The (English) Football League, founded in 1888, is often regarded as the world’s first formally structured league tournament. It was once made up of 12 clubs from the north and midlands of England, and Preston North End was the inaugural winner of the Football League Championship.

With the injection of mega-bucks from BSkyB (now known as Sky TV), the top teams broke away to form the FA Premier League in 1992.

The original Football League is now divided into the championship, division 1, and division 2.

As a result, England now has four professional football leagues, with teams moving up (promotion) or down (relegation) in the leagues based on their last season’s score.

THE FIRST CUP OF THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (FA CUP)

In front of 2,000 people, the first FA Cup final was played in England in 1872 between Royal Engineers and Wanderers. The Wanderers won 1-0 in part because the Royal Engineers, who were the favorites, lost a player early in the match due to injury and had to play with ten men because substitutions were not permitted at the time. The “Challenge Cup,” as it was originally known, was the invention of Mr. CW Alcock of Sunderland, who had merely proposed the year before that “A Challenge Cup should be set up in connection with the association”; the “association” is the football association, hence the FA Cup.

THE OLDEST FOOTBALL CLUB IN THE WORLD

There have always been many debates concerning the world’s oldest football club. However, there are a few things to keep in mind.

The Dublin University Football Club in Ireland, created in 1854, is the world’s oldest continuously documented “football club.” The club now plays Rugby Union rather than Association Football. As a result, it is not officially acknowledged as the world’s oldest football club.

Sheffield Football Club – Sheffield FC – was founded in England in 1857 and is the world’s oldest continually documented football club that currently plays association football, according to both the English FA and FIFA. They compete in England’s Northern Premier League Division 1 South. As a result, they are now widely acknowledged as the world’s oldest football club.

However, between 1824 to 1841, there was a “football club” in Edinburgh, Scotland. Today, the “Foot-Ball Club” and its bylaws are still mentioned in several papers. It was more of a golf club, with members forming teams to compete against one another. The club has since been rebuilt and now competes as an amateur team under “The Foot-Ball Club of Edinburgh.”

INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL MATCH FOR THE FIRST TIME

Scotland and England played the first international football match at Glasgow, Scotland, on November 30, 1872, in front of 4,000 spectators. The final score was an unbreakable 0-0 tie. Scotland had won 41 matches, England 45, and 24 encounters had ended in a draw between 1872 and 1999 when the game was discontinued.

THE DUGOUT OF THE FIRST TRAINER

The first documented usage of a sunken-covered casing close to the pitch (excavation) occurred at Pittodrie Stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland, in the early 1920s. Donald Coleman, the coach at the time, erected it to protect himself while writing thorough notes on his players during matches, which was his practice, and it was partially sunk in the ground so that spectators could see the game. After visiting teams, the idea quickly spread across the UK, and then the rest of the world was impressed.