British Football Association
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The British Football Association was a short lived ruling body for the game of
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
. It was set up in 1884 in response to the attitude of the Football Association to the issue of
professionalism A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...
.


History

Until the employment of professionals by Darwen and their success in reaching the quarter finals of the FA Cup in 1879, all teams had been
amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
. There was a proposal by a London club before the match that any side not consisting entirely of amateurs should be barred from the Cup. The FA Cup was initially contested by mostly southern, amateur teams but more professionally organised northern clubs began to dominate the competition during the early 1880s; "The turning point, north replacing south, working class defeating upper and professionals impinging upon the amateurs' territory, came in 1883." Hitherto, public school sides had played a dribbling game punctuated by violent tackles, but a new passing style developed in Scotland was successfully adopted by some Lancashire teams (some of which had hired Scottish players, referred to at the time as Scotch Professors), along with a more professional approach to training. Blackburn Olympic reached the final in March 1883 and defeated
Old Etonians Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...
. In 1883
Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...
were expelled from the FA for paying players, while nearby Blackburn Rovers had also started to pay players, and the following season won the first of three consecutive FA Cups. On 23 October 1884, a number of members of the Lancashire Football Association, at the instigation of
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
, met in Blackburn with a view to resisting new Football Association legislation restricting the ability of clubs to "import" players. It was resolved to hold a meeting in the Dog & Partridge in Manchester on 30 October and to invite "every club in the kingdom". At that meeting, which included a number of very junior clubs in Lancashire, and only
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
,
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
and Walsall Swifts of nationally prominent clubs outside the county, it was agreed to form a new association, the British Football Association. The clubs present set up a committee of 12 and discussed a barrister's opinion that the Football Association's rulings were invalid. One notable exception to the movement was Blackburn Rovers; in retaliation members of the BFA refused to allow players for its clubs to make guest appearances for the Rovers in friendlies. The FA committee was sympathetic and put forward a motion in January 1885 to legalise professionalism; the motion was defeated by 113 votes to 108, but that had the effect of both checking any split from the BFA and, following a report in favour of professionalism in March, the FA voted in favour in July, by 35 votes to 12. This action by the FA was eventually to lead to the break-away and formation of the Amateur Football Association in 1907. A similar split in
rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
led to the separate sports of rugby union and rugby league.


Member clubs

The following clubs were members of the BFA: *
Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...
* * Accrington Grasshoppers * Astley Bridge * *
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
* Barnes Rovers * Bell's Temperance * Blackburn Park Road * Bolton Association * *
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
* * Bradshaw * Burnley * * Burnley Ramblers * Burnley Trinity *
Burnley Union Star Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
* * Burnley Wanderers * Clitheroe * * Church * *
Darcy Lever Darcy Lever is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, the area lies on the B6209 (Radcliffe Road), between Bolton and Little Lever. Its history dates to the time of William ...
* Great Lever * * Hurst *
Halliwell Halliwell is a surname. It may refer to: People * Bryn Halliwell (born 1980), English football goalkeeper * Danny Halliwell (born 1981), rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s * David Halliwell (1936–2006), British dramatis ...
* * Kersley * Little Halton * Love Clough * Manchester Association * Newton Heath * Nelson * Padiham * * Peel Bank Rovers *
Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
* Preston Swifts * Preston Zingari * * Rawtenstall *
Rossendale Rossendale may refer to several places and organizations in Lancashire, England: Places *Rossendale Valley, a river valley *Borough of Rossendale, a local government district *Rossendale (UK Parliament constituency), a former parliamentary constitu ...
* Turton * * Walmsley * Wigan present at the initial meeting Preston North End should have attended the first meeting, but the secretary sent apologies.
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
and Walsall Swifts attended the second meeting, and pledged to put the matter of joining to the respective club committees.


References

* {{cite book , last=Butler , first=Bryon , authorlink=Bryon Butler , title=The Official History of The Football Association , publisher=Queen Anne Press , location= London , date=1991 , isbn=0-356-19145-1 , page=30 Football governing bodies in England 1884 establishments in the United Kingdom Defunct association football governing bodies 1884 in association football Football organisations in the United Kingdom Sports organizations established in 1884 Defunct sports governing bodies in the United Kingdom