The England national amateur football team was the

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 ...

representative team for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

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 formed in 1901, due to the growth of the

professional 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 ...

game which meant that

amateur player Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. The distinction is made between amateur sporting participants and professional sports, professional sporting participants, who are paid for the time ...

s could no longer easily find places in the main England national team. It was the most successful team in the

British Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

, winning on 16 occasions (5 joint). The England amateur team was disbanded by

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

in 1974.

First match and unbeaten run

England amateur football team of 1914 Wellcome L0019776

Its first international match was against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

on 21 September 1901, a 12–0 win at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

, London, with

R. E. Foster Reginald Erskine Foster (16 April 1878 – 13 May 1914), nicknamed Tip Foster, commonly designated R. E. Foster in sporting literature, was an English first-class cricketer and footballer. He is the only man to have captained England at both sp ...

scoring 6 (One source gives 7). It was to be another five years before an official England amateur team was founded. The next match was away against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on 1 November 1906 and resulted in a 15–0 win for England, with Stanley Harris netting seven goals and

Vivian Woodward Vivian John Woodward (3 June 1879 – 31 January 1954) was an English footballer who enjoyed the peak of his career from the turn of the 20th century to the outbreak of the First World War. He played for Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. He capta ...

four. The team played many internationals against the full representative sides of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, which were usually a mixture of amateur and professional players. The strength of the English amateur team meant they were still able to beat many of these sides and in fact they were unbeaten in 20 matches from 1906 to 1910. Whilst these England amateur matches are not considered full senior internationals by

, they are deemed to be by their opponents. As such, the England amateur side delivered the biggest defeats on several European nations; the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1907,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in 1909, and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

in 1912 (as Great Britain), beating them 12–2, 9–0, 11–2, 12–2 and 7–0 respectively.

England amateurs and Great Britain Olympics team

There is a difference of opinion as to whether the England amateur team was effectively the

Great Britain Olympic football team The Great Britain men's Olympic football team is the men's football team that represents the United Kingdom at the Summer Olympic Games (where it competes as Great Britain, currently branded Team GB). The team is organised by the English Footb ...

at the

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

and 1912 Olympic football tournaments. The FA's website considers the gold medals in these tournaments a win for the England amateur side rather than a British team, whilst in

Bryon Butler Ewart Bryon Butler (5 June 1934 – 26 April 2001) was an English writer and broadcaster, best known as the BBC's football correspondent from 1968 to 1991. He was born in Taunton, Somerset and educated at Taunton School. After working for a ...

's book it is shown that the winners' certificate names England. Conversely, Mark Chapman's ''England's Amateurs'' site states that the 1908 and 1912 teams were Great Britain and points to the fact that photographic evidence shows the team playing with the Union flag on their shirts. It can be stated that both arguments are true, as it was the case for the 1956 Olympic tournament where the team played as ''Great Britain'' but the team was organised by the FA and consisted solely of amateur Englishmen as the other home nations withdrew their support.

Demise and successors

The England amateur team was disbanded in 1974 when the Football Association abolished the distinction between amateurs and professionals, simply calling them "players". A semi-professional representative team, made up of players from the

National League System The National League System comprises the six levels of the English football league system immediately below the level of the English Football League. It comes under the jurisdiction of The Football Association. The National League System has a h ...

, now plays in its place.

Top goalscorers

The list below only includes those matches prior to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(1906–1914).

Willie Jordan William Charles Jordan (9 December 1885 – 1 December 1949) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Everton, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers. He was also part of Great Britain's squad for the foot ...

has scored 6 goals, while the likes of

William Stapley William John Stapley (1887–1964) was an English footballer who played as a centre-half in the Football League for Glossop. Stapley started his career at Dulwich Hamlet. He then moved to West Ham United but failed to make an appearance for the ...

, Arthur Bell,

Syd Owen Sydney William Owen (29 September 1922 – 27 August 1998) was an English football player and coach. He spent nearly all his playing career as a centre half for Luton Town. Born in Birmingham to Florence Laura (née Whiley) and Henry Sydney O ...

and‎

Frederick Chapman Fred, Frederic or Frederick Chapman may refer to: * Frederic Chapman (1823–1895), English publisher with Chapman & Hall * Frederick Chapman (British Army officer) (1815–1893), British Army officer and colonial official * Frederick Chapman (pal ...

settled at five.

Results

Notes

References

{{England national football team, state=collapsed

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 ...

European Olympic national association football teams Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics Football at the 1912 Summer Olympics Former national association football teams in Europe Great Britain Olympic football team Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Organizations disestablished in 1974 Amateur sport in the United Kingdom 1974 disestablishments in England