The Football Association

Encyclopedia : T : TH : THE : The Football Association

Founded 1863
FIFA affiliation 1905
UEFA affiliation 1954
President
Prince William of Wales
Coach
Men's: Steve McClaren (August 2006 - )
Women's: Hope Powell (1998-)

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).

Contents

1 Overview
2 History
3 Competitions
4 Principals of the Football Association

4.1 Presidents of the Football Association
4.2 Chairmen of the Football Association
4.3 Secretaries of the Football Association
4.4 Chief executives of the Football Association

5 References
6 See also
7 External links

Overview

The FA was established, initially for men only, in 1863 and is the oldest football association in the world. It governs all professional football clubs in England. The FA was instrumental in formulating the rules of the modern game and has a special place in the history of the sport. 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 (i.e.'English') in its title (compare with 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, the organization of the FA Cup, the nation's most prestigious cup competition, and is the governing body of the FA Premier League (The Football League, England's second tier league, consisting of The Championship, League One and League Two, is self-governing).

The FA plays a major role in the development of English football at the grass roots level, through its continuing support of the amateur game, and organizes the National League System.

The FA's turnover for the year ended 31 December 2004 was £206.1 million, of which £176.9 million came from television rights (mainly the FA Cup and England Internationals) and 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. [link] 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 [e.g.]

History

Prior to the first meeting of the Football Association in the Freemason's Tavern in Great Queen Street, London on 26 October 1863, there were no universally accepted rules for the playing of the game of football. The founder members present at the first meeting were Barnes, WO (War Office) Club, Crusaders, Forest of Leytonstone (later to become Wanderers) , N.N. (No Names) Club (Kilburn), Crystal Palace (no relation to Crystal Palace F.C.), Blackheath F.C., Kensington School, Percival House (Blackheath), Surbiton and Blackheath Proprietary School; Charterhouse sent their captain, B. F.Hartshorne, but declined the offer to join.

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, the first FA treasurer who was 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 RFU 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.

The Football Association's collection is held by the National Football Museum.

Competitions

The FA also runs several competitions:

Principals of the Football Association

Presidents of the Football Association

Chairmen of the Football Association

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–date)

Secretaries of the Football Association

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–date)

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 0356191451

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

Football in the United Kingdom
National teams: England \| Scotland \| Wales \| Northern Ireland \| UK
UK-wide national team competitions: British Home Championship \| Rous Cup
UK-wide club competitions: Coronation Cup \| Texaco Cup \| Anglo-Scottish Cup
Football in... England \| Scotland \| Wales \| Northern Ireland

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Asia: AFC – Asian Cup

Africa: CAF – African Cup of Nations

North America: CONCACAF – Gold Cup

South America: CONMEBOL – Copa América

Oceania: OFC – Nations Cup

Europe: UEFA – European Championship