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The English Football Portal

The England national football team playing at Wembley.

Football is the most popular sport in England. England is home to the world's first football league, the oldest national governing body, and the oldest national knockout competition. The first modern rules for the game were established in England in 1863. England is one of the oldest national football teams, having played in the first international match in 1872. England won the FIFA World Cup in 1966, and has qualified for the World Cup 16 times. England has more football clubs than any other country, including the world's first club, Sheffield F.C., and the world's oldest professional club, Notts County. England's top domestic league, the Premier League, is one of the most popular and richest leagues in the world. The British Empire's cultural power spread the rules of football to areas of British influence. England the home of football, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association football clubs, England has more clubs involved in the code than any other country. England hosts the world's first club, Sheffield F.C.; the world's oldest professional association football club, Notts County; the oldest national governing body, the Football Association; the joint-oldest national team; the oldest national knockout competition, the FA Cup; and the oldest national league, the English Football League. It also has 31% of the population interested in Football. Today England's top domestic league, the Premier League, is one of the most popular and richest sports leagues in the world, with five of the ten richest football clubs in the world as of 2022.

The England national football team is one of only eight teams to win the FIFA World Cup, having done so once, in 1966. A total of six English club teams have won the UEFA Champions League, formerly known as the European Cup. (Full article...)

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The 2008 UEFA Champions League final was a football match played at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia on 21 May 2008, to decide the winner of the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League. It was contested by Manchester United and Chelsea, making it an all-English final for the first time in European Cup history. It finished 1-1 after extra time, but Manchester United won 6–5 on penalties, winning it for the third time. This success also marked the 100th anniversary of Manchester United's first league triumph in 1908, the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, and the 40th anniversary of United's first European Cup triumph in 1968.

Chelsea have never gone to this stage of the competition until 2008, but United have appeared in two European Cup finals before in 1968 and 1999, both ending in victory, with the latter capping off a treble. The two started off in the group stages and both finished top spot, but Chelsea decided to change their manager, with Jose Mourinho being dismissed and Avram Grant was named as his replacement. United had gotten past the defending French champions Lyon, Italian club Roma, and a two-time European Cup winner at the time, Barcelona. Chelsea, on the other hand, have had a more bumpier ride, having only drawn 0-0 at Greek club Olympiakos in the last 16 and trailed 2-1 to Turkish champions Fenerbahçe in the quarter-final first legs. However, they won both second legs at home and set up a semi-final against Liverpool, the team that beat them at this stage twice in three years. Ultimately, Chelsea made it third time lucky against the then five-time winners, defeating them 4-3 on aggregate to make their first ever European Cup final.

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Did you know...

...that a steam-powered portable engine (pictured) drove the dynamo for the first floodlit football match in the UK in 1878?

...that the English footballer David Layne scored 58 goals in 81 games for Sheffield Wednesday F.C. before he was jailed for his involvement in the British betting scandal of 1964?

...that the England national football team trained on the football pitch of the Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College, as it is the only one identical to the one in Russia on which they played in October 2007?

...that footballer Roy Cheetham was the first Manchester City player to be used as a substitute?

...that in 1916, footballer Bob Benson volunteered to replace an absent Arsenal team-mate just before a game, only to collapse and die during the match?

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The Football Association Challenge Vase is an annual football competition for teams playing in the lower regional leagues of England. Currently over 400 teams compete each season, with two qualifying rounds preceding the six proper rounds, semi-finals and final.

Until 1974, football players were either professionals or amateurs. Professionals were paid to play by their clubs, and the only cup competitions such clubs were allowed to enter were the FA Cup and, for clubs outside The Football League, the FA Trophy. Amateurs, on the other hand, did not get paid by their clubs, and such clubs had their own cup competition, the FA Amateur Cup.

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Football • England • English football task force

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Credit: Flickr user Andy Nugent

The song "You'll Never Walk Alone", originally from the musical Carousel, adorns the top of the Shankly Gates, which were unveiled on 2 August 1982 in memory of the former manager Bill Shankly. The "You'll Never Walk Alone" portion of the Shankly Gates is also reproduced on the club's crest.

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