Football in the United Kingdom

Football in the United Kingdom is organised on a separate basis in each of the four home nations of the United Kingdom with each having a national football association responsible for the overall management of football within their respective country. The Football Association, (FA) is responsible for England and the Crown Dependencies were founded in 1863. The Scottish Football Association (SFA) were founded in 1873 followed by the Football Association of Wales in 1876 and Irish Football Association (IFA) in 1880. They are the world's four oldest national football associations. There is currently no United Kingdom national football team, there have, however, been times when a single team has competed on a UK basis, the most noticeable being in the Summer Olympic Games where a UK team has competed as one country under the name Great Britain.

Football associations

Each of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (sometimes referred to as the Home Nations) has a national football association, each responsible for the overall management of football within their respective nation. The four associations play an important part in football worldwide, as they take up four of the seats on the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which determines the laws of football (the other four seats are occupied by FIFA).

England

The Football Association, (FA) is responsible for England and the Crown Dependencies. It was the world's first football association, founded in 1863. Its original geographical remit was not clear and there was no specification of whether it covered just England, the entire UK or even the entire world. The question was answered when a separate national football association for Scotland was formed. Later, FIFA, an international association was organised, which the FA eventually joined.

cotland

The Scottish Football Association (SFA) was world's second national football association, being founded in 1873. The SFA joined FIFA in 1910 and was a founding member of UEFA in 1954. [ [http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_football.cfm?curpageid=183 Brief history of the Scottish FA] The Scottish Football Association]

Wales

The Football Association of Wales was founded in 1876 and is the third oldest football association in the world. [ [http://www.faw.org.uk/about-us About Us] The Football Association of Wales ]

Northern Ireland

The Irish Football Association, (IFA), founded in 1880 is the fourth oldest football association in the world. Initially responsible for the entire island of Ireland, the IFA became responsible for the six counties of Northern Ireland when the Football Association of Ireland was founded in 1921 to cover the Republic of Ireland. [ [http://www.irishfa.com/the-ifa/about-the-ifa/ About the IFA] The Irish Football Association]

National teams

There is currently no United Kingdom national football team as separate teams compete in international competition representing England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. There are sometimes issues about which team players are eligible for (as all the players will have simply British passports), but a player is generally eligible for whichever nation he, his parents or grandparents were born in (in the case of these being different nations, then he can choose). Players from crown dependencies (like the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands), which are technically not in the UK are eligible for all four teams (e.g. Matt Le Tissier and Graeme Le Saux).

There have, however, been times when a single team has competed under a UK banner, the most noticeable being in the Summer Olympic Games where a UK team competes as one country under the name Great Britain. In the early years, the Olympic football competition was contested between amateur sides and the UK Olympic Committee agreed to let the amateur England team represent the entire UK. (Thus the team was not really representative of the entire UK, but played under that banner.) More recently the Olympic competition has been played by under-23s teams and the UK has not sent any representative. This is mostly due to FIFA pressure (their argument being that the UK should either compete as four separate teams or one combined one and not both).

Some people, such as politician Tony Banks, have argued for the UK having just one team to represent it but all four football associations are very much against such an idea.

The Republic of Ireland, although not part of the UK, is often regarded a home team due to widespread interest in the UK and Ireland of their respective football teams.

International matches between the Home Nations

The UK teams have played each other more times than any other footballing nations in the world. The world's first international football match was played between Scotland and England in Glasgow in 1872 (a 0-0 draw). From then on, all four teams started playing regular friendlies against each other.

In 1883 a formal competition between the UK's teams, the British Home Championship, was introduced, guaranteeing that each team would play the other three at least once a season. The Championship was discontinued in 1984, partly due to crowd trouble. Since then the teams have played each other mainly when drawn together in international competitions such as the European Championship or the World Cup. A list is given below.

Since 1984, when the British Home Championship ended, there have been a number of games played between the four Home Nations.
*England v Scotland
**23/04/86 (Wembley Stadium) Rous Cup - England 2-1 Scotland
**21/05/88 (Wembley Stadium) Rous Cup - England 1-0 Scotland
**15/06/96 (Wembley Stadium) European Championship Finals - England 2-0 Scotland
**17/11/99 (Wembley Stadium) European Championship Qualifier - England 0-1 Scotland
*England v Wales
**9/10/04 (Old Trafford) World Cup Qualifier - England 2-0 Wales
*England v Northern Ireland
**13/11/85 (Wembley Stadium) World Cup Qualifier - England 0-0 Northern Ireland
**15/10/86 (Wembley Stadium) European Championship Qualifier - England 3-0 Northern Ireland
**26/03/05 (Old Trafford) World Cup Qualifier - England 4-0 Northern Ireland
*Scotland v England
**25/05/85 (Hampden Park) Rous Cup - Scotland 1-0 England
**23/05/87 (Hampden Park) Rous Cup - Scotland 0-0 England
**27/05/89 (Hampden Park) Rous Cup - Scotland 0-2 England
**13/11/99 (Hampden Park) European Championship Qualifier - Scotland 0-2 England
*Scotland v Wales
**27/03/85 (Hampden Park) World Cup Qualifier - Scotland 0-1 Wales
**27/05/97 (Rugby Park) Friendly - Scotland 0-1 Wales
*Scotland v Northern Ireland
**19/02/92 (Hampden Park) Friendly - Scotland 1-0 Northern Ireland
**20/08/08 (Hampden Park) Friendly - Scotland 0-0 Northern Ireland
*Wales v England
**03/09/05 (Millennium Stadium) World Cup Qualifier - Wales 0-1 England
*Wales v Scotland
**10/09/85 (Ninian Park) World Cup Qualifier - Wales 1-1 Scotland
**18/02/04 (Millennium Stadium) Friendly - Wales 4-0 Scotland
*Wales v Northern Ireland
**08/09/04 (Millennium Stadium) World Cup Qualifier - Wales 2-2 Northern Ireland
*Northern Ireland v England
**27/02/85 (Windsor Park) World Cup Qualifier - Northern Ireland 0-1 England
**01/04/87 (Windsor Park) European Championship Qualifier - Northern Ireland 0-2 England
**07/09/05 (Windsor Park) World Cup Qualifier - Northern Ireland 1-0 England
*Northern Ireland v Wales
**08/10/05 (Windsor Park) World Cup Qualifier - Northern Ireland 2-3 Wales
**06/02/07 (Windsor Park) Friendly - Northern Ireland 0-0 Wales

Celtic nations tournament

:"Main article: Celtic Cup (football)"Since the end of the British Home Championship, there have been many calls for it to be restored to the schedule. One argument is that it would replace so-called "meaningless friendlies" with a proper tournament that would raise the interest of both the players and fans. However, there has been a lack of enthusiasm for such a proposal, particularly from England; as time has passed, the Football Association has grown in commercial power beyond that of the other three home associations, so that it could be claimed that friendlies against major footballing nations from Europe and South America are worth more than playing the home nations.

In December 2006, Lawrie Sanchez suggested that a Celtic tournament be organised, featuring the three home Celtic nations plus the Republic of Ireland [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6173603.stm] . He stated that the IFA hierarchy were supportive of a new Home Championship, while the SFA expressed guarded interest. This was further elaborated in February 2007 when Alex McLeish, the newly appointed manager of Scotland, expressed interest in playing against the home nations and the Republic of Ireland. Accepting that England would likely not be interested in a new Home Championship, he said "If the English FA are thinking about opposition for the new Wembley, I hope we're in their thoughts". Both England and Wales were less enthusiastic, stating that with the number of friendlies played each year it would "be difficult to see how the Home Nations would fit in". [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6329523.stm BBC Sport: "Home nations consider new league, 4 Feb 2007] accessed 18 Sep 2008]

On 18 September 2008, it was announced that a tournament featuring Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would be played in 2011. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7623975.stm "Celtic nations to play 2011 event] BBC Sport, accessed 18 Sep 2008]

Football in the crown dependencies and the overseas territories

Although technically not part of the UK, football in the crown dependencies is governed by The Football Association. Nevertheless players from the crown dependencies can play in any of the four British teams, while at the same time the crown dependencies also have their own teams:
*Alderney national football team
*Guernsey national football team
*Isle of Man national football team
*Jersey national football team
*Sark national football teamOverseas territories are not technically part of the UK either, and they have their own teams. Some of the overseas territories have full or associate membership in the corresponding regional federations:
*Ascension Island national football team
*Anguilla national football team
*Bermuda national football team
*British Virgin Islands national football team
*Cayman Islands national football team
*Falkland Islands national football team
*Gibraltar national football team
*Montserrat national football team
*Pitcairn Islands national football team
*Saint Helena national football team
*Turks and Caicos Islands national football team

League systems

There are separate club football league systems for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, there is a lot of overlapping between the systems, with clubs often playing outside of their country's respective system. This is partially due to logisitical geography, but mainly because the first league, The Football League, was originally intended to be UK-wide. However, Scotland and Ireland (all of which was part of the UK then) developed their own systems soon after. Wales did not get a national league until 1992 (though regional leagues existed prior to that), which explains why so many Welsh clubs play in what is now regarded as the English system. There are proposals for a UK-wide British Football League,Fact|date=January 2008 but this currently seems a relatively distant possibility.

England

The English football league system includes hundreds of interlinked leagues, consisting of thousands of divisions. The Premier League is at the top, followed by The Football League and then the Football Conference, where the structure starts to become regional and includes the Northern Premier League, the Southern League, the Isthmian League and many more besides. The Welsh clubs of Cardiff City, Colwyn Bay, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport County, Swansea City and Wrexham play in the English system. One club that plays in the Football League, Chester City, has a stadium that straddles the Welsh border, with the Club offices actually in Wales.

cotland

The Scottish football league system is much smaller, with just two national leagues: the Scottish Premier League (SPL) and Scottish Football League. There are, however, other regional leagues that are not connected to the national system, most notably the Highland Football League. One English club, Berwick Rangers, plays in the Scottish system.

Wales

The Welsh football league system includes the Welsh Premier League and a number of regional leagues. Premiership club The New Saints began playing their home matches on the English side of the border in Oswestry in 2007. Historically, the Saints represented the small Welsh village of Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain, but merged with Oswestry Town, which had historically played in the Welsh football system, in 2003.

Northern Ireland

The Northern Irish football league system includes the Irish Football League. One Northern Irish club, Derry City, plays their football outside of the UK in the Republic of Ireland football league system.

High finishers in the top league of each system may qualify for a Europe-wide UEFA competition, such as the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup or UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Cup competitions

There are a multitude of knockout club cup competitions. Again, these are organised on an English, Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish basis. Many carry qualification for the UEFA Cup for the winners.

Each football association runs its own national cup. So there is the FA Cup (England), the Scottish Cup, the Welsh Cup and the Irish Cup. Traditionally, these cups have been the most liberal about who they accept, with many teams from outside that nation (and/or league system) entering. More recently rules have been tightened, with the competitions only open to teams who play in that nation's football league system.

There are also a number of other cups that have more stringent requirements but carry less prestige, including the Football League Cup (England), Scottish League Cup, FAW Premier Cup (Wales), Irish League Cup and County Antrim Shield (Northern Ireland). Some past cups have even crossed UK boundaries, such as the Anglo-Scottish Cup. Another cup competition that crosses the UK's border is the current Setanta Sports Cup, which features four teams from the Northern Ireland league and four teams from the Republic's league system.

"Battle of Britain"

There have been several occasions when clubs from the four home nations have played each other in European competition. The matches were either played over two legs or in groups where teams play each other twice, the aggregate scores counting both matches in each pairing are listed below.

England v Scotland

*European Cup
**1969-70: Leeds United 1-3 Celtic
**1980-81: Aberdeen 1-3 Liverpool
**1992-93: Rangers 6-1 Leeds United
**2003-04: Manchester United 2-1 Rangers
**2006-07: Manchester United 3-3 Celtic
*European Cup Winners Cup
**1960-61: Rangers 5-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
**1962-63: Tottenham Hotspur 8-4 Rangers
**1965-66: Celtic 1-2 Liverpool
**1968-69: Dunfermline Athletic 1-0 West Bromwich Albion
**1981-82: Ipswich 1-4 Aberdeen FC
*Inter-Cities Fairs Cup/UEFA Cup
**1962-63: Everton 1-2 Dunfermline Athletic
**1966-67: Leeds United 4-5 Kilmarnock
**1967-68: Leeds United 2-3 Hibernian
**1967-68: Dundee 3-2 Leeds United
**1967-68: Rangers 3-2 Leeds United
**1968-69: Chelsea 7-4 Morton
**1968-69: Rangers 6-0 Newcastle United
**1969-70: Dundee United 3-2 Newcastle United
**1970-71: Hibernian 1-2 Liverpool
**1973-74: Aberdeen 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur
**1973-74: Leeds United 0-1 Hibernian
**1975-76: Hibernian 4-3 Liverpool
**1981-82: Ipswich Town 2-5 Aberdeen
**1983-84: Nottingham Forest 2-1 Celtic
**1984-85: Manchester United 5-6 Dundee United
**1997-98: Celtic 2-2 Liverpool
**2002-03: Celtic 3-0 Blackburn Rovers
**2002-03: Celtic 3-1 Liverpool

England v Wales

*European Cup
**2005-06: TNS 0-6 Liverpool
*European Cup Winners Cup
**1990-91: Wrexham 0-5 Manchester United
*UEFA Cup
**2003-04: TNS 0-7 Manchester City

England v Northern Ireland

*European Cup
**1976-77: Crusaders 0-7 Liverpool
*European Cup Winners Cup
**1961-62: Glenavon 2-7 Leicester City
**1970-71: Linfield 2-2 Manchester City
**1976-77: Carrick Rangers 3-9 Southampton
**1982-83: Coleraine 0-7 Tottenham Hotspur
*Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
**1969-70: Glentoran 1-3 Arsenal

cotland v Wales

*UEFA Cup
**1996-97: Aberdeen 6-4 Barry Town
**1997-98: Inter Cardiff 0-8 Celtic
**1999-2000: Cwmbran Town 0-10 Celtic

cotland v Northern Ireland

*European Cup Winners Cup
**1966-67: Glentoran 1-5 Rangers
*Inter-Cities Fairs Cup/UEFA Cup
**1963-64: Glentoran 1-7 Partick Thistle
**1970-71: Coleraine 4-3 Kilmarnock
**1987-88: Coleraine 1-4 Dundee United
**1989-90: Glentoran 1-5 Dundee United
**2001-02: Glenavon 0-2 Kilmarnock
**2006-07: Derry City 7-3 Gretna (note that Derry, although in the UK, plays in the FAI League of Ireland in the Republic)

Wales v Northern Ireland

*European Cup Winners Cup
**1980-81: Crusaders 0-4 Newport County

National Football Centres

Currently, none of the British nations operates a national academy, although the FA is planning a National Football Centre to be located at Burton-upon-Trent.

National Football Museums

*England: "The National Football Museum" Based at Deepdale in Preston, Lancashire. Holds collections of International, European and National significance. Charts the history of football and the game in England. See National Football Museum.
*Scotland: "The Scottish Football Museum" Housed at Hampden Park in Glasgow. Holds collections of International and National significance. Charts the history of Scottish Association Football. See Scottish Football Museum

References

ee also

* Football in regions of England
* Timeline of English football
* UK Scorers of European Cup Final Goals