The Football Association facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
The Football Association

UEFA
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Short name	The FA
Founded	26 October 1863; 161 years ago (1863-10-26)
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Headquarters	Wembley Stadium
Location	Wembley, London
FIFA affiliation	1905–1920 1924–1928 1946–present
UEFA affiliation	1954
IFAB affiliation	1886
President	William, Prince of Wales

The Football Association (often called The FA) is the main organization for association football in England. It also covers the Crown Dependencies like Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man.

The FA was started in 1863. This makes it the oldest football association in the world! It is in charge of all football, both amateur and professional, in its areas.

The FA organizes all official football matches at a national level. It also helps local football through smaller county associations. One of its most famous events is the FA Cup. The FA also picks the coaches and players for England's national football teams. This includes the men's, women's, and youth teams.

The FA is a member of both UEFA and FIFA. It also has a permanent spot on the International Football Association Board (IFAB). This group creates and changes the Laws of Football. Because it was the first football association, its name doesn't include "English." The FA's main office is at Wembley Stadium in London. The FA is also part of the British Olympic Association. This means it helps manage the men's and women's Great Britain Olympic football teams for the Olympics.

All professional football teams in England are members of The FA. While The FA doesn't run the daily operations of the Premier League, it has a say in big decisions. For example, it can approve or reject the league chairman and chief executive. It can also veto changes to league rules. The English Football League, which has three professional divisions below the Premier League, manages itself. However, it still follows The FA's rules.

How Football Began: The FA's Early Days

A plaque remembering where The Football Association was formed in 1863 at the Freemasons' Tavern, London.

Before The FA was created in 1863, there were no common rules for playing football. Different schools and clubs played with their own rules. This caused problems when teams from different places played each other.

In 1862, Ebenezer Cobb Morley suggested creating a group to set clear rules for football. This led to the first meeting of The FA on October 26, 1863. It happened at the Freemasons' Tavern in London. Morley was a key person in starting The FA.

Many meetings followed to create a single set of rules. During these meetings, football split into two main sports: association football (what we call football or soccer) and Rugby football.

Before The FA, schools like University of Cambridge and clubs in Sheffield had their own rule sets. The Cambridge Rules (1848) and Sheffield Rules (1850s) were popular.

Eleven London football clubs and schools met on October 26, 1863, to agree on common rules. The founding clubs included:

• Barnes
• Civil Service
• Crusaders
• Forest of Leytonstone (later Wanderers F.C.)
• N.N. (No Names) Club (Kilburn)
• The original Crystal Palace
• The original Blackheath
• Kensington School
• Perceval House (Blackheath)
• Surbiton F.C.
• Blackheath Proprietary School

Today, Civil Service F.C. is the only original club still playing association football without a break.

Ebenezer Cobb Morley became The FA's first secretary (1863–66) and second president (1867–74). He wrote the first Laws of the Game, often called the "London Rules."

Photo of an early handwritten draft of the 'Laws of the game' for association Football, written by Ebenezer Cobb Morley in 1863. It's on display at the National Football Museum, Manchester.

The first rules for modern football were written during six meetings from October to December 1863.

The Split from Rugby

At the last meeting, some clubs, like Blackheath, left The FA. They disagreed with removing rules that allowed running with the ball in hand and tackling by kicking opponents' shins (called hacking). Other English rugby clubs followed them. In 1871, they formed the Rugby Football Union. This is why "soccer" became a term for football played under "association" rules.

The first game using The FA's new rules was played on December 19, 1863. Morley's Barnes team played Richmond. It was a 0-0 draw. The Richmond team didn't like the new rules and later helped form the Rugby Football Union.

The first public game using FA rules was on January 9, 1864, in Battersea Park. After this game, people toasted "Success to football, irrespective of class or creed."

A very important match was London v Sheffield in 1866. A team from The FA played Sheffield F.C. under the new rules. This was seen as the first major game under The FA's guidance.

C. W. Alcock became The FA's first full-time secretary in 1870. He created the FA Cup in 1871. This is the oldest football competition in the world. The first FA Cup Final was in 1872. The Wanderers played the Royal Engineers at The Oval. About 2,000 people watched.

One Set of Rules for All

The Coat of Arms of The Football Association.

For many years, The FA (based in London) and the Sheffield Football Association had different rules. The FA Cup helped them realize they needed one set of rules. In April 1877, they agreed on a single set of laws. Some of the Sheffield Rules were included.

In 1890, Arthur Kinnaird became The FA's fourth president. He had been on The FA committee since he was 21. Kinnaird was president for 33 years until he passed away in 1923.

At first, the FA Cup was mostly played by amateur teams from the south. But in the early 1880s, professional teams from the north started to win. These northern teams used a new passing style from Scotland. They also trained in a more organized way. Blackburn Olympic F.C. won the FA Cup in 1883. Then, Blackburn Rovers F.C. started paying players and won three FA Cups in a row.

The FA first tried to stop professionalism. But facing a threat of a new football body, they allowed players to be paid by 1885. Three years later, in 1888, the first English Football League was formed. It had professional clubs from northwest England and the midlands.

In 1992, The FA took control of the new Premier League. This league was formed by 22 clubs that left the Football League's First Division. The Premier League now has 20 clubs and is one of the richest football leagues in the world.

The FA has updated its logo many times. For its 150th year (2013–2014), they used a special logo. The shield design was the same, but the three lions, rosettes, and border were gold instead of black and red. It also said "150 years" with the dates "1863" and "2013."

Women's Football

Women's football became very popular during and after World War I. Women's teams played charity games, and often more people watched them than men's games. In 1921, The FA banned women's teams from playing on grounds linked to The FA. They said football was bad for women's bodies. This ban almost stopped women's football for decades.

The ban was finally lifted in 1969. This was after England won the 1966 FIFA World Cup, which made more people interested in football. The Women's Football Association was founded. It took two more years, and an order from UEFA, for The FA to fully remove its restrictions on women's teams.

In 1983, the Women's Football Association officially joined The FA. Then, in 1993, The FA created the "Women's Football Committee" to run women's football in England. This committee, now called the "Women's Football Conference," has a voice on The FA Council.

Achievements and Trophies

The FA oversees the national teams, and they have won many honors!

National Football Teams

National Youth Teams

Changes and Updates to The FA

In 2016, some former FA leaders said the organization needed to change. They felt it was old-fashioned and couldn't keep up with modern football.

In April 2017, The FA announced some reforms. These changes were approved in May. They included:

• Adding three positions on The FA board for women by 2018.
• Making the board smaller, with only 10 members.
• Adding 11 new members to The FA Council. These new members would better represent all parts of English football.
• Limiting how long board members could serve (three terms of three years).
• Limiting how long FA Council members could serve.

Later, in November 2020, the FA chairman, Greg Clarke, resigned. This happened after he used inappropriate language when talking to a committee. The FA then started looking for a new chairman.

Football in Crown Dependencies

The football associations in the Crown Dependencies are connected to The FA. These include Jersey (Jersey Football Association), Guernsey (Guernsey Football Association), and the Isle of Man (Isle of Man Football Association). Even though they are separate from the United Kingdom, The FA sees them as county football associations. Famous players like Matt Le Tissier and Graeme Le Saux, who played for England, were born in Guernsey and Jersey.

These associations have been linked to The FA for a long time: Guernsey since 1903, Isle of Man since 1908, and Jersey since 1905.

In 2008, a rule was changed by FIFA. Before this, players born in the Channel Islands could choose to play for any of the UK's national teams (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland). Now, they usually play for England.

Football in Overseas Territories

The Gibraltar Football Association was part of The FA from 1911. But then it decided to become a full member of UEFA. This took a 14-year legal fight.

The Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) was started in 1914. It's one of the oldest in Asia. Hong Kong joined FIFA in 1954 and helped start the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Hong Kong played a big role in early Asian football. It hosted the first Asian Cup in 1956. Hong Kong was given back to China in 1997.

Some other British Overseas Territories have their own football groups or leagues. These are not part of The FA. Even though these territories are small, they have produced professional players. For example, Clyde Best played professionally in England.

The FA and FIFA

The Football Association first joined FIFA in 1905. After World War I, the British Associations (England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) left FIFA. This was because FIFA did not remove countries that were part of the Central Powers during the war. The British Associations rejoined FIFA in 1924.

The British Olympic Association had rules against paying athletes for lost work time during the Olympics. In 1928, FIFA decided to allow some payments for lost time. The FA disagreed with this and left FIFA again. Because of this, England did not play in the 1930, 1934, or 1938 World Cups.

The FA rejoined FIFA in 1946. England played in its first World Cup in 1950. One of The FA's first actions was to ask FIFA to remove the German and Japanese football associations. This was because of their countries' roles in World War II. Germany and Japan were not allowed to play in the 1950 FIFA World Cup. They rejoined FIFA in 1950.

Football Competitions Run by The FA

The FA Cup trophy used from 1992 to 2013.

The FA organizes many football competitions.

Current Competitions

Past Competitions

• FA Umbro Fives

How The FA is Run

Money Matters

The FA earns most of its money from the rights to England's international matches and the FA Cup. Selling the rights for these games to TV companies brings in a lot of money. These deals are set until at least 2021.

From 2008 to 2012, The FA earned £425 million from TV rights in the UK. It also got £145 million from overseas TV rights. The FA invests a lot of money back into football at all levels. For example, in 2016, it invested £125 million.

The FA's income is separate from the money made by individual English football clubs. The FA also supports five charities each year.

The FA has become stricter about what players say on social media. For example, between 2011 and 2014, it fined players £350,000 for comments made on Twitter.

Leaders of The FA

The Prince of Wales is the current President of The FA.

The FA has a President, who is usually a member of the British royal family. The Chairman of The FA is in charge of the main policies. This person traditionally worked their way up through The FA's committees. In 2008, David Triesman became the first "independent chairman" from outside the usual football leadership.

The person who runs The FA day-to-day was called the Secretary until 1989. Then the job title changed to Chief Executive.

Past Presidents

Arthur Pember

Ebenezer Morley

Francis Marindin

Charles Clegg

William Pickford

Alexander Cambridge

Board of Directors

As of January 9, 2022, the Board of Directors for The FA includes:

• Chairwoman: Debbie Hewitt MBE
• Chief Executive: Mark Bullingham
• National Game representatives: Sue Hough MBE, Jack Pearce, Thura Win JP
• Professional Game representatives: Peter McCormick OBE, Rick Parry, Rupinder Bains
• Independent Non-Executive directors: Kate Tinsley, Tim Score
• Board observers: Paul Elliott CBE, David Gill CBE

See also

In Spanish: Asociación Inglesa de Fútbol para niños