The FA

The history of the Football Association (FA) dates back to the mid 19th century when it was established as a governing body for football in England. Its formation marked a pivotal moment in the development of modern football as a standardised sport.

The Football Association (FA), established in 1863, is the oldest football governing body in the world. Its formation marked the dawn of organised football and laid the foundations for the modern game as we know it today. At a time when football was played under a variety of conflicting regional rules, the creation of the FA was a significant step toward unifying the sport under a single set of regulations.

The FA was born in London, where representatives from various clubs and schools gathered to codify a standardised rulebook for football. This historic meeting not only resolved disagreements over how the game should be played but also led to the first-ever laws of football, known as the "Laws of the Game." These rules, though heavily revised over time, remain the basis of the sport's regulations worldwide.

The FA's role extended beyond simply creating rules; it became a key institution in promoting and organising football across England. Its influence quickly spread, inspiring the formation of other national associations and competitions. One of the FA's most notable achievements was the introduction of the FA Cup in 1871, the world’s oldest national football competition.

From its humble beginnings in the Victorian era, the FA has been at the heart of English football’s evolution. It has overseen the growth of the sport from a pastime for public schools and clubs to a global phenomenon. Throughout its history, the FA has navigated challenges and changes, from the professionalisation of the sport to the rise of women's football and the global expansion of the game.

Early beginnings

A gentleman by the name of Ebenezer Cobb Morley, the then captain of Barnes FC, wrote a letter in 1862 to the newspaper “Bell’s Life in London Sporting Chronicle”, proposing a governing body for the sport “with the object of establishing a definite code of rules for the regulation of the game.” That letter turned out to be the start of a momentous period in the history of football.

Mr Morley’s letter to Bell’s Life in London was a pivotal moment in football history, sparking discussions among clubs and schools about the need for a standardised rulebook. His proposal led directly to the formation of the Football Association (FA) in 1863. This is a recreation of the letter.

Mr Morley wrote to The Daily Telegraph in 1862 in response to John Charles Thring, who was also an advocate of a unified code of rules.

When we think of modern football it doesn't conjure up visions of foppish young public school boys, rugby tends to invoke those images. However, public school boys played cricket in the summer and football in the winter. At the time, football followed a variety of rules, each influenced by the unique traditions of the individual schools. This led to challenges when the boys went on to university, as they brought conflicting ideas about how the game should be played. I imagine the result was chaos, with posturing young toffs all disagreeing with one another as to how best to play the game. Cambridge University devised its own set of rules to address the situation, and published the “Cambridge Rules” in 1848. These rules were accepted among numerous schools and universities. However, football wasn’t just restricted to public schools and was already a very popular pastime across England. The inconsistency in the rules also impacted clubs and communities, as again, each played by their own set of rules. This made it challenging to compete against other teams and frequently caused confusion and disputes during matches. In 1858, a new set of rules were established in the northern city of Sheffield by the principals of Sheffield FC. The Sheffield rules were soon adopted by many clubs in the North of England.

In 1863 Ebenezer Cobb Morley’s letter to Bell’s life newspaper took effect and lead to a meeting of eleven football clubs and schools at The Freemason’s Tavern in London. This meeting culminated in the foundation of the Football Association, and their goal was to establish a unified set of laws to govern the game. The eleven founding clubs present at the first meeting were: Barnes FC, War Office FC, Crusaders FC, Forest of Leytonstone FC (later Wanderers FC), No Names Club Kilburn, Crystal Palace FC (not related to the modern club), Blackheath FC, Kensington School, Perceval House (Blackheath), Surbiton FC, Blackheath Proprietary School. Charterhouse School declined the offer to join.

This is a recreation of Mr Morley's motion to create The Football Association, taken from his handwritten notes of their inaugural meeting on 26th October 1863. The clubs that immediately joined the new Football Association are listed at the bottom.

Ebenezer Cobb Morley was one of the most influential figures at the meeting and subsequent meetings. He is often referred to as the “father of modern football”. He drafted the first version of the “Laws of the Game”, also known as “London Rules”, which were finalised and published in December 1863. These laws laid the foundation for football as a sport. The key message from Mr Cobb Morley was to emphasise skill, teamwork and fairplay. That last point seems to have been lost in the modern game, what with overdramatic dives and the like. Ebenezer Cobb Morley went on to be the FA’s first secretary (1863-66) and its first president was a Mr Arthur Pember (1863-67), captain of N.N Football Club Kilburn. On 9th January Mr Pember led his “President’s side” to victory over Mr Morley’s “Secretary’s side” in a friendly at Battersea Park arranged to test out the new laws. Many top footballers of the day featured in the match and after the members of the FA raised a toast to the success of the new rules. 

Ebenezer Cobb Morley fielded a "Secretary's XI" against Arthur Pember's "President's XII" to test the new laws of the game.

The laws of the game as devleoped by the FA in 1863.

The great split

The early days of the FA were not without controversy and after the sixth meeting when the laws of the game had been established, Crusaders FC, Surbiton FC and Charterhouse School did not attend any subsequent meetings, they were replaced by Royal Navy School, Wimbledon School and Forest School. It seems that they were not in agreement with the FA’s vision. A major point of contention among the founding members was whether to allow physical practices such as handling the ball, hacking (kicking an opponent’s shins), tripping and holding. At the sixth and final FA meeting Francis Moule Campbell, the first treasurer and Blackheath FC’s representative withdrew his club from the association over the removal of the rules “carrying the ball in hand” and “obstructing a run by hacking”. When these practices were outlawed by the FA, several clubs followed Blackheath. The split marked the clear separation of association football and rugby, with the FA emerging as the stewards of the beautiful game. Incidentally, the name “Soccer” emerged at this time and referred to association rules football developed by the FA. Linguistically creative students at the University of Oxford in the 1880s had a habit of shortening certain words and adding “er” on the end. Rugby became “rugger” and association rules football became “asoccer”, then “soccer”. I think this possibly makes calling football “soccer” even more irritating than when Americans use the term. But I digress. The split between football and rugby resulted in the two sports developing their own formalised rules, uniforms, rituals and gestures.

This recreated transcript captures the essence of the early FA meetings, during which the foundation of modern football was laid. The split with Blackheath led to the development of rugby football, while the newly drafted Laws of the Game evolved into the rules we recognise in association football today.

The FA were left with just nine members following the split in 1864: Barnes FC, N.N Club Kilburn, Crystal Palace, War Office FC (Civil service), Forest FC, Forest School, Sheffield FC, Uppingham and Royal Engineers (Chatham). The inaugural match played under association football rules was scheduled for 2nd January 1864 at Battersea Park. However, the impatient members of the FA could not wait to try out their new rules and a match was organised for 19th December 1863, to be played at Mornflake. The match pitted Morley’s Barnes FC against their neighbors Richmond, who were not members of the FA. The match ended in a goalless draw. Richmond must not have been impressed with the new association football rules as they subsequently helped form the Rugby Football Union in 1871. Another notable match, played under association football rules, was played between a London select and Sheffield FC in March 1866. Charles Alcock, of Wanderers fame, described the match as “the first of any importance under the auspices of the Football Association”. He must not have been impressed by the previous two matches either, or maybe he didn’t play well or wasn’t picked for them, so his comments could just be sour grapes. The FA's 1866 opponents Sheffield FC, had their own set of laws that many northern teams played under, and this was the first step to the two codes merging under one banner.

Charles Alcock was an important member of the FA and famously the architect of the FA Cup.

The FA Cup

Charles Alcock was elected to the FA committee in 1866 and became its first full time secretary and treasurer in 1870. Famously, he was the architect of the “Football Association Challenge Cup” or FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world. In 1871 fifteen clubs participated in the inaugural FA Cup. It had a huge effect on the development of the FA’s unified single set of laws for football. The 1877 unification of the London based FA and the Sheffield Football Association, after many years of debate and friendly matches, created a combination of laws that were applied to the FA Cup. This unified code helped to enhance the popularity of the FA Cup and firmly cement it in the psyche of football fans. The FA cup was, and still is, a knockout competition open to all of the member clubs, irrespective of class or creed. It remains the most beloved tradition in English football, celebrated for its drama, giant killings and inclusivity.

A shift in class, north v south and professionalism

The FA Cup had mainly been the domain of southern football clubs, who were all amateur. The northern football clubs had a different outlook. Their organisation and professionalism led to them dominating the competition during the early 1880s. The contrasting styles were about to collide with each other head first. The north versus the south, working class versus upper case and professionals versus amateurs. Northern teams adopted the “new” passing style of play, introduced to Lancashire by Scottish footballers and it soon became popular across the north. Southern public school teams did not subscribe to “all that absurd passing” and preferred a dribbling game punctuated by brutal tackles. The better organisation, training regimes and a regard for tactics helped the northerners to success. This culminated in an 1883 FA Cup victory for Blackburn Olympic over Old Etonians, the first northern club to win the competition. I imagine there was much beard scratching and mustache twizzling by the Old Etonians, trying to work out how these northern ruffians had masterminded a 2-1 win. Their neighbours Blackburn Rovers won the next three consecutive FA Cups. Blackburn Rovers had started to pay their players, allowing them to attract the best footballers around. The FA initially tried to outlaw professionalism after protests from the fiercely amateur public school teams. However, the professional teams threatened to create a breakaway football association “The British Football Association” and the FA relented. By 1885 the FA was forced to permit players to be paid and three years later in 1888, the first Football League was established, formed by six professional clubs from northwest England and six from the midlands. A southern football club did not win the FA Cup until Tottenham Hotspur in 1900-01.

Northern teams dominated the FA cup in the late 1880s through to the beginning of the 20th century.