the Football Association
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| Founded | 1863 |
| FIFA affiliation | 1905 |
| UEFA affiliation | 1954 |
| President Prince William of Wales |
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The Football Association (The FA) is the governing body of football in England and the Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. The FA has a unique place in the history of football.
Overview
The FA governs all professional football clubs in England. It is a member of UEFA and FIFA, and holds a permanent seat on the International Football Association Board (IFAB). Unlike other national football associations, it does not take the national name (ie. English) in its title (compared to the Scottish Football Association, for example).
All of England's professional football clubs must be members of the Football Association. The FA is responsible for the appointment of the management of the England men's and women's national teams and the organization of the FA Cup (the nation's most prestigious cup competition). Although it does not run the day-to-day operations of the country's top league, the Premier League, it has veto power over the appointment of the league Chairman and Chief Executive and over any changes to league rules.[1] The Football League, England's second tier league, consisting of The Championship, League One and League Two, is self-governing.
The game is controlled at the local level, by 43 County Football Associations affiliated to The Football Association but with responsibilities for organising and running football activities in their area. The Jersey, Guernsey, and Isle of Man Football Associations are organised as County Football Associations below the FA[2]. A hierarchy of leagues operates throughout the game, each taking responsibility for the administration of their own activities, such as membership, fixtures and registrations.
The FA's turnover for the year ending 31 December, 2006 was £206.1 million, of which £176.9 million came from sponsorship. Its other sources of income include gate receipts from English internationals, payments from FIFA and UEFA relating to England's participation in international competitions, and sundry minor sources of income. [1] The FA's income does not include the turnover of English football clubs, which are independent businesses. As well as running its own operations the FA chooses five charities each year to which it gives considerable financial support [2],[3].
History
Prior to the first meeting of the Football Association in the Freemasons' Tavern in Great Queen Street, London on 26 October 1863, there were no universally accepted rules for the playing of the game of football. However, a set of rules known as the Cambridge Rules had been devised and published by members of Cambridge University in 1848 and had been in use for some time: these were used to form the basis of the Football Association rules. A different set of rules, the Sheffield Rules, had been in use by a number of clubs in the North of England since the 1850s and these were also subsumed into the official Football Association rules.
The founder members present at the first meeting were Barnes, Civil Service, Crusaders, Forest of Leytonstone (later to become Wanderers) , N.N. (No Names) Club (Kilburn), the original Crystal Palace, Blackheath, Kensington School, Percival House (Blackheath), Surbiton and Blackheath Proprietary School; Charterhouse sent their captain, B.F. Hartshorne, but declined the offer to join. Many clubs are since defunct or play rugby union.
Central to the creation of the Football Association and modern football was
Ebenezer Cobb Morley. He was a founding member of the Football Association in 1862.
In 1863, as captain of the Mortlake-based club, he wrote to Bell's Life newspaper proposing a governing body for the sport
that led to the first meeting at the Freemason's Tavern that created the FA. He was the FA's first secretary (1863-6) and its
second president (1867-74) and drafted the Laws of football that determine the way the
game is played today across the globe at his home in
The first revision of the rules for the modern game was drawn up over a series of six meetings held in the social room of the public house from October till December. At the final meeting, F. M. Campbell, the first FA treasurer, and the representative from Blackheath, withdrew his club from the FA over the removal of two draft rules at the previous meeting, the first which allowed for the running with the ball in hand and the second, obstructing such a run by hacking (kicking an opponent in the shins), tripping and holding. Other English rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA but instead in 1871 formed the Rugby Football Union.
An inaugural game using the new FA rules was initially scheduled for Battersea Park on 2 January 1864, but enthusiastic members of the FA couldn't wait for the new year and an experimental game was played at Mortlake on 19 December 1863 between Morley's Barnes team and their neighbours Richmond (who were not members of the FA), ending in a goalless draw. The Richmond side were obviously unimpressed by the new rules in practice because they subsequently helped form the Rugby Football Union in 1871. The Battersea Park game was postponed for a week and the first exhibition game using FA rules was played there on Saturday 9 January 1864. The members of the opposing teams for this game were chosen by the President of the FA (A. Pember) and the Secretary (E. C. Morley) and included many well-known footballers of the day.
Competitions
The FA also runs several competitions:
- FA Cup
- FA Trophy
- FA Vase
- FA Women's Cup
- FA Women's Premier League Cup
- FA Youth Cup
- FA Sunday Cup
- FA County Youth Cup
- FA Community Shield
- FA National League System Cup
- FA Futsal Cup
Principals of the Football Association
Presidents of the Football Association
- Arthur Pember (1863–1867)
- E. C. Morley (1867–1874)
- Major Sir Francis Marindin (1874–1890)
- Lord Kinnaird (1890–1923)
- Sir Charles Clegg (1923–1937)
- William Pickford (1937–1939)
- The Earl of Athlone (1939–1955)
- The Duke of Edinburgh (1955–1957)
- The Duke of Gloucester (1957–1963)
- The Earl of Harewood (1963–1971)
- The Duke of Kent (1971–2000)
- The Duke of York (2000–2006)
- Prince William of Wales (May 2006–)
Chairmen of the Football Association
- Charles Clegg (1890–1937)
- A. G. Hines (1938)
- M. Frowde (1939–1941)
- Sir Amos Brook Hirst (1941–1955)
- Arthur Drewry (1955–1961)
- Graham Doggart (1961–1963)
- Joe Mears (1963–1966)
- Dr Sir Andrew Steven (1967–1976)
- Professor Sir Harold Thompson (1976–1981)
- Sir Bert Millichip (1981–1996)
- Keith Wiseman (1996–1999)
- Geoff Thompson (1999–)
Secretaries of the Football Association
- E. C. Morley (1863-1866)
- R. W. Willis (1866-1868)
- R. G. Graham (1868-1870)
- Charles Alcock (1870-1895)
- Sir Frederick Wall (1895-1934)
- Sir Stanley Rous (1934-1962)
- Sir Denis Follows (1962-1973)
- E. A. Croker (1973-1989)
Chief executives of the Football Association
- Graham Kelly (1989-1998)
- David Davies (1998-2000) Executive Director
- Adam Crozier (2000-2002)
- David Davies (2002-2003) Acting Chief Executive
- Mark Palios (2003-2004)
- David Davies (2004-2005) Acting Chief Executive
- Brian Barwick (2005-)
References
- Green, Geoffrey (1954) The history of the Football Association, Naldrett Press
- Butler, B. (1991). The official history of the Football Association, Queen Anne Press, ISBN 0-356-19145-1
Internet
- ^ The Premier League and Other Football Bodies. Premier League. Retrieved on 2007-05-17.
- ^ The Regional Structure. FA.com website. Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
See also
 England-related topics |
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|---|---|
| History | Logres · Roman Britain · Anglo-Saxon England · The Blitz · Elizabethan era · Civil War · Jacobean era · Kingdom of England · Norman Conquest · English Reformation · English Renaissance · Tudor period · Union with Scotland · Wars of the Roses |
| Politics | Government of England · Elizabethan government · Parliament of England · Monarchy of England · National Flag · List of English flags · Royal Arms |
| Geography | Regions · Counties · Districts · Gardens · Islands · Places · Towns · Parishes |
| Demographics | English English · Famous English people · English people |
| Culture | Castles · Church of England · Education · England cricket team · The Football Association · Museums · English rugby team · Innovations & discoveries · English cuisine · St George's Day · Anglosphere · Anglophile |
External links
- The FA official site
- Tom Bower Has the Blazer Brigade doomed football? Guardian July 2, 2005
- Royal Engineers Museum When the Royal Engineers won the FA Cup 1875
- FA Sim A free online game simulating the work of a Football Association
- Footee Fun football education for 7-11 year olds: kids play games, learn and take part in a huge multi player online league.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
