The following are events in 1872 which are relevant to the development of

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 ...

. Included are events in closely related codes, such as the

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 ...

Events

* 24 February –

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 ...

defeat

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

1–0 in the fifth and final representative match between the two teams. * 16 March – Wanderers defeat

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is head ...

1–0 in the inaugural

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

at the

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 ...

Morton Betts Morton Peto Betts (30 August 1847 – 19 April 1914)
England Football Online. Retrieved 2018-09-15. ...

scores the winning goal in the 15th minute after a successful dribble by

Walpole Vidal Robert Walpole Sealy Vidal, who from 1892 was Robert Walpole Sealy (3 September 1853 – 5 November 1914) was a prominent 19th century footballer who featured in the first three FA Cup Finals for two different clubs. In March 1870 he played in ...

. * 30 November – The first

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

-recognised international match is played in front of a crowd of 4,000 between Scotland and England at Hamilton Crescent,

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 ...

. It ends as a 0–0 draw.

Clubs founded

England

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

* Telford United

France

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

becomes the first French football and rugby club, playing football on a regular basis from 1894.

Scotland

* Rangers *

Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning ' ...

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

* Renton *

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

Wales

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

is founded on 28 September at the local Turf Hotel by two members of the

Wrexham Cricket Club Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, ...

, who want to play sport during the winter months. It is the first Welsh football club.

Domestic cups

Births

* 27 January – Jack Taylor (d. 1949),

international forward in four matches (1892–1895); made 400 appearances for Everton (1896–1910), scoring 80 goals. * 27 April – Kelly Houlker (d. 1962), England international half-back in five matches (1902–1906). * 10 May – Charlie Athersmith (d. 1910),

international forward in twelve matches, scoring three goals (1892–1900); won five league titles with

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park, ...

. * 25 November – G. O. Smith (d. 1943), England international forward in twenty matches (1893–1901), scoring eleven goals; captained the England team in at least thirteen matches from 1896 to 1901. * 21 December –

Lewis Vaughan Lodge Lewis Vaughan Lodge (21 December 1872 – 21 October 1916) was an English footballer who represented the England national football team. He also played first-class cricket with Hampshire. Sporting career Lodge, a left- or right-back, made his ...

(d. 1916), England international full-back in five matches (1894–1896). * 27 December –

Tommy Crawshaw Thomas Henry Crawshaw (27 December 1872 – 25 November 1960) was a professional footballer who played almost his entire League career with Sheffield Wednesday. Crawshaw was a centre-half whose career lasted from 1894 to 1909 during which time ...

(d. 1960), England international centre-half in ten matches (1895–1904). * Full date unknown: ** Harry Davy (d. 1896), English professional footballer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1872 in association football Association football by year