History of association football

The history of association football, more commonly known as football or soccer stretches back to, at least the medieval ball games sometimes known as "folk football." Some predecessors of football date back to ancient greece, ect. The modern football was formed when the Laws of the Game was issued in England, 1863. However, the history of football in Britain including England even dates back to at least the eighth century CE; later, the development of present-day association football has its origins in medieval ball games and English public school games, the modern game of association football originated with mid-nineteenth century efforts between local football clubs to standardize the varying sets of rules, culminating in formation of The Football Association (The FA) in London, England in 1863, the FA issued Laws of the Game in the same year, Laws of the Game later was recognized by both the most powerful organizations in football in their stub period as the International Football Association Board (IFAB) and International Association Football Federation (FIFA), especially FIFA. The rules of football drafted by The FA allowed clubs to play each other without dispute, and specifically banned both handling of the ball (except by goalkeepers) and hacking during open field play. After the fifth meeting of the association a schism emerged between association football and the rules played by the Rugby school, later to be called rugby football. Besides the tournaments for only football; football has been also an Olympic sport ever by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since the second modern Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France, 1900.

The Football Association

During the early-mid nineteenth century, different sets of rules for football began to be drawn up in schools, universities, and clubs. The first such set of rules to be published was that of Rugby School in 1845.

According to N. L. Jackson, in the University of Cambridge in 1846 "two old Shrewsbury boys, Messrs H. de Winton and J. C. Thring, persuaded some Old Etonians to join them and formed a club. Matches were few and far between, but some were played on Parker's Piece. Unfortunately, the game was not popular at the 'Varsity then, and the club did not last long". According to Thring's own account, written in 1861:

This was among the first of several known attempts to formulate a set of "compromise" rules of football at Cambridge between alumni of different schools. In his ''History of the Football Association'', Geoffrey Green describes it as "the first positive step to create an identity of views and a common code of laws f footballacceptable to as many as possible", and laments the absence of a plaque "to commemorate this historic moment".

Another set of rules was set by Eton College in 1847.

During the 1850s, many clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the English-speaking world, to play various forms of football. Some came up with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the Sheffield Rules, created by the Sheffield Football Club, formed in 1857, which were adopted by the newly formed Sheffield Football Association in 1867.

According to the recollections of Henry Charles Malden, a set of rules was created for use at the University of Cambridge in 1848, drawing features from the different public school games. A later set of "Cambridge Rules" from 1856 survives in a copy at Shrewsbury School.

During the early 1860s, there were increasing attempts in England to unify and reconcile the various football games that were played in the public schools as well in the industrial north under the Sheffield Rules. In 1862, J. C. Thring, who had been one of the driving forces behind the original Cambridge Rules, was a master at Uppingham School and issued his own rules of what he called " The Simplest Game" (''aka'' the Uppingham Rules). In early October 1863, a new set of "Cambridge Rules" was drawn up by a seven-member committee representing former pupils of Eton, Harrow, Shrewsbury, Rugby, Marlborough and Westminster.

Ebenezer Cobb Morley, a solicitor from Hull, wrote to ''Bell's Life'' newspaper in 1863, proposing a governing body for football. Morley was to become the FA's first secretary (1863–66) and its second president (1867–74), but is particularly remembered for drafting the first Laws of the Game at his home in Barnes, London, that are today played the world over. For this, he is considered not just the father of the Football Association, but of Association Football itself.

Public schools such as Charterhouse and Westminster School were influential in forming the new rules, at both schools the pupils' surroundings meant they were confined to playing their football in the cloisters, making the rough and tumble of the handling game that was developing at other schools such as Rugby impossible, and necessitating a different code of rules. Forest School was also influential in formulating the new rules, being present at the fifth meeting of the F.A. on 1 December 1863, and having several members at the influential Forest Club. During the formulation of the rules of Association Football in the 1860s representatives of Charterhouse and Westminster pushed for a passing game, in particular rules that allowed forward passing ("passing on"). Other schools (in particular Eton College, Shrewsbury School and Harrow) favoured a dribbling game with a tight off-side rule. It is claimed that Stoke Ramblers were formed in 1863 when former pupils of Charterhouse School formed a football club while apprentices at the North Staffordshire Railway works in Stoke-on-Trent. By 1867 the Football Association had chosen in favour of the Charterhouse and Westminster game and adopted a "loose" off-side rule that permitted forward passing.

On the evening of 26 October 1863, representatives of several football clubs in the Greater London area met at the Freemasons' Tavern on Long Acre in Covent Garden. This was the first meeting of The Football Association (FA). It was the world's first official football body and for this reason is not preceded with the word English. The first meeting resulted in the issuing of a request for representatives of the public schools to join the association. With the exception of Thring at Uppingham, most schools declined. In total, six meetings of the FA were held between October and December 1863. Committee member J. F. Alcock, said: "The Cambridge Rules appear to be the most desirable for the Association to adopt."

After the third meeting, a draft set of rules were published by the FA. However, at the beginning of the fourth meeting, attention was drawn to the recently published Cambridge Rules of 1863. The Cambridge rules differed from the draft FA rules in two significant areas; namely ''running with (carrying) the ball'' and '' hacking'' (kicking opposing players in the shins). The two contentious FA rules were as follows:

At the fifth meeting a motion was proposed that these two rules be removed from the FA rules. Most of the delegates supported this suggestion but F. W. Campbell, the representative from Blackheath and the first FA treasurer, objected strongly. He said, "hacking is the true football". The motion was carried nonetheless and — at the final meeting — Campbell withdrew his club from the FA. After the final meeting on 8 December the FA published the " Laws of Football", the first comprehensive set of rules for the game later known as association football. The game also came to be called "soccer" as a shortening of "Association" around the same time as Rugby football, colloquially referred to as "rugger", was developing as the main ball carrying version of English football, and "soccer" remains a common descriptor in countries with other prominent football codes today.

These first FA laws contained elements that are no longer part of association football, but which are still recognisable in other games (e.g. Rugby Union and Australian rules football): for instance, if a player first touched the ball behind the opponents' goal line, his side was entitled to a " free kick" at goal, from that point and fifteen yards pproximately 14 metresin front of the goal line; and a player could make a catch and claim a "mark", which entitled him to a free kick from or behind that point (see Laws 7 and 8 respectively).
The laws of the game agreed on by the FA members stipulated a maximum length and breadth for the pitch, the procedure for kicking off, and definition of terms, including goal, throw in, offside. Passing the ball by hand was still permitted provided the ball was caught "''fairly or on the first bounce''". Despite the specifications of footwear having no "''tough nails, iron plates and gutta percha''" there were no specific rule on number of players, penalties, foul play or the shape of the ball; captains of the participating teams were expected to agree on these things prior to the match.

Foundations of a competition

The laws laid down by the FA had an immediate effect, with Sheffield F.C. and Nottingham (now Notts County) playing an annual fixture on the FA code, among others. As more teams joined the code in the 1860s, the sport veered away from its origins in public schools, came to be played with round balls and by teams that had settled on 11 players each. The rule eliminating passing of the ball forwards by making all players in front of the ball ' offside' (much like in rugby today) was dropped. A Sheffield against London game in 1866 had allowed the FA to observe how the rules were affecting the game; subsequently handling of the ball was abolished except for one player on each team, the goalkeeper. A red tape was added between the two goalposts to indicate the top of the goal, and a national competition was proposed. 1867 saw the introduction of the first competition and oldest existing trophy in football, the Youdan Cup.

First FA Cup

On 20 July 1871, C. W. Alcock, a gentleman from Sunderland and a former pupil of Harrow School proposed that "''a Challenge Cup should be established in connection with the ootballAssociation''", the idea that gave birth to the competition. At the first FA Cup in 1872, Wanderers and Royal Engineers met in the final in front of 2,000 paying spectators. Despite the Royal Engineers being the heavy favourites, one of their players sustained a broken collar bone early on and since substitutions had not yet been introduced, the Engineers played a man down for the rest of the match which they eventually lost 1–0.

The FA Cup was a success and within a few years all of the clubs in England wanted to take part. To do so they had to accept the FA code, which led to the quick spread of a universal set of rules. These rules are the basis of which all association football rules today stem from.

Later competitions saw the 'Gentleman' or Southerners dominate with Old Etonians, Wanderers, Royal Engineers and Oxford University who amongst them took 19 titles. Queens Park withdrew in the semi-finals of the 1873 cup (which due to the format being played that year meant that all the challengers to Wanderers' trophy played a competition for the right to throw down the gauntlet and play the holders, hence the full name FA Challenge Cup) because they had trouble raising travel expenses to pay for the constant trips to England, this directly led to the formation of the Scottish FA. However, despite this, Queens Park continued to participate in the FA Cup, reaching the final twice, before the Scottish FA banned Scottish clubs from entering in 1887.

In 1872, Alcock purchased the Football Association Cup for £20. That year, fifteen clubs entered the competition. Queen's Park reached the semi-finals without playing due to withdrawals, but then after a goalless draw with Wanderers, were forced to withdraw as before the advent of penalties and extra time, they could not afford to come back to London for the replay. Wanderers won the cup outright in 1878 after what remains to this day one of only two hat tricks of wins ever. However they returned the cup to the FA in order for the competition to continue, on the condition that no other club could win the cup outright ever again.

First league

In 1888, William McGregor a gentleman from Perthshire and a director of Aston Villa F.C was the main force between meetings held in London and Manchester involving 12 football clubs, with an eye to a league competition. These 12 clubs would later become the Football League's 12 founder members. The meetings were held in London, the main concern was that an early exit in the knockout format of the FA Cup could leave clubs with no matches for almost a year, and if that happened, not only could they suffer heavy financial losses, but fans often didn't stick around for that long without a game, and instead went to other teams. Matters were finalised on 17 April in Manchester.

McGregor had voted against the name The Football League, as he was concerned that it would be associated with the Irish Land League."A History of Football", p.22 But this name still won by a majority vote and was selected. The competition guaranteed fixtures and members for all of its member clubs. The clubs were split equally among North and Midlands teams. It excluded Southern teams, who were still strictly amateur.

A rival English league called the Football Alliance operated from 1889 to 1892. In 1892 it was decided to formally merge the two leagues, and so the Football League Second Division was formed, consisting mostly of Football Alliance clubs. The existing League clubs, plus three of the strongest Alliance clubs, comprised the Football League First Division.

First International

The first international game was played in Scotland on 30 November 1872. Charles Alcock, who was elected to secretary of the FA at the age of 28, devised the idea of an international competition, inaugurating an annual Scotland-England fixture. In 1870 and 1871 he placed advertisements in Edinburgh and Glasgow newspapers, requesting players for an international between the two countries. The only response that he received stated: "devotees of the "association" rules will find no foemen worthy of their steel in Scotland" For this reason the 1870 and 1871 matches were composed entirely of Scots living in England. Notably, however, Smith of the Queen's Park football club took part in most of the 1870 and 1871 international matches. As early as 1870, Alcock was adamant that these matches were ''open to every Scotsman'' lcock's italicswhether his lines were cast North or South of the Tweed and that if in the face of the invitations publicly given through the columns of leading journals of Scotland the representative eleven consisted chiefly of Anglo-Scotians ... the fault lies on the heads of the players of the north, not on the management who sought the services of all alike impartially. To call the team London Scotchmen contributes nothing. The match was, as announced, to all intents and purposes between England and Scotland".

In 1872 the challenge was eventually taken up by Queens Park FC. The first international currently recognised as official by FIFA (which took place on 30 November 1872, Glasgow, Scotland) ended in a goalless draw between the two sides and thus, one of the most bitterly disputed fixtures in footballing history was born. The 2nd game between the two sides, on the 8 March 1873, ended 4–2 in favour of England, the Scots then went on to win the next game 2–1. The fourth game ended in a 2–2 draw after which the Scots enjoyed a 3-game winning streak.

The first non-European international was contested on 28 November 1885, at Newark, New Jersey, between the US and Canada, the Canadians winning 1–0.

From amateurism to professionalism

When football was gaining popularity during the 1870s and 1880s professionals were banned in England and Scotland. Then in the 1880s, soon after Wanderers disbanded, in the north of England, teams started hiring players known as 'professors of football', who were often professionals from Scotland (who were referred to at the time as the ' Scotch Professors'). This was the first time professionalism got into football. The clubs in working class areas, especially in Northern England and Scotland, wanted professional football in order to afford playing football besides working. Several clubs were accused of employing professionals.

The northern clubs made of lower class paid players started to gain momentum over the amateur 'Gentleman Southerners'. The first northern club to reach the FA Cup final was Blackburn Rovers in 1882, where they lost to Old Etonians, who were the last amateur team to win the trophy.

During the summer of 1885, there was pressure put on the Football Association to accept professionalism in English football, culminating in a special meeting on 20 July, after which it was announced that it was "''in the interests of Association Football, to legalise the employment of professional football players, but only under certain restrictions''". Clubs were allowed to pay players provided that they had either been born or had lived for two years within a six-mile radius of the ground. There were also rules preventing professional players playing for more than one club in a season, without obtaining special permission, and all professional players had to be registered with the F.A.

Though English clubs employed professionals, the Scottish Football Association continued to forbid the practice. Consequently, many Scottish players migrated southward. At first the FA put residential restrictions in place to prevent this, but these were abandoned by 1889. In the inaugural season of the Football League (1888–89), champions Preston North End fielded ten Scottish professionals.

One of the teams to benefit from the move of Scottish players to England, who were nicknamed the Scotch Professors, was Sunderland A.F.C. The club went professional in 1885, and the club recruited a number of Scotsmen the same year, their first internationally capped players. Founder James Allan left Sunderland in 1888 because of his dislike for the "professionalism" that had been creeping into the club, and subsequently formed Sunderland Albion.

The wealthy miner Samuel Tyzack, who alongside and shipbuilder Robert Turnbull funded the now professional "team of all talents," often pretended to be a priest while scouting for players in Scotland, as Sunderland's recruitment policy in Scotland enraged many Scottish fans. In fact, the whole Sunderland lineup in the 1895 World Championship was made from entirely Scottish players. On 5 April 1890, the Football League's founder, William McGregor, labelled Sunderland as "the team of all talents" stating that they had "a talented man in every position".Days, p21.

Another team to benefit from the Scotch Professors was Preston North End, the first English team to win the Championship and Cup "double", which did so with a majority of their team being made up of Scottish players.

The Scottish FA lifted its ban on professionalism in 1893, whereupon 560 players were registered as professionals.

Early English women's teams, such as the Dick, Kerr's Ladies from Preston, were so popular that their matches raised money for charities. The first recorded women's football match, on 23 March 1895, was held in England between a northern and southern team. The fundraising matches continued, in spite of objections. A maximum wage was placed on players, players challenged this and came close to strike action in 1909, but it was not to be for another fifty years before the maximum wage was abolished. In 1921, women were banned from playing on FA league grounds. FA history states that this ban "effectively destroyed the game" in England for the next 40 years. Hakoah Vienna was probably the first non-British club to pay their players during the 1920s .

In 1934, the Swedish club Malmö FF was relegated from the top division after it had been discovered that they paid their players, something that was not allowed in Swedish football at the time.

Wartime football

Between 1915 and 1919 competitive association football was suspended in England. Many footballers signed up to fight in the war and as a result many teams were depleted, and fielded guest players instead. The Football League and FA Cup were suspended and in their place regional league competitions were set up; appearances in these tournaments do not count in players' official records.

Football spreads around the world

Continental Europe

The oldest club in continental Europe could be the Swiss club Lausanne Football and Cricket Club, founded 1860. Football was introduced in a Belgian school in Melle (near Ghent) in 1863. In the Netherlands the first football match was played in 1865 in Enschede. This was followed by the founding of Koninklijke HFC by Pim Mulier in 1879. The Koninklijke HFC was the first Dutch football club. Ten years later, in 1889, the Royal Dutch Football Association (the KNVB) was founded. Association football was introduced in the Danish club, Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB) by English residents, in Swiss club FC St. Gallen in 1879 and in Belgium Royal Antwerp FC in 1880. This makes KB, St. Gallen, Koninklijke HFC and Royal Antwerp FC the oldest still existing football clubs on Continental Europe. However, Royal Antwerp FC (nickname "The Great Old") is the only one that never merged with or into another club.

The Danish Football Association was founded in 1889. Italian football was played in regional groups from its foundation in 1898 until 1929 when the Serie A was organised into a national league by the Italian Football Federation. La Liga, Spain's national league, had its first season in 1928, with its participants based on the previous winners of the Copa del Rey, which began in 1902. The modern German national league, the Bundesliga was late in foundation, especially for European countries, given it wasn't founded until 1963. The German Football Association was founded as early as 1900 with the first German football champions being Leipzig in 1903. However, prior to the formation of the Bundesliga, German football was played at an amateur level in a large number of regional leagues.

Imperial Russia

The first recorded football game in Imperial Russia occurred in Odessa when some British sailors played a game amongst themselves.

Portugal

The first organised game of football in Portugal took place in 1875 in Camacha, Madeira. Organised by the Madeira born Harry Hinton.

The oldest surviving team in Portugal is Académica, which was founded in 1876.

On 31 March 1914, the 3 regional associations that existed in Portugal (Lisbon, Portalegre and Porto), merged to create a national association called "a União Portuguesa de Futebol" which is the ancestor of the current national association "Federação Portuguesa de Futebol" which was formed on 28 May 1926.

South America

The first recorded football match in Argentina was played in 1867 by British railway workers at the Buenos Aires Cricket Club Ground. The game was a blend of both association and rugby footballs, allowing the use of hands. The first association football team in South America, Buenos Aires Football Club was created in Argentina that same year. The first country's league was the "Association Argentine Football" (AAF), founded in 1891 by F.L. Wooley. This league organized the first ever championship to take place in 1891, making Argentina's the oldest association football league outside mainland Great Britain although it only lasted for one season. Its successor, the Argentine Football Association was founded by Scottish schoolteacher Alexander Watson Hutton in 1893, remaining nowadays.

In the 1870s an expatriate named John Miller who worked on the railway construction project in São Paulo together with some 3000 other immigrant families from the British Isles in the last decades of the 19th century, decided to send his young boy Charles William Miller to England for his education. In 1884 Charles aged 10 was sent to Bannisters school in Southampton. Charles was a natural footballer who quickly picked up the arts of the game. The football association was being formed at the time. Eton, Rugby, Charterhouse and other colleges all had developed their own rules to the game. As an accomplished winger and striker Charles held school honours that were to gain him entry first into the Southampton Club team and then into the County team of Hampshire.

In 1892 a couple of years before his return to Brazil, Miller was invited to play a game for the Corinthians, a team formed of players invited from public schools and universities.

On his return Miller brought some association football equipment and a rules book with him. He then went on to develop the new rules of the game amongst the community in São Paulo. In 1888, six years before his return, the first sports club was founded in the city, São Paulo Athletic Club. São Paulo Athletic Club won the first three years championships. Miller's skills were far and above his colleagues at this stage. He was given the honour of contributing his name to a move involving a deft flick of the ball with the heel "Chaleira".

Charles Miller kept a strong bond with English association football throughout his life. Teams from Southampton and Corinthians Club came over to Brazil and played against São Paulo Athletic Club and other teams in São Paulo. One on occasion in 1910 a new local team was about to be formed after a tour of the Corinthians team to Brazil and Charles was asked to suggest a name for the team. He suggested they should call themselves after Corinthians.

During the first years of the 20th century, several British clubs toured on South America, mainly Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. Southampton was the first foreign club to tour the continent in 1904, followed by Nottingham Forest one year later. Those tours contributed to the spread and develop of football in the region, with some matches (such as the Alumni v South Africa) being attended by more than 10,000 spectators.A cien años de un triunfazo
on ''Clarín'', 24 June 2006 Those British teams trips lasted until 1929, with the Chelsea tour.South American Trip of Chelsea FC 1929
by Pablo Ciullini on RSSSF

The Argentine Primera División is the oldest league in South America, being first held in 1891.''Historia del Fútbol Amateur en la Argentina'', by Jorge Iwanczuk. Published by Autores Editores (1992) - Moreover, Argentina became the first country outside the United Kingdom to establish a football league. The Uruguayan Football Association was also established in 1900. Both associations organised together the first ''Rioplatense'' club competitions in the region, starting with the Tie Cup in 1900.

In 1988, São Paulo A.C. celebrated its centenary and the English Corinthian F.C. (that had first toured on Brazil in 1910)Corinthian FC Football Pioneers
by Vince Cooper, 2 Oct 2017 went across again to play them at Morumbi Stadium. The end of the tour was against the local Corinthians Paulista team (which had taken its name from the English side) with former stars Sócrates and Rivelino amongst its players. This game was played at Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo and true to Corinthian principles of good clean association football the score was 1 to 0 in favour of the locals when as agreed Socrates changed shirts to play alongside the English amateurs. This did not affect the score unfortunately although a largely packed stadium was cheering on for a drawn result.

The Brazilian Football Confederation was founded in 1914, and the current format for the Campeonato Brasileiro was established in 1971.

United States

The first association football club in the United States was the Oneida Football Club

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