, Wales has always had a representative side that plays in all the major professional tournaments, though not in the Olympic Games, as the IOC has always recognised United Kingdom representative sides.

Wales were placed in Group A for qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament alongside Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland and Macedonia.

Women's football in England While women's football has been played in

England for over a century, it has only been in the 1990s that the game has seen a large increase in female players, as well as in female spectators, culminating in England hosting the Women's European Championships in 2005.

In the period from early in the First World War until the Football Association's ban on women playing football on the grounds of its affiliates in 1922 (which lasted for 40 years) women's football was very popular and a true rival to the men's game. One match featuring the Dick, Kerr's Ladies team from Preston, played at Goodison Park, Liverpool on Boxing Day 1920, attracted a crowd of 53,000 with another 10,000 - 15,000 reported turned away because the ground was full.

National football museums England: The

National Football Museum Based at Deepdale in Preston, Lancashire. Holds collections of International, European and National significance. Charts the history of football and the game in England.

National football museums

Scotland: The Scottish Football Museum Housed at Hampden Park in Glasgow. Holds collections of International and National significance. Charts the history of Scottish Football.