Football history timeline

1628 Church documents record women playing football in Carstairs,

Lanarkshire, Scotland.
1636 Latin book details football at Aberdeen Grammar School with reference to
keeping goal, striking the ball between players (passing) and scoring
goals.
1795 Reference to a women-only football match is recorded near Musselburgh.
1848 It was the year of revolution in Europe. France, Italy the German states
and most of central Europe were in tumult. The same year, 14 students at
Cambridge University wrote a unified code of football.
1863 The Football Association formed in London.
1869 The first American match known to have been inspired by English Football
Association (FA) rules was a game between Princeton University and
Rutgers University on November 6, 1869. It was won by Rutgers 6-4. The
FA rules were followed in the Princeton-Rutgers contest and participants
were only allowed to kick the ball. Each side had 25 players. Other
colleges emulated this development, but nearly all of these were
converted to rugby by the mid-1870s and played what would soon
become famous as American football.
1871 First football club for the deaf founded in Glasgow.
1872 Worlds first official international football match takes place at Partick in
Glasgow between Scotland and England.
The Challenge Cup final was contested between Wanderers and Royal
Engineers. Around 2,000 spectators paid one shilling apiece to watch
the game that was won 1-0 by Wanderers.
1876 James J Lang, a Scottish international, moved south from Third Lanark in
1876 to The Wednesday ( which became Sheffield Wednesday). Although
the club did not pay him, he was found a job by one of The Wednesdays
directors where he was not required to do any work. As such, Lang is
often regarded as footballs first professional.
Yet it was not until 1884 that the FA was forced to move on the issue of
payment. On 19 January 1884, Preston North End and Upton Park met in
an FA Cup tie which resulted in a 1-1 draw. The decision of the London
side to appeal to the FA, requesting to be awarded the game on the basis
of Prestons fielding of professional players, led to an investigation. The
FA suspended Preston from the cup for one year, prompting 31 clubs, to
propose the formation of a rival British Football Association. The vital
difference of this competing organisation was that full professionalism
would be legitimised.

By July 1885, the FA had sanctioned the introduction of payments to

players thus maintaining control of the game until it was later challenged
by another organisation, FIFA - the Fdration Internationale de Football
Association.
1877 The Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup is the oldest charity football trophy
in the world. Second only to the Scottish Cup in terms of its age, the
Charity Cup is perhaps the most ornate trophy within the Scottish Football
Museums collection. It symbolises the wealth and status of the local
merchant elite at a time when Glasgow regarded itself as the Second City
of the Empire.
1881 In March, Andrew Watson, the worlds first black international footballer,
captains Scotland on his debut against England. In May, Scotlands Lily St
Clare scores the opening goal in the first recorded womens association
football match.
1882 The four British associations agree on a uniform code and form the
International Football Association Board.
1883 In the 1883 FA Cup Final, the former pupils of Eton College play
Blackburn Olympic and lose. It was to be the first time that a northern
working-class team prevailed. It was a further turning point in the game
moving to be a more democratic game.
1885 Professionalism legalised by the English Football Association.
1886 Scottish Junior FA founded and King Challenge Cup instituted.
1888 A team of top Canadian footballers tour Britain holding Glasgow Rangers
to a 1-1 draw.
1889 First Scotland junior international match against England.
1890 Scottish Football League founded.
1894 Charles Miller arrives in Santos, Brazil with a football under each arm and,
along with Thomas Donohoe, is credited with introducing football to Brazil.
1895 British Ladies football Club formed.
1900 The FA introduces the maximum wage. This took affect between 1901/2.
This was in part an attempt to control professionalism. The 4 maximum
wage introduced was constantly challenged.
1902 The first Lipton Cup, subsequently contested annually between Argentina
and Uruguay.
Ibrox disaster in which 25 spectators were killed and 163 injured as
terracing collapses.
1904 Establishment of FIFA by delegates from France, Belgium, Denmark, the
Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland at a meeting in Paris on the
21st of May.

Southampton invited by Argentine Hippic Club to play a series of matches.

Robert Guerin (France) elected FIFA President 1904-1906.
1906 Prevention of Corruption Act makes bribes offered to footballers a
punishable offence.
Daniel Burley Woofall (England) elected FIFA President 1906-1918.
1909 Scottish Amateur Football Association founded.
1910 Scottish FA affiliates with FIFA.
1912 First 2,000 transfer: Danny OShea from West Ham United to Blackburn
Rovers.
1914 Brazil v Exeter City Brazil win their inaugural international 2-0.
1916 Confederacin Sudamericana de Ftbol (CONMEBOL) formed-.
1920 53,000 spectators watch Dick Kerr Ladies play St Helens Ladies at
Goodison Park.
First 3,000 transfer: Joseph Lane from Blackpool to Birmingham City.
The game of mwana-foot (childrens football) becomes the most popular
pastime amongst the then Congos indigenous peoples during the 1920s.
The home nations joined FIFA between 1905 and 1911 but resigned in
unison in 1920 when FIFA admitted Germany, Austria and Hungry.
1921 Twenty-one national associations were already affiliated to FIFA. By 1925,
the number had increased to 36, while in 1930, the year of the first World
Cup, it was 41.
The Queens Park Shield, the main Scottish inter-university football trophy.
FA ban womens football.
Jules Rimet (France) elected FIFA President 1921-1954.
1922 The first round of the Scottish Junior Cup is entered by 412 clubs.
First 5,000 transfer: Syd Puddefoot from West Ham United to Falkirk.
1924 Uruguay wins Olympic football title and along with other South American
teams challenge European dominance on the field of play although not in
world football governance or power.
The Scottish FA in season 1924-25 refuses permission for Raith Rovers,
Aberdeen and Queen of the South to use their grounds for womens
football.
British Football Associations rejoin FIFA.

1926 First BBC radio broadcast of the FA Cup Final.

1927 The Mitropa Cup introduced by the Austrian Hugo Meisl. International
football had expanded in the early years of the 20th century with the
broadening of participation in the Olympics and the creation of the Copa
America, but club competitions remained primarily domestic. The
tournament continued until the early 1990s (with an obvious gap for WWII
and a varying list of participants), but it was the forerunner of the modern
European Cup or Champions League.
1928 Motherwell tour South America. The trip saw games against 11
Argentinean and Brazilian teams, including the Brazilian national side
(with whom they drew 1-1).
Disagreement over broken time payments to amateur players causes FA
to sever ties with FIFA.
First 10,000 transfer: David Jack from Bolton Wanderers to Arsenal.
1929 In losing 4-3 to Spain, England lose to a team from continental Europe for
the first time.
1930 First FIFA World Cup in Uruguay. Event boycotted by British Football
Associations.
1932 England defeat Austria 4-3 in front of a crowd of 32,000. The match was
significant because it in part symbolised the rise of Central Europe as a
footballing power. First the Scandinavians (most notably the Danes), and
then the Western Europeans pressed ahead in the race to catch up with
the sports inventors. By the late 1920s and early 30s, the Austrians were
arguably at the forefront of innovation within the game.
The result which really made the rest of Europe sit up and pay attention,
was the crushing 5-0 defeat of Scotland by Austria in May 1931. This was
a Scotland team that had beaten England 5-1 at Wembley in 1928 with
arguably the finest demonstration of the passing game ever seen up until
that point. Scotland finished third in the home championship that year.
1932 Football was taken off the programme for the Olympic Games in Los
Angeles, due to a controversy between FIFA and the IOC over the
definition of amateur and the reluctance of many strong football countries
to travel to the US because of the expense involved.
1934 Egypt becomes first African team to qualify for World Cup.
Ftebol replaces football in the title of Argentinas ruling association.
The first Asian country to play in a World Cup qualifying match was
Palestine who lost to Egypt on 10 March 1934.
1937 The Scotland v England match at Hampden Park is watched by a crowd of
149,547 a record for an international at the time.

1938 The first Asian team appears in the World Cup finals - the Dutch East
Indies (Indonesia).
FA Cup Final broadcast live on television for the first time.
England players give Nazi salute before the match against Germany in
Berlin.
Third FIFA World Cup takes place in France No British teams took part.
1946 First Scottish League Cup Final.
The home nations rejoin FIFA in 1946/7.
1947 First 15,000 transfer: Billy Steel from Morton to Derby County.
1950 Scotland beaten on home turf for the first time (1-0 by Austria).
England enter FIFA World Cup for the first time, losing 1-0 to the USA.
1951 Record crowd at Junior Cup Final: 77,650 at Hampden for Petershill v
Irvine Meadow.
1953 First time England are beaten on home turf (6-3 by Hungary).
1954 Scotland plays at its first FIFA World Cup finals tournament.
Union des Associations Europennes de Football (UEFA) formed.
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) formed.
Rodolphe Seeldrayers (Belgium) elected FIFA President 1954-1955.
1955 First European Cup commences - no British teams entered.
Willy Meisl publishes Soccer Revolution.
First Scottish Cup Final televised live- Clyde v Celtic.
1956 Arthur Drewry (England) elected FIFA President 1956-1961.
1957 CAF formed- Confdration Africaine de Football.
1958 Live TV coverage of the World Cup for the first time.
Sixth FIFA World Cup won by Brazil.
Munich Air Disaster - 8 Manchester United players killed on return flight
from European Cup match.
1960 European Cup Final between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt played
at Hampden in front of 135,000 fans and a national television audience.
First 50,000 transfer: Denis Law from Huddersfield Town to Manchester
City.

1961 First 100,000 transfer: Denis Law from Manchester City to Torino.
Confederacin Norte Centroamericana y del Caribe de Ftbol
(CONCACAF) formed.
Sir Stanley Rous (England) elected FIFA President 1961-1974.
Abolition of maximum wage by the FA.
First 100 a week player in the UK: Johnny Hayes of Fulham.
1962 Denis Law transferred from Torino to Manchester United for 115,000.
1963 First British team to win a European title - Tottenham Hotspur FC.
1964 Denis Law voted European Footballer of the Year.
Three Sheffield Wednesday players jailed after being found guilty of
throwing a match against Ipswich Town.
1966 Drug testing introduced for the first time in a World Cup.
England wins FIFA World Cup.
OFC formed- Oceania Football Confederation.
1967 Celtic FC wins the European Cup.
Third Lanark Football Club folds after 79 seasons in the Scottish League.
South Africas Robben Island prisoners allowed to play football.
1969 Womens Football Association founded.
1970 First 200,000 transfer: Martin Peters from West Ham United to
Tottenham Hotspur.
1971 Scottish Womens Football Association formed.
Ibrox disaster when 66 spectators killed and over 200 injured when
leaving the ground.
1972 Glasgow Rangers win European Cup Winners Cup.
1973 Liverpool wins the League title, European title and UEFA Cup in one
season.
1974 The first African nation plays in a World Cup final, Zaire, (now the
Democratic Republic of Congo).
Joao Havelange (Brazil) elected FIFA President 1974-1998.
New tax guidelines to distinguish amateur and professional players.

1975 Safety of Sports Grounds Act.

1976 First female to referee a match between to mens teams - Joan Bazely.
1978 First all-seater stadium in Britain - Aberdeen FCs Pittodrie stadium.
First black footballer to play for England - Viv Anderson.
1979 First 1,000,000 transfer: Trevor Francis from Birmingham City to
Nottingham Forrest.
1980 Peter Storey of Arsenal sent to prison for his part in a counterfeiting
scheme.
1983 Aberdeen wins European Cup Winners Cup.
The Womens Football Association affiliates to the FA.
First football club to be floated on the stock exchange - Tottenham
Hotspur.
1984 The First UEFA womens tournament.
1985 Heysel stadium disaster.
UEFA ban British Clubs from European Club competition.
1989 Football Spectators Act.
Gay Footballers Support Network established.
Hillsborough disaster - the worst stadium-related disaster in British history.
Ninety-six people die and 766 are injured.
1991 USA becomes first FIFA Womens World Cup winners.
National league of 24 womens clubs founded - later re-named Womens
Premier League.
Manchester United floated on the stock exchange and lift European Cup
Winners Cup.
Publication of Lord Justice Taylors report into the Hillsborough disaster.
First gay football club - Stonewall FC.
1992 Scotland plays at its first UEFA European Championship finals
tournament.
1993 Within the UK, the number of womens teams increased from about 500 in
1993 to about 4,500 by 2000.
1994 First 5 m transfer: Chris Sutton from Norwich City to Blackburn Rovers.

1995 The Bosman ruling transforms the movement of football players across
Europe. The legal case Union Royale Belge des Socits de Football
Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman (1995) C-415/93 (known as the
Bosman ruling) was a 1995 European Court of Justice decision
concerning freedom of movement for workers. The case was an important
decision on the free movement of labour and had a profound effect on
the transfers of football players within the European Union (EU).
The decision banned restrictions on foreign EU players within national
leagues and allowed players in the EU to move to another club at the end
of a contract without a transfer fee being paid. The ruling was made in a
consolidation of three separate legal cases, all involving the
Belgian
player Jean-Marc Bosman.
1996 The American womens team won the first-ever womens soccer event at
the Olympics.
First 15m transfer: Alan Shearer from Blackburn Rovers to Newcastle
United.
1998 Joseph Blatter (Austria) elected FIFA President 1998-present.
First female head coach of the England Womens football team.
Football Offences and Disorder Act.
France wins the sixteenth FIFA World Cup.
2000 First World Cup for the Deaf.
2001 Fulham becomes the first professional womens team in the UK taking on
16 players.
2002 World Cup hosted by two countries for the first time Japan and South
Korea.
2005 The First Homeless World Cup.
2010 Africas first World Cup hosted in South Africa.
2011 Real Madrid generates revenues of 513m in 2011/12, an increase of
33m (7%), and become the first club from any sport to earn more than
500m in a single year.
Manchester City sees a 78m (51%) growth in revenues to 231m
(286m) in 2011/12.
Japan wins FIFA Womens World Cup.
2013 The worlds 20 richest clubs make $7.4 billion US dollars in 2012-13
season.

The average attendance in the German Bundesliga is 41,914 compared to

35,903 in the English Premier League; 25,464 in La Liga Spain; 23,300 in
Seria A Italy and 19,777 in super league China.
2014 20th FIFA World Cup held in Brazil against a backdrop of protests in Brazil
and corruption charges surrounding the awarding of the tournament to
Qatar 2022.
Goal-line technology introduced to the World Cup for the first time.
Germany wins FIFA World Cup for the fourth time, one less than Brazil.
2018 Russia hosts FIFA World Cup?
2022 Qatar hosts World Cup?

Produced by the University of Edinburgh and released under Creative Commons Attribution
NonCommercial NoDerivatives license (CC BY NC ND 4.0)