Assocation Football History

V

British and Irish Competitions

The principal competitions in England are the FA Premiership, the Football League, the FA Cup, and the Football League Cup (both cup competitions are knockout events).

The Premiership was formed in 1992 and comprises 20 teams. The Football League is made up of three divisions (The Championship, League One, and League Two) with promotion and relegation between them. Promotion and relegation also exists between the Championship (formerly the First Division of the Football League) and the Premiership (which has the stronger teams) and between League Two (formerly the Third Division of the Football League) and the Football Conference, a league of essentially semi-professional players.

The FA Cup is annually contested by all members of the Premiership and Football League and also by many amateur and semi-professional teams. It is organized on a knockout basis with the final game traditionally having being staged at Wembley Stadium, London, in May; the final was staged at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff from 2001 to 2006 while the new Wembley Stadium was being built. The League Cup was instituted in the 1960-1961 season, but it was not until the 1969-1970 season that all 92 Football League clubs took part. All finals up to 1966 were played on a two-leg 'home-and-away' basis but since then they have been played as a single match at Wembley Stadium (from 2001 to 2007 at the Millennium Stadium).

The Scottish Football League was formed in 1890, two years after the Football League. A second division was added in 1893, and the League was totally restructured in 1975-1976 when the leading ten teams formed a new Premier Division and the remainder were divided into Divisions One and Two. From the 1994-1995 season a third division was introduced. The three lower Scottish divisions now have ten teams each. The number of teams in the Premier Division has varied between 10 and 12, and from the 2000-2001 season the League was split mid-season with the top 6 teams playing for the title and European competition places and the bottom 6 teams playing to avoid relegation. The Scottish FA Cup was first held in 1874 and most of the finals have been at Hampden Park, Glasgow. The Scottish League Cup was first contested in 1946-1947. Prior to 1977-1978 the teams were split into eight or nine groups with the winners going through to a knockout competition. All three major competitions have been dominated by Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic—the “Old Firm”.

The Irish Football Association was formed in 1880 and the League began in 1890. In that year, too, the Irish Cup was inaugurated. In Northern Ireland, Linfield and Glentoran have been the most successful clubs. With the political division in the 1920s, the Irish FA continued to run the game in Northern Ireland, while a new FA controlled football in the Republic of Ireland.

The Welsh FA was created in 1876 and the Welsh Cup began in 1878. The most important Welsh clubs—Swansea, Cardiff, and Wrexham—have traditionally played in the English Football League.

VI

International Competitions

The first World Cup for the Jules Rimet trophy (Rimet was president of FIFA) was held in Uruguay in 1930 and contested by 13 nations. Only four European teams made the journey to Uruguay, with the home nation winning the tournament. A qualifying competition was introduced in 1950 and the competition has been staged every four years since. Brazil won the trophy outright in 1970 after the side’s third win and teams now compete for the FIFA World Cup.

Since World War II, competitions in Europe (and elsewhere) have proliferated. The European Championship, played over a two-year period and held every four years, began in 1960. It was originally called the European Nations Cup and took its present name in 1968. Competing nations contest the Henri Delaunay Cup, named after the former general secretary of the Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA), which was founded in 1954. In 1996 the tournament was held in England as “Euro 96” and was the biggest sporting event of any kind to be held in England since the 1966 World Cup. The 2008 tournament was hosted by Austria and Switzerland.

A

Club Competitions

Generally known as the European Cup, the European Champion Clubs’ Cup was an annual knockout competition for the league champions of all UEFA-affiliated countries. It was first held in 1955-1956 and was the idea of Gabriel Hanot, the football editor of the French newspaper L’Equipe. From the 1991-1992 season the structure was modified so that the top teams take part in the Champions League, with home and away matches between teams in divisions; the top sides then entering a knockout competition. From the 1997-1998 season the competition was enlarged to include the runners-up from selected leagues, including that of England, and in the 1999-2000 season was enlarged again.

The European Cup Winners' Cup was formerly open to winners of domestic senior cup competitions in countries affiliated to UEFA. The first final was in 1961 over two legs. Thereafter, all finals were played as a single game at a neutral venue. (After 1972 the winners of the European Cup and the European Cup-Winners' Cup played a two-legged match to determine the winners of the European Super Cup.) After the 1998-1999 season the competition was suspended, with national cup winners now entering the UEFA Cup competition instead.

The UEFA CUP was established in 1955 as a tournament for European cities that sponsored international trade fairs, and the original name was the International Industries Fairs Inter-Cities Cup (or Fairs Cup). In 1971 it became known as the UEFA Cup and the competition was opened to leading teams not eligible for the other two principal European competitions. The final was played over two legs on a home-and-away basis until the 1997-1998 season, when it was played as a single game for the first time. The rules of the competition changed again for the 1999-2000 season when, after the abolition of the European Cup-Winners' Cup, teams that were cup winners in their countries entered the UEFA Cup competition for the first time. Other qualifiers for this competition include certain teams who win “feeder” tournaments into the cup draw and also teams who win “fair play” awards in their own domestic leagues as well as a number of teams that get knocked out during the early stages of the Champions League.

The World Club Championship was first held in 1960 as a meeting between the winners of the European Champion Clubs' Cup and the Copa Libertadores (the South American Champions cup). The two competing teams played each other on a home-and-away basis, but since 1980 the winners have been decided by one match, for the Intercontinental Cup. During the 1970s a number of matches were marred by physical violence and on five occasions the European Cup holders refused to take part, and they were replaced by the runners-up.

In January 2000 a new tournament, the Club World Championship, was held in Brazil with eight world teams including Real Madrid and Manchester United as well as representatives from Africa, Asia, Australia, Central America, and the hosts, two Brazilian teams. The tournament, based on league matches followed by a knockout phase, was won by Brazilian club side Corinthians.

B

Youth Competition

There is also a European Under-17 Championship, begun in 2002, and held every year which is Europe’s top competition for up-and-coming players. The top sides in the tournament qualify for the FIFA Under-17 World Championship.

Two important world competitions for younger players are the FIFA Under-17 World Championship (since 1985) and the FIFA Under-20 World Championship (since 1977). Both competitions are held every two years, the former has been dominated by Brazil, Ghana, and Nigeria, the latter by Argentina, Brazil, and Portugal.

C

South American Football

In South America the South American Championship was begun in 1916, the year of the formation of the South American Football Confederation. In the 1960s its popularity declined but the championship was revived in 1975 and is now played as the Copa America with 12 competing nations split into 3 groups, followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a final. In the 2007 tournament, held in Venezuela, Brazil beat Argentina 3-0. It was Brazil’s eighth Copa America. The South American Cup was first contested in 1960 as the South American Champion Clubs’ Cup. Like the European Cup it was open to national league champions of countries affiliated to the South American Confederation. In 1965 league runners-up were also allowed to enter and in that year the name was changed to the Copa Libertadores de America. Boca Juniors of Argentina won the cup in 2007. The most successful team in the history of the competition has been Independiente of Argentina with seven wins.