Football timeline 1870 to 1879

This timeline describes some of the most important events that led to the development of the game of football from 1870 to 1879.

1870

5th March - The first ever International football match was organised by the FA. It was played between England and Scotland at the Kennington Oval, London. The result was a 1-1 draw. This was the first of five matches between England and Scotland that had been organised, all of which were played at the same venue.
19th November - The second international match was played between England and Scoland. England defeated Scotland 2-1.
Despite being recognised as international matches at the time, these two matches are not now recognised as full internationals by FIFA because the majority of the Scotland team were London based players of Scottish ancestry.

The first ever international matches played under FA rules were between England and Scotland

Match reports from London and Sheffield mention “goalkeepers”. This is the first record of goalkeepers being used as a specific position. It is also around this time that the transition from the “dribbling” game to the “passing” game first became apparent in match reports.
Darwin Football Club was founded as a rugby football club. They were early pioneers of professional football in Northern England. Leading clubs, especially those in Lancashire, began to charge spectators an admission fee. Working class players and football clubs from the north of England pursued a system to provide financial compensation for the wages lost and the risk of injury while playing football.

Many working class players had to take time off work to play football which meant they lost wages.

1871

25th February - The third international match was played between England and Scotland. It ended in a 1-1 draw.
July - The Football Association announced the creation of the Football Association Challenge Cup (the FA Cup). The first rounds were played on 11th November. The FA Cup is still the world’s oldest football competition.
18th November - The fourth international match was played between England and Scotland. England won 2-1.

1872

24th February - The fifth and final international match of the series was played. England won 1-0.
16th March - Wanderers defeated Royal Engineers 1-0 in the inaugural FA Cup final at the Kennington Oval.
March - The Glasgow club Rangers FC were founded.
30th November - The first FIFA recognised international match was played, pitting Scotland against England at Hamilton Crescent, Partick in front of approximately four thousand spectators who each paid one shilling each to attend. The match ended in a 0-0 draw. The Scotland team was made up of players from Queen’s Park FC, while the England team was made up of players from nine different clubs. The total takings for the match were £102, 19s, 6d.

A crowd of approximately four thousand spectators each paid one shilling to attend the first ever offical international football.

1873

8th March - In the second officially recognised international match England beat Scotland 4-2 at the Kennington Oval.
13th March - The Scottish Football Association was founded.
29th March - Wanderers FC defeat Oxford University A.F.C 2-0 in the FA Cup final. This was the Wanderers second consecutive FA Cup victory.
18th October - The first Scottish cup tie was played with Renton defeating Kilmarnock 2-0.
Clubs began to wear distinctive uniforms to help differentiate between the two teams, the corner kick is defined and the offside law is amended, a player is offside when the ball is played by a teammate, not when the ball is received.

1874

The FA authorises referees to send players off for certain offences. They also required teams to change ends at halftime.
The very first shin pads were introduced.
7th March - Scotland defeat England 2-1 at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow in front of a crowd of approximately seven thousand.
14th March - In the third FA Cup final, Oxford University defeat Royal Engineers 2-0 in front of approximately two thousand spectators at the Kennington Oval.
21st March - The inaugural Scottish Cup Final was played at Hampden Park. Queen’s Park FC defeated Clydsdale 2-0 in front of approximately three thousand people.
March - Aston Villa were founded.
June - Bolton Wanderers were founded.

1875

The crossbar was introduced, replacing the tape or rope that was used previously.
Oxford University toured Germany, and a number of German universities adopted the game of football making them one of the first countries outside of Britain to play under the FA rules.
November - Blackburn Rovers FC were founded.

1876

2nd February - The Football Association of Wales was founded.
25 March - Scotland played Wales in their first international match against a country other than England. The match is played at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow in front of approximately seventeen thousand supporters. Scotland won 4-0.
Local cup competitions began to be played under FA rules:
- 14th October - Birmingham Senior Cup.
- 28th October - Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior Cup.

1877

The length of a football match is set at 90 minutes as the FA believed that at the end of this time both teams would be suitably tired.
The Sheffield Football Association decided to abandon its own rules and adopt the FA's. The main changes that Sheffield adopted from the FA included the three player offside rule, kick ins were replaced by throw ins, awarding a goal kick when an attacking player kicked the ball out of play over the goal line.
8th October - The Shropshire Football Association were formed.
13th January - Wolverhampton Wanderers were formed.

1878

Referees began to use whistles to help them control matches.
14th October - The first football match played under floodlights took place at Bramall Lane between two local Sheffield representative teams, the blues and the reds. It was a huge success with twelve thousand people paying to watch.
16th April - West Bromwich Albion are formed.
Month unknown - Newton Heath L&YR FC (Manchester United) are formed.
Month unknown - St Domingo’s FC (Everton FC) are formed.

1879

Darwin FC became the first northern English football club to achieve success in the FA Cup. They signed professional players Fergie Suter and Jimmy Love from Partick, a Scottish club, which caused controversy as professionalism was not accepted by the FA. Darwin played Old Etonians in the quarter finals, drawing 5-5 and 2-2 before losing 6-2.
20th December - Everton FC plays it’s first match after changing it’s name. Everton played St Peter’s Church FC in Stanley Park.
Month unknown - Fulham St Andrew’s Cricket and Football Club were formed by worshippers at the Church of England on Star Road, West Kensington.

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