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Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
is the most popular sport in
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 ...
, 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 hosts the world's first club,
Sheffield F.C. Sheffield Football Club is an English football club from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, although now based in nearby Dronfield, across the county boundary in Derbyshire. They currently compete in the . Founded in October 1857,
; the world's oldest professional association football club,
Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...
; the oldest national governing body, the Football Association; the joint-oldest
national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...
; the oldest national knockout competition, the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
; and the oldest national league, the
English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...
. Today England's top domestic league, the
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
, is one of the most popular and richest sports leagues in the world, with five of the ten richest football clubs in the world as of 2022. The
England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...
is one of only eight teams to win the
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
, having done so once, in 1966. A total of five English club teams have won the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
, also known as the European Cup.


History of the men's game


Middle Ages

Football was played in England as far back as
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
times. The first written evidence of a football match came in about 1170, when
William Fitzstephen William Fitzstephen (also William fitz Stephen), (died c. 1191) was a cleric and administrator in the service of Thomas Becket. In the 1170s he wrote a long biography of Thomas Becket – the ''Vita Sancti Thomae'' (Life of St. Thomas). Fitzsteph ...
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. 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." An account of an exclusively kicking "football" game from
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...
in the fifteenth century bears similarity to association football. By the 16th centuries references to organised teams and
goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...
s had appeared. There is evidence for refereed, team football games being played in English schools since at least 1581. The eighteenth-century Gymnastic Society of London is, arguably, the world's first football club.


19th century developments

The 19th century saw the codification of the rules of football at several public schools, with those of
Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...
(first published 1845) and
Eton College 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, ...
(first published 1847) being particularly influential, in addition to those of Harrow, Winchester and Shrewsbury. 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 The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
between the 1830s and the 1860s. 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. 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. Miller spread this passion of football to his fellow peers in a local athletic club and began to organize local football matches. More importantly, colleges that trained teachers encouraged educators to spread the passion of football and even set up their own football clubs. 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. Particularly in London and Sheffield, with Sheffield Football Club, founded in 1857, is recognized today as the world's oldest surviving independent football club. The example of Sheffield F.C., which published its first set of laws in 1859, soon led to a proliferation of clubs in and around the city playing "
Sheffield rules The Sheffield Rules was a code of football devised and played in the English city of Sheffield between 1858 and 1877. The rules were initially created and revised by Sheffield Football Club, with responsibility for the laws passing to the Sh ...
". Sheffield hosted the world's first multi-team football tournament, the
Youdan Cup The Youdan Football Cup, also known as the Youdan Cup, was an 1867 Sheffield rules football competition. Preceding the FA Cup by more than four years, it was among the first tournaments in any code of football. Background Thomas Youdan, seen ...
, in 1867. In general, each football club, school or university tended to have its own rules, which might differ on such fundamental questions as whether to follow the example of Rugby School by allowing the ball to be carried, with players carrying the ball being allowed to be "hacked" (kicked in the shins) by their opponents. The desire of football clubs for a common code was the impetus behind the foundation of the Football Association (FA) in 1863. Within the FA, there was an acrimonious debate between the "hacking" and "non-hacking" clubs. When the first meetings were held to discuss the FA's laws of football, the "hackers" were in the ascendancy, but the publication of the 1863 set of Cambridge rules (which forbade hacking) enabled the "non-hackers" to prevail and the FA's first Laws of the Game, published in December 1863, banned hacking and carrying the ball. The FA, initially dominated by London-based clubs, saw its influence gradually spread over the country by the success of
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
, first contested in the 1871–72 season. Between 1863 and 1877, 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. The Sheffield rules had a major influence on how the modern game of football developed. Among other things they introduced into the laws of the game are the concepts of corners, and free kicks for fouls. International football began when teams representing England and Scotland met in a match at
Kennington Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...
in south London on 5 March 1870. A total of five games were played between the two teams to 21 February 1872 but they are not recognised as official internationals by FIFA because the Scottish players were all London-based and so not fully representative of Scotland as a nation. The first official international,
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
v
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 ...
, was played on 30 November 1872 at
Hamilton Crescent Hamilton Crescent is a cricket ground in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club. Hamilton Crescent hosted the 1872 Scotland v England football match, first international football match, betw ...
, the
West of Scotland Cricket Club The West of Scotland Cricket Club is a cricket club based in Glasgow, Scotland. The club's home ground is Hamilton Crescent, located in the Partick area of Glasgow's West End. West of Scotland, traditionally, are one of the working class cricke ...
's ground in
Partick Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and ...
,
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. It was a 0–0 draw watched by 4,000 spectators. On 8 March 1873, England's 4–2 win over Scotland at Kennington Oval was the first-ever victory in international football. 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 legalized 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 The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...
in 1888. Preston North End were inaugural winners in 1888–89, and were also the first club to complete the
double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...
of both winning the league and the FA Cup. Aston Villa repeated the feat in 1896–97.


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 1892–93 season, with a total of 28 clubs and with the gradual addition of more clubs, a total of 40 by
1905–06 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...
. It remained at 40 until the league was suspended after the 1914–15 season with the outbreak of
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 ...
. During this time clubs from the
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...
and Midlands dominated, with Aston Villa, Sunderland, The Wednesday (later renamed Sheffield Wednesday) and Newcastle United all winning three or more league titles in the period leading up to World War I. Other clubs to win league titles in this period include
Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
, Manchester United and Everton. London-based clubs enjoyed little success during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the first major trophy being won by a London-based club being Tottenham Hotspur's
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
triumph in 1901, when they were still a Southern Football League club, although they were elected to the Football League soon after. 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 Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, 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 North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''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 Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
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 West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
to win this landmark game. Bolton Wanderers would win the FA Cup on three occasions during the 1920s. The inter-war years were dominated by
Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...
, 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. Huddersfield, and then Arsenal, were managed by
Herbert Chapman Herbert Chapman (19 January 1878 – 6 January 1934) was an English football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most influential and successful managers in the early 20th ...
, who moved from Huddersfield to Arsenal after the
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
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 The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
. However, the FA's resignation from FIFA in 1928 meant that England did not contest any of the first three
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
s. The 1939–40 season was abandoned in September 1939 following the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. 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 The Football League War Cup was an association football tournament held between 1939 and 1945. It aimed to fill the gap left in English football by the suspension of the FA Cup during the Second World War. Though it was often referred to in conte ...
which ran six seasons from 1939 to 1945 with
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
, Preston North End,
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
, Blackpool, and Bolton Wanderers winning the trophy while in 1943–44 Aston Villa and
Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...
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 1–0 loss to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
at the 1950 World Cup and a 6–3 defeat to
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
at Wembley in 1953. However, Wolverhampton Wanderers defeated the Hungarian club
Budapest Honvéd Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population of ...
, a match which inspired the creation of the European Cup.
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
were dissuaded from 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 Roger William Byrne (8 September 1929
England Football Online. Retrieved 6 June 20 ...
,
Tommy Taylor Thomas Taylor (29 January 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who died in the Munich air disaster. Career Taylor was born in Smithies, ...
and Duncan Edwards – were established England internationals. Their manager Matt Busby was seriously injured but survived; he had already taken United to
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
glory in 1948 and another league title triumph in 1952 with an earlier side which featured the likes of
Johnny Carey John Joseph Carey (23 February 1919 – 22 August 1995) was an Irish professional footballer and manager. As a player, Carey spent most of his career at Manchester United, where he was team captain from 1946 until he retired as a player in 1953 ...
,
Jack Rowley John Frederick Rowley (7 October 1918 – 28 June 1998) was an English footballer who played as a forward from the 1930s to the 1950s, mainly remembered for a 17-year spell with Manchester United. He was nicknamed "The Gunner" because of his pr ...
and
Stan Pearson Stanley Clare Pearson (11 January 1919 – 20 February 1997) was an English footballer. Born in Salford, Lancashire, Pearson was signed by Manchester United as an amateur in December 1935 and turned professional in May 1937. His first senior ga ...
. Two English teams, a London XI and
Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
, both lost to
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
in the first two finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1958 and 1960.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
were another highly successful English club side during the postwar years. Under the management of Stan Cullis, they were league champions three times and FA Cup winners twice between 1949 and 1960. Although they failed to make a major impact in either of their European Cup campaigns, they did beat some of European football's most respected club sides in a series of friendlies at Molineux Stadium during the 1950s. Arsenal continued their run of success for several years after the resumption of league football, winning two league titles and an FA Cup between 1948 and 1953. Their
North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...
rivals
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
won the league title for the first time in 1951, and by the end of the decade were challenging for honors once again under new manager Bill Nicholson and captain Danny Blanchflower. Another London club,
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
, won the league title in 1955. Newcastle United were FA Cup winners three times in the 1950s, while
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
won back-to-back league titles in the early postwar years. The Football League was reorganized 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 George Edward Eastham, OBE (born 23 September 1936) is an English former footballer. He is known for playing for Newcastle United, Arsenal and Stoke City, as well as a member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad. However, he is also nota ...
case allowing players greater freedom of movement, and the abolition of the
maximum wage A maximum wage, also often called a wage ceiling, is a legal limit on how much income an individual can earn. It is a prescribed limitation which can be used to effect change in an economic structure, but its effects are unrelated to those of minim ...
in 1961.
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
became the first club to win the Double in the 20th century in 1960–61, retained the FA Cup the following season, and then became the first English club to win a European trophy, the
Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
in 1962–63 when they beat Atlético Madrid 5–1 in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
. Manager Bill Nicholson then built another successful Tottenham side which lifted a further FA Cup in 1967. 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 West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
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 Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
, 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 Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
(two), and Aston Villa (one) won the European Cup in a successful period between 1977 and 1984. 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:
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
(in 1962) and
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
(in 1964). Liverpool, managed by Bill Shankly, won the league title in 1964, two seasons after promotion, and followed this up with their first-ever FA Cup triumph a year later and a further league title in 1966. Among their players was
Roger Hunt Roger Hunt (20 July 1938 – 27 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Eleven years with Liverpool, he was the club's record goalscorer with 286 goals until being overtaken by Ian Rush. Nonetheless, ...
, who played in attack for England's World Cup winning side of 1966. Leeds United had appointed
Don Revie Donald George Revie OBE (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, which immediately preceded his appointment as England manage ...
, an
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
winner for Manchester City as a player in 1956, as their new manager in 1961, and he guided them to promotion in 1964. A year after promotion, they only missed out on the league title on goal average, finally winning it in 1969, by which time they had already won the Football League Cup and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. 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 The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
.
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
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 Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst (born 8 December 1941) is an English former professional footballer. A striker, he became the first man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final when England recorded a 4–2 victory over West Germany at Wembley S ...
and
Martin Peters Martin Stanford Peters (8 November 1943 – 21 December 2019) was an English footballer and manager. As a member of the England team which won the 1966 FIFA World Cup, he scored the second of England's four goals in the final against West Germa ...
as well as captain Bobby Moore. Liverpool enjoyed even more success during the 1970s. They won a further league title,
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
and the
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
before the retirement of Bill Shankly as manager in 1974. His successor Bob Paisley took Liverpool to even greater heights; by the end of the decade, he had guided them to three league titles, another
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
triumph, and the club's first two European Cups. Liverpool's local rivals Everton, who had been league champions in 1963 and FA Cup winners in 1966, began the 1970s by winning another league titles, but failed to add any silverware to their list of honors for the rest of the decade, although they did hold onto their place in the First Division. Arsenal started the 1970s on a winning note by lifting the penultimate Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, and then became the second team of the 20th century to win the double when they clinched the league title and FA Cup in 1971. Their next major trophy came in 1979, when they fought off a late revival from Manchester United at Wembley to win the FA Cup final 3–2. Leeds United added a further league title and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, as well as their first FA Cup, before
Don Revie Donald George Revie OBE (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, which immediately preceded his appointment as England manage ...
departed to take over as manager of the
England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...
in the summer of 1974, after the Football Association terminated Sir Alf Ramsey's contract after 11 years, following England's failure to qualify for the
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
. 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 The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by t ...
, with Revie defecting to coach the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...
side just before this latest disappointment. Things began turn around under his successor
Ron Greenwood Ronald Greenwood CBE (11 November 1921 – 9 February 2006) was an English football player and manager, best known for being manager of the English national football team from 1977 until 1982, as well as being manager of West Ham United for 13 ...
, 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 Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...
, 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 Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engl ...
, 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 Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
, 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 Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
forward Trevor Francis, who signed for Forest in February 1979. Also among his acquisitions was the goalkeeper
Peter Shilton Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. His 30-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the distinction of playing over 1,000 league games, including in ...
, who went on to win a record of 125 full caps for England. The rise of
football hooliganism Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting, constitutes violence and other destructive behaviours perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism normally involves ...
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. Preston North End and Blackpool both fell into the Fourth Division and had to apply for re-election to the Football League between 1982 and 1986.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
found themselves on the verge of closure twice during the 1980s and suffered three successive relegation which pushed them into the Fourth Division in 1986. Their local rivals
Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
dropped into the Third Division for the first time in 1989. Sunderland suffered the same fate as Birmingham two years previously, but achieved promotion at the first attempt and were soon challenging for a return to the First Division, while Wolves ended the decade back in the Second Division after two successive promotions. Bolton Wanderers, four times FA Cup winners, were relegated to the Fourth Division in 1987, but were promoted at the first time of asking. In August 1974, a Blackpool fan was stabbed to death at the back of the Spion Kop,
Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...
at Blackpool's home match with Bolton Wanderers. 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 Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
,
Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...
,
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
, and
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
. 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 The Heysel Stadium disaster ( it, Strage dell'Heysel ; german: link=no, Katastrophe von Heysel ; french: Drame du Heysel ; nl, Heizeldrama ) was a crowd disaster that occurred on 29 May 1985 when mostly Juventus fans escaping from a breach by L ...
. The sequel to the tragedy was a ban on English clubs in European competitions, which was not lifted for five years. 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 May 1985 (just before the Heysel tragedy) and Hillsborough in April 1989, resulting in the deaths of 56 and 97 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. The first club to suffer automatic relegation from the Football League was Lincoln City, who were replaced by the GM Vauxhall Conference champions
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
, only to regain their league status a year later. That first relegation place in 1987 had very nearly been occupied by
Burnley 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 ...
, league champions 27 years earlier and First Division members until just over a decade earlier, but victory in their final league game of the season secured their league survival. 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 Football League decided to reduce the First Division to 21 clubs for the 1987–88 season and finally to 20 clubs for the 1988–89 season, while the Second Division would be increased to 23 and finally to 24 clubs in the process. End-of-season promotion/relegation playoffs were introduced for these two transitional seasons, before the playoffs were established as promotion-only deciders from the end of the 1988–89 season onward, with the previously two-legged final being altered to a single match at Wembley from 1990 onward. The 1970s saw the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
won twice by Second Division clubs, the first time in the postwar era that the trophy had been won by a club outside the First Division. First, Sunderland lifted the trophy in 1973 at the expense of
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
. Three years later,
Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
defeated Manchester United to claim the first silverware of their history. In 1980, the trophy was won by a Second Division club for the third time in eight seasons when
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
triumphed over holders Arsenal. The 1980s saw five different clubs reach the First Division for the first time. In 1981, Swansea City reached the First Division after climbing from the Fourth Division in just four seasons – the fastest rise of any club throughout the league at the time. They topped the First Division more than once during the 1981–82 season before finishing sixth. However, Swansea's successive story was short-lived, and their second season among the elite ended in relegation, and by 1986 they were back in the Fourth Division, having narrowly avoided going out of business. In 1982, Watford reached the First Division under the chairmanship of Elton John, management of
Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...
, and with the scoring prowess of Luther Blissett and
John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. He currently works as an author, commentator and pundit for ESPN and SuperSport. Initially a quick, skilful left winger, he moved to ce ...
in attack. They finished runners-up in the league in their first top division season and were FA Cup runners-up in their second, and survived in the First Division until 1988. Taylor later managed the England team, while Barnes went on to help Liverpool win five major trophies and was a regular member of the England side for the second half of the 1980s and into the 1990s. 1985 saw the promotion of Oxford United to the First Division, 23 years after being elected to the Football League. They survived for three seasons in the First Division and won the League Cup in their first season among the elite. An even bigger success story emerged soon after Oxford's First Division arrival, when Wimbledon won promotion to the First Division in 1986, a mere nine years after being elected to the Football League. They quickly established themselves in the First Division, finishing sixth in their first season at this level, and even more impressively won the FA Cup a year later, beating league champions Liverpool 1–0 in the Wembley final. Wimbledon would enjoy the longest stay in the top flight of any of the First Division's new arrivals of the 1980s, retaining their tenancy at this level for 14 years. 1988 saw
Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...
reach the First Division for the first time. Tipped by many to go straight back down, they actually topped the First Division briefly in its early stages before finishing 10th – the lowest position they occupied all season. They briefly went top of the league again during the second month of the following season, but finished the season relegated after just two seasons in the First Division. 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
Howard Kendall Howard Kendall (22 May 1946 – 17 October 2015) was an English footballer and manager. Kendall joined Preston North End as an apprentice and stayed with the club when he turned professional. He was a runner-up in the 1964 FA Cup with Preston, ...
as manager in 1981 and the signing of inspirational striker Andy Gray in November 1983, Everton won the FA Cup in 1984 and enjoyed even more success a year later, when they lifted the league title and their first European trophy – the European Cup Winners' Cup. Although they failed to win any trophies in 1986, they did finish runners-up to Liverpool in the league and reached the FA Cup final, where they lost 3–1 to their close neighbours, in a season where Gray's successor in attack,
Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has ...
, found the net more than 40 times in all competitions. Despite the sale of Lineker to Barcelona in the summer of 1986, Everton retained their league title the following season. 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 Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939), commonly known as "Big Ron" or "Mr. Bojangles", is an English former football player and manager. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits. Nic ...
. They were captained by
Bryan Robson Bryan Robson OBE (born 11 January 1957) is an English football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club captain before moving to Manchester United in ...
, 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 Harry Keith Burkinshaw (born 23 June 1935) is an English former professional footballer and football manager. He is one of the most successful managers of Tottenham Hotspur, winning 3 major trophies for the club as manager there. Playing career ...
, 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 North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...
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 Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...
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
PFA Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the s ...
Paul Gascoigne from Newcastle United, before Everton swooped for high-scoring forward
Tony Cottee Antony Richard Cottee (born 11 July 1965) is an English former professional footballer and manager who now works as a television football commentator. As a player, he was a striker from 1982 until 2001, notably playing in the top flight of En ...
from West Ham United. After spending an unsuccessful season in Italy with Juventus,
Ian Rush Ian James Rush (born 20 October 1961) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward. At club level Rush played for Liverpool from 1980–1987 and 1988–1996. He is the club's all-time leading goalscorer, having scored a t ...
headed back to Liverpool for a second spell with the club he had scored more than 200 goals from during his first spell there. 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 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...
. The post-Hillsborough
Taylor Report The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, ...
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 The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being ...
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 Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, and current TV pundit. A midfielder, Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, player-manager of Ranger ...
, 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.


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 capitalize 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. Its first champions were Manchester United, who ended their 26-year wait for a top division title, while Aston Villa came second and Norwich City third. 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 Manchester United winning on 13 occasions. They have set many precedents in the process, becoming the first team to win a second double of the league title and FA Cup in 1996 (their first double being won in 1994), and in 1999 they won a unique treble of the league title, FA Cup and European Cup. 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 The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
being Manchester United in 1999. The 2008 final, for the first time, was played between two English teams, Manchester United and Chelsea. Manchester United won the final in Moscow on penalties after a 1–1 draw. 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
Dean Saunders Dean Nicholas Saunders (born 21 June 1964) is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a striker in a career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He played for Liverpool and Aston Villa in the 1990s, and s ...
in July 1991. The national record was broken the following summer when
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
paid £3.3million for Alan Shearer. The national record was broken again in June 1993 when Manchester United signed Roy Keane for £3.75million. Blackburn then broke the national record in the 1994 close season by signing 21-year-old Norwich City striker
Chris Sutton Christopher Roy Sutton (born 10 March 1973) is an English former professional football player and manager. He later became a pundit and commentator for BT Sport, regularly working on their coverage of Scottish football. He is now also a pundi ...
for £5million. In 1995, the record fee was broken three times in the space of six months. At the turn of the year, Andy Cole arrived at Manchester United in a deal worth £7million. After the season's end, Arsenal paid £7.5million to
Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...
for Dutch forward Dennis Bergkamp, but Bergkamp had just spent days with his new club when Liverpool paid £8.5million for Nottingham Forest striker
Stan Collymore Stanley Victor Collymore (born 22 January 1971) is an English football pundit, sport strategist, and former player who played as a striker from 1990 to 2001, most notably for Nottingham Forest and later Liverpool, who he joined from the for ...
. A year later, Alan Shearer became the most expensive player not only in England but in the world when he left Blackburn Rovers to sign for Newcastle United in a £15million deal. This fee, however, remained unsurpassed for more than four years. Premier League clubs have been increasingly successful at attracting foreign players, particularly since the removal of the limit on fielding players from
common market The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
countries in the mid 1990s. Despite the dominance of Manchester United for most of the Premier League era, a number of other clubs have enjoyed considerable success since 1992. Although Liverpool have not won a league title since 1990, they have won a further two FA Cups, four League Cups, a UEFA Cup and a European Cup. The first team to interrupt Manchester United's dominance were Blackburn Rovers, who won the third Premier League title by a single point in 1995. They had only returned to the top flight of English football in 1992, in time for the new league's formation, after a 26-year exile, bankrolled by the wealth of steel baron owner
Jack Walker Jack Walker (19 May 1929 – 17 August 2000) was a British industrialist and businessman. Walker built his fortune in the steel industry, amassing a personal fortune of £600 million. He then went on to become the owner and benefactor of Black ...
, who had enabled Blackburn to compete for some of the best players in English football. However, Blackburn failed to remain competitive with the best English clubs, their only subsequent major trophy being the League Cup in 2002, and they have never finished higher than sixth in the Premier League since their 1995 title triumph. They endured a two-year exile from the Premier League after being relegated in 1999, and since their second relegation in 2012 they have still yet to gain promotion. Under Arsène Wenger, Arsenal have so far been Premier League champions three times; in 1998, 2002 and 2004. On the first two occasions, they completed the double of the league title and FA Cup, while on the third occasion they won the title without losing a single league game all season. Chelsea made history in 1997 when they won the FA Cup under Dutch manager
Ruud Gullit Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a Dutch footballer and subsequent manager who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s as a defender, midfielder or forward. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all ...
, the first foreign manager to win a major trophy in English football. They won the European Cup Winners' Cup and League Cup a year later under Gullit's successor Gianluca Vialli, who added a further FA Cup in 2000. Chelsea's biggest successes however, have come since the arrival of new Russian owner
Roman Abramovich Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (, ; he, רומן ארקדיביץ' אברמוביץ'; born 24 October 1966) is a Russian oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea, a Premier League football club in London, England, and is the ...
in June 2003 and the appointment of Portuguese coach José Mourinho as manager 12 months later. Mourinho was in charge for more than three years until his sudden departure from the club in September 2007, before returning for a second spell as manager six years later (which lasted two years before getting sacked in December 2015). In the interim, Chelsea were managed by seven different managers over the course of six seasons, but continued to win trophies on a regular basis. Since Abramovich's takeover of Chelsea, the
West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North Londo ...
club have been Premier League champions four times, FA Cup winners four times and League Cup winners three times, and have also won the European Cup and the
Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
(formerly the UEFA Cup). Manchester City, bankrolled since August 2008 by wealthy
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
owners, ended their 35-year wait for a major trophy by winning the FA Cup in 2011, and then won their first league title in 44 years the following season, both under the management of Italian coach
Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Sa ...
. His Chilean successor
Manuel Pellegrini Manuel Lúis Pellegrini Ripamonti (; ; born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Real Betis. As a coach, he has managed teams in Spain, England, Argentina, Chile, China and Ecuador. ...
became the first non-European manager to win a major trophy in English football when he guided City to the Premier League title and the League Cup in 2014. After narrowly avoiding relegation the previous season, outsiders Leicester City won an unprecedented league title in 2016, having never previously won the top flight title. The winning squad was worth just one-tenth of that of Manchester City's. Leeds United, the last champions of English football before the creation of the Premier League, played in the first 12 seasons of the Premier League, peaking at third place in 2000, before being relegated in 2004 in the midst of a serious financial crisis which was the direct result of heavy spending on players in the previous few seasons and a failure to net the extra revenue that successful challenges for domestic and European silverware would have brought them. They would not return to the Premier League until more than a decade later, guided by
Marcelo Bielsa Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera (, nicknamed ''El Loco Bielsa'' , meaning "The Crazy Bielsa"; born 21 July 1955) is an Argentine professional football manager who was most recently the head coach of Premier League club Leeds United. He is a forme ...
to champions of the 2020/2021 EFL championship season. A spectacular decline in similar circumstances also befell
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, who reached the Premier League in 2003 and stayed there for seven seasons, lifting the FA Cup in 2008. The South Coast club were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2009–10 season, having become the first club at this level to enter
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...
, and were deducted nine points at a result. In 2013, a third relegation in four seasons saw them relegated to the league's fourth tier for the first time in 35 years. 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 Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...
became the first top flight club to relocate to a new stadium when they moved into the
Riverside Stadium The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place t ...
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 Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland A.F.C. from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated ...
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 Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...
, 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.
Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
relocated to
St Mary's Stadium St Mary's Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Southampton, England, which has been the home stadium of Premier League club Southampton F.C. since 2001. The stadium has a capacity of 32,384 and is currently the largest football stadium ...
in 2001 after more than 100 years at The Dell, with their new 32,000-seat stadium holding more than twice as many fans as their previous home had during its final years, as an all-seater stadium.
Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
relocated to the
Walkers Stadium King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations and formerly known as the Walkers Stadium) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It has been the home of Premier League club Leicester City ...
(now known as the King Power Stadium) in 2002 after 111 years at
Filbert Street Filbert Street was a football stadium in Leicester, England, which served as the home of Leicester City F.C. from 1891 until 2002. Although officially titled the City Business Stadium in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively by ...
. Having originally decided to stay at
Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest a ...
, which was redeveloped to hold 35,000 seated fans by 1995, Manchester City moved into the City of Manchester Stadium (built for the previous year's Commonwealth games) at the start of the 2003–04 season. Arsenal had converted
Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was sit ...
into an all-seater stadium capable of holding just under 39,000 fans by 1993, but within five years the club's owners had decided that such a capacity was inadequate and, after local residents objected to any expansion of Highbury (parts of which were listed structures) and a bid to buy Wembley Stadium from the Football Association was rejected, decided to build a new stadium at nearby
Ashburton Grove The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. It has a current seated capacity ...
. Their new stadium, the Emirates Stadium, was completed in time for the 2006–07 season, holding more than 60,000 spectators. 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. West Ham United moved from the Boleyn Ground into the ~60,000 capacity Olympic Stadium at the end of the 2015–16 season. In 2019, Manchester City became the first English men's football club in history to complete the
domestic treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A ''continental treble'' involves winning the club's national league competition, main national cup competition, and main continental trophy. A ...
.


Men's League system

The
English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...
, 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.


Premier League

The
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
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 the top three from the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
. 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.


English Football League

Although the oldest league in the world, the
English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...
(EFL) 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 EFL has 72 member clubs evenly divided among three divisions, currently named the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
,
League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
and
League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
. Despite the organisational split, promotion and relegation of clubs still takes place between the Premier League and the EFL.


National League

Below the EFL is what is commonly known as " non-League football". The term non-league can be confusing, as it refers to those clubs outside the Premier League (which broke-away on top of “the league”) and EFL (“the 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
National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...
division are fully professional. 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 County Football Associations, which are based roughly on the Historic counties of England, 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 F.C., Old Etonians who won the FA Cup twice, in 1879 FA Cup Final, 1879 and 1882 FA Cup Final, 1882 as well as Old Carthusians F.C., Old Carthusians who were FA Cup winners in 1881 FA Cup Final, 1881.


Sunday League

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.


Scaled-down teams

Smaller-sided versions of the game such as Five-a-side football are popular. Futsal is also a growing Futsal in England, 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 (football), 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 F.C. Reserves and Academy, 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 two National League sides, Lewes F.C., Lewes, and Salisbury City F.C., 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 (football), 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 The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
and the EFL Cup, with the winners of those competitions qualifying for the UEFA Europa League. *The
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
, 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.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. *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) *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 History of Lancashire, historic county of Lancashire, including Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Everton and
Burnley 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 ...
, along with Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Athletic, Bolton Wanderers, Blackpool, Preston North End, Oldham Athletic F.C., Oldham Athletic, Rochdale F.C., Rochdale, Bury F.C., Bury and Morecambe F.C., 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 F.C., Burscough and Marine F.C., 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 Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...
. *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) 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 (English football), 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


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. From the 2018–19 season, the top four clubs in Europe's four highest ranked leagues qualify directly to the group stages. These leagues are currently
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 ...
, 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.


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 Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. 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 England national under-16 football team, Under-16 team to the England national under-21 football team, 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 national football team, England B team which occasionally plays games as support for the national team. The England C national football team, 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 Exhibition game, 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. Women's football in England is organised into a Women's football in England#Pyramid, pyramid system similar to the men's game. It has seven tiers, with the FA Women's Super League (FA WSL), launched in 2011, at the top.


Stadiums


Capacity

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 Tottenham Hotspur Stadium holding 62,850 and Emirates Stadium holding 60,355. All Premier League clubs play in all-seater stadiums. Most professional clubs have either moved to new purpose-built stadiums or redeveloped their stadium. Even at non-league level there have been big improvements with the likes of New Bucks Head the home of A.F.C. Telford United, Telford United with a capacity of 6,300, being one of the best in non-league and Princes Park, Dartford, Princes Park with a capacity of 4,100, the home of Dartford F.C., Dartford, one of the most ecologically sound ever built.


Ownership

Some clubs moved out of their old stadiums into newly developed council built and owned stadiums, where they are tenants. Clubs include Doncaster Rovers F.C., Doncaster Rovers at the Keepmoat Stadium, which is owned by Doncaster Council, and Hull City A.F.C., Hull City at the KC Stadium, which is owned by Hull City Council. Coventry City F.C., Coventry City's home ground of the Ricoh Arena was a council-built stadium originally owned jointly by Coventry, City Council and the Alan Higgs, Alan Edward Higgs Charity, but it has since been purchased by the rugby union club Wasps RFC, Wasps.


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.


Disasters

*Burnden Park disaster, 1946 *Munich air disaster, 1958 *Bradford City stadium fire, 1985 *
Heysel Stadium disaster The Heysel Stadium disaster ( it, Strage dell'Heysel ; german: link=no, Katastrophe von Heysel ; french: Drame du Heysel ; nl, Heizeldrama ) was a crowd disaster that occurred on 29 May 1985 when mostly Juventus fans escaping from a breach by L ...
, 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

* 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


References


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 UKLatest football news, fixtures and results from the BBC
– English football league tables, records & statistics database. {{DEFAULTSORT:Football in England Football in England,