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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 and was 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 notable being in the Summer Olympic Games where a UK team has competed as one country under the name Great Britain on several occasions.

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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.

Scotland

The Scottish Football Association (SFA) was the world's second national football association, being founded in 1873. The SFA joined FIFA in 1910 and was a founding member of UEFA in 1954.1

Wales

The Football Association of Wales was founded in 1876 and is the third-oldest football association in the world.2

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.3

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 representatives.

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 mutual interest throughout the British Isles in all five international 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.

Since 1984, when the British Home Championship ended, there has been a number of games played between the four home nations.

Celtic nations tournament

Main article: 4 Associations Tournament

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.4 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".5

On 18 September 2008, it was announced that a tournament (the 4 Associations Tournament) featuring Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would be played in 2011.6

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:

Overseas 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:

League systems

There are separate club football league systems for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, there is some overlapping between the systems, with some clubs playing outside of their country's respective system. This is partially due to logistical 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,citation needed 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.

Scotland

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, East of Scotland Football League and the South of Scotland Football League. One English club, Berwick Rangers, play 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 Ireland football league system includes the IFA Premiership. One Northern Irish club, Derry City, plays its football outside of the UK in the Republic of Ireland football league system.

High finishers in the top league of each system qualify for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup.

Cup competitions

There is 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, the FA Cup in England, the Scottish Cup in Scotland, the Welsh Cup in Wales and the Irish Cup in Northern Ireland. Traditionally, these cups have been the most liberal about whom 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 in England, the Scottish League Cup in Scotland, Welsh Premier League Cup in Wales and Irish League Cup in 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.

Club meetings in Europe

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

  • UEFA Cup
    • 1973–74: Aberdeen 2–3 Tottenham Hotspur
    • 1973–74: Leeds United 0–1 Hibernian
    • 1975–76: Hibernian 4–3 Liverpool
    • 1981–82: Ipswich Town 2–4 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
    • 2008–09: Manchester United 3–0 Celtic
    • 2008–09: Celtic 1–1 Manchester United

England v Wales

England v Northern Ireland

Scotland v Wales

Scotland v Northern Ireland

Wales v Northern Ireland

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.citation needed

National football museums

References

  1. ^ Brief history of the Scottish FA The Scottish Football Association
  2. ^ About Us The Football Association of Wales
  3. ^ About the IFA The Irish Football Association
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ BBC Sport: "Home nations consider new league, 4 Feb 2007 accessed 18 September 2008
  6. ^ "Celtic nations to play 2011 event BBC Sport, accessed 18 September 2008

See also

Football in the United Kingdom
v • d • e
National teams England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland
National associations The FA | SFA | FAW | IFA
History England | Scotland
National team histories England | Scotland | Wales | Ireland | UK
Regional national team competitions British Home Championship | Rous Cup |
4 Associations Tournament
Regional club competitions Empire Exhibition Trophy | Coronation Cup | Texaco Cup | Anglo-Scottish Cup | FAW Premier Cup | Setanta Cup
Top level club league competitions Premier League | Scottish Premier League | Welsh Premier League | IFA Premiership
National cup competitions FA Cup | Scottish Cup | Welsh Cup | Irish Cup
Rules Governance International Football Association Board
Football in… England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland
Players British footballers abroad | Foreign Premier League players |

Competitors:  England |  Northern Ireland/ Ireland |  Scotland |  Wales
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