The International Football League Board or IFLB, informally the Inter-League Board, was a board of leading professional

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 ...

leagues in Britain and Ireland whose main function was to coordinate and enforce policy on

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

s of players between clubs in different member leagues. It also organised representative matches between leagues, and imposed restrictions on ownership of multiple clubs across member leagues.

History

The IFLB was founded in 1897 by the Football League and the Scottish Football League to resolve disputes over "poaching" of players in one League by clubs from the other.Taylor 2005, p.204 Inter-league representation matches, first staged in 1892, also came under its control. 1910 saw the introduction of the English League Board governing dealings between the two most significant leagues in England, the Football League and the Southern League. A separate Anglo-Irish Football League Board was established in 1914 by the Football League and the

Irish Football League Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

, which later merged with the IFLB. Thus all the top leagues in all four

Home Nations Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...

were covered, with the Football League covering both England and Wales.Taylor 2005, p.205 Lower leagues, like the

Central Football League There have been at least three competitions in Scotland known as the Central Football League The first was originally formed in 1896 by five clubs - Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline Athletic, Fair City Athletic, Kirkcaldy and St Johnstone. In 1897 this v ...

, were not members and thus not bound by its rules. The Scottish Premier League and the English

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 ...

were admitted to the IFLB after their breakaways from their respective parent leagues. The IFLB was parallel to the

International Football Association Board The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is the body that determines the Laws of the Game of association football. IFAB was founded in 1886 to agree standardised Laws for international competition, and has since acted as the "guardia ...

(IFAB), formed by the football associations (FAs) of each of the four Home Nations (with the English FA and Welsh FA both on the IFAB). Subsequently, the IFAB was extended to include FIFA, whereas the IFLB did not extend its geographical remit, although the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

joined after splitting from the Irish League. In 1911,

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

were fined £250 by the IFLB for signing Bob Pursell from Queen's Park F.C. without permission, though a news report estimated his transfer fee would have been £360. In the 2003–04 Celtic F.C. season there were disputes over transfers of Colin Healy and Liam Miller to English clubs, because FIFA rules prohibited free transfers of players under 23 whereas the IFLB had an age limit of 24. FIFA asserted its jurisdiction. The IFLB was dissolved in 2005. A temporary consequence was that inter-league player loans became impossible, until FIFA regulations were subsequently applied.

Sources

References

Football organisations in the United Kingdom 1897 establishments in the United Kingdom Organizations disestablished in 2005 Association football transfers {{UK-sport-stub

History

See also

Sources

References