The Football Association (the FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amateur and professional game in its territory.

The FA facilitates all competitive football matches within its remit at national level, and indirectly at local level through the county football associations. It runs numerous competitions, the most famous of which is the FA Cup. It is also responsible for appointing the management of the men's, women's, and youth national football teams.

The FA is a member of both UEFA and FIFA and holds a permanent seat on the International Football Association Board (IFAB) which is responsible for the Laws of the Game. As the first football association, it does not use the national name "English" in its title. The FA is based at Wembley Stadium in London. The FA is a member of the British Olympic Association, meaning that the FA has control over the men's and women's Great Britain Olympic football team.

All of England's professional football teams are members of the Football Association. Although it does not run the day-to-day operations of the Premier League, it has veto power over the appointment of the league chairman and chief executive and over any changes to league rules. The English Football League, made up of the three fully professional divisions below the Premier League, is self-governing, subject to the FA's sanctions.

History

thumb|upright|Plaque commemorating the formation of the Football Association in 1863 at the [[Freemasons' Tavern in London]]

It was in England where the first official Association with clear rules was formed. For centuries before the first meeting of the Football Association in the Freemasons' Tavern in Great Queen Street, London on 26 October 1863, there were no universally accepted rules for playing football. In 1862, Ebenezer Cobb Morley, as captain of Barnes, wrote to Bell's Life newspaper proposing a governing body for the sport "with the object of establishing a definite code of rules for the regulation of the game"; the letter led to the first meeting at The Freemasons' Tavern that created the FA in 1863. Morley was a founding member. ended in a split between the Association football and Rugby football. Both of them had their own uniforms, rituals, gestures and highly formalised rules.

In public school games, the rules were formalised according to local conditions; but when the schoolboys reached university, chaos ensued when the players used different rules, so members of the University of Cambridge devised and published a set of Cambridge Rules in 1848 which was widely adopted.

Eleven London football clubs and schools' representatives met on 26 October 1863 to agree on common rules. represented Surbiton at the 'Meeting of the Captains' when the FA was formed; he may also have represented Dingley Dell. Many of these clubs are now defunct or still play rugby. Civil Service FC, who now plays in the Southern Amateur League, is the only one of the original eleven football clubs still in existence, with an unbroken history, and playing association football,

Split from rugby

At the final meeting, F. M. Campbell, the first FA treasurer and the Blackheath representative, withdrew his club from the FA over the removal of two draft rules at the previous meeting, the first which allowed for the running with the ball in hand and the second, obstructing such a run by hacking (kicking an opponent in the shins), tripping and holding. Other English rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA but instead in 1871 formed the Rugby Football Union.

An inaugural game using the new FA rules was initially scheduled for Battersea Park on 2 January 1864, but enthusiastic members of the FA could not wait for the new year: the first game under F. A. rules was played at Mortlake on 19 December 1863 between Morley's Barnes team and their neighbours Richmond (who were not members of the FA), ending in a goalless draw. The Richmond side were obviously unimpressed by the new rules in practice because they subsequently helped form the Rugby Football Union in 1871. The Battersea Park game was the first exhibition game using FA rules, and was played there on Saturday 9 January 1864. The members of the opposing teams for this game were chosen by the President of the FA (A. Pember) and the Secretary (E. C. Morley) and included many well-known footballers of the day. After the first match according to the new FA rules a toast was given "Success to football, irrespective of class or creed".

Another notable match was London v Sheffield, in which a representative team from the FA played Sheffield FC under Association rules in March 1866; Charles Alcock described this game as "first [match] of any importance under the auspices of the Football Association". Alcock (of Harrow School) of the Wanderers was elected to the committee of the FA in 1866, becoming its first full-time secretary and treasurer in 1870. He masterminded the creation of the Football Association Cup—the longest-running association football competition in the world—in 1871. Fifteen participating clubs subscribed to purchase a trophy. The first Cup Final was held at The Oval on 16 March 1872, fought between the Wanderers and the Royal Engineers (RE), watched by 2,000 spectators.

Single set of laws

thumb|180px|Coat of arms of the Football Association

After many years of wrangling between the London-based Football Association and the Sheffield Football Association, the FA Cup brought the acceptance that one undisputed set of laws was required. The two associations had played 16 inter-association matches under differing rules; the Sheffield Rules, the London Rules and Mixed Rules. In April 1877, those laws were set with a number of Sheffield Rules being incorporated. In 1890, Kinnaird replaced Major Francis Marindin, becoming the fourth president of the Football Association. Kinnaird had at that time been a FA committeeman since the age of 21, in 1868. Kinnaird remained president for the next 33 years, until his death in 1923.

The FA Cup was initially contested by mostly southern, amateur teams, but more professionally organised northern clubs began to dominate the competition during the early 1880s; "The turning point, north replacing south, working class defeating upper and professionals impinging upon the amateurs' territory, came in 1883." Hitherto, public school sides had played a dribbling game punctuated by violent tackles, but a new passing style developed in Scotland was successfully adopted by some Lancashire teams, along with a more organised approach to training. Blackburn Olympic reached the final in March 1883 and defeated Old Etonians. Near-neighbours Blackburn Rovers started to pay players, and the following season won the first of three consecutive FA Cups. Three years later, in 1888, the first Football League was established, formed by six professional clubs from northwest England and six from the midlands.

The Football Association has updated their logo several times. They celebrated their 150th year with a special 2013–2014 season logo. The shield design (taken from the coat of arms of the Football Association) is the same, but the three lions, rosettes and border are in gold instead of black and red, with the usual white background. The title strip above reads "The FA" in white on gold, and there is a scroll below reading "150 years" in white on gold, between "1863" and "2013".

Women's football

By 1921 women's football had become increasingly popular through the charitable games played by women's teams during and after the First World War. In a move that was widely seen as caused by jealousy of the crowds' interest in women's games which frequently exceeded that of the top men's teams, in 1921 the Football Association banned all women's teams from playing on grounds affiliated to the FA because they thought football damaged women's bodies. For several decades, this meant that women's football virtually ceased to exist.

The decision to exclude women was only reversed from 1969 when, after the increased interest in football caused by England's 1966 World Cup triumph, the Women's Football Association was founded, although it would take a further two years – and an order from UEFA – to force the (men's) Football Association to remove its restrictions on the playing rights of women's teams. It was not until 1983 that the WFA was able to affiliate to the FA as a "County Association" and only in 1993 did the FA found the "Women's Football Committee" to run women's football in England. The "Women's Football Conference", as it is now known, has representation on the FA Council equivalent to a County Football Association.

FA 2017 reform

In December 2016, five former FA executives – David Bernstein, David Davies, Greg Dyke, Alex Horne and David Triesman – called on Parliament's Culture, Media and Sport Committee to propose legislation to reform the FA, saying it was outdated, held back by "elderly white men", and unable to counter the power of the Premier League or "to reform and modernise in a fast-changing world".

In April 2017, it was announced that some reforms, including reducing the size of the FA's board and increasing the number of women, would be submitted for approval to the FA's annual general meeting on 18 May. However, the proposed changes were criticised by some for not going far enough, particularly to improve minority representation. The proposals were approved at the AGM and include:

  • Establishing three positions on the FA board for female members by 2018
  • Reducing the size of the board to 10 members
  • Adding 11 new members to the FA Council to "better reflects the inclusive and diverse nature of English football"
  • Limiting board membership to three terms of three years
  • Introducing term limits for FA Council members

However, pressure for FA reform continued fuelled by allegations of racism and bullying in relation to the Mark Sampson and Eniola Aluko cases, and the historical sexual abuse scandal. In October 2017, FA chairman Greg Clarke announced a "fundamental" review of the FA after admitting it had "lost the trust of the public" following the Sampson controversy. In the same month, Clarke was criticised by sexual abuse victim Andy Woodward and the Professional Footballers' Association's chief executive Gordon Taylor for remarks Clarke made to a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS) hearing.

In November 2020, Clarke resigned as FA chairman over his use of the term "coloured" when referring to black players in comments to the DCMS committee via video link. The FA subsequently announced they would seek a new chairman, with hopes there would be an announcement as to the successor by March 2021.

UK football sexual abuse scandal (2016–2021)

In mid-November 2016, allegations of widespread historical sexual abuse at football clubs dating back to the 1970s began to emerge. On 21 November, the Football Association said it would set up a helpline; this was established with the NSPCC and opened on 24 November, receiving 860 calls ("more than three times as many referrals as in the first three days of the Jimmy Savile scandal") by 1 December with 350 individuals alleging abuse. The FA and NSPCC also collaborated to produce a film about how to keep children safe in the sport, featuring the captains of England's men's, women's and cerebral palsy football teams (Wayne Rooney, Steph Houghton and Jack Rutter).

On 27 November, the FA announced it was to set up an internal review into what Crewe and Manchester City knew about convicted child sex offender Barry Bennell and allegations of child sexual abuse in football, and investigate what information it was aware of at the time of the alleged offences. On 6 December 2016, the FA announced that, due to "the increased scope of the review since it was announced" the review would be conducted by Clive Sheldon QC.

In July 2018, it was reported that the FA's independent inquiry had found no evidence of an institutional cover-up or of a paedophile ring operating within football. Sheldon's report, likely to be highly critical of several clubs, was initially expected to be delivered to the FA in September 2018, but its publication was delayed, potentially by up to a year at the time, pending the retrial of Bob Higgins and possible further charges against Barry Bennell.

The 700-page report was eventually published on 17 March 2021. It identified failures to act adequately on complaints or rumours of sexual abuse at eight professional clubs: Aston Villa, Chelsea, Crewe Alexandra, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Peterborough, Southampton and Stoke City. The report also made 13 recommendations for further improvements, however, the measures were criticised for being too late and lacking ambition. The FA issued a "heartfelt apology" to survivors and said it would be implementing all of Sheldon's recommendations. They are considered county football associations by the FA. Matt Le Tissier and Graeme Le Saux have represented the FA's full national representative team and were born in Guernsey and Jersey respectively.

The Guernsey Football Association, Isle of Man Football Association and Jersey Football Association have been affiliated with the FA since 1903, 1908 and 1905 respectively.

A loophole was closed in May 2008 by FIFA which allowed players born in the Channel Islands to choose which home nation within the United Kingdom they will represent at international level. During the 1990s, Trevor Wood (Jersey) and Chris Tardif (Guernsey) represented Northern Ireland.

The British overseas territory of Gibraltar's Gibraltar Football Association was affiliated to the FA from 1911 until it opted to become a fully recognised member of UEFA, a feat achieved after a 14-year legal battle. Joseph Nunez, the Gibraltar FA President claimed they were "unilaterally thrown out" of the FA following an intervention from Geoff Thompson.

Defunct

  • FA Umbro Fives

Finance and governance

Finances

The FA's main commercial asset is its ownership of the rights to England internationals and the FA Cup. Broadcasting income remains the FA's largest revenue stream with both domestic and international broadcasting rights for England fixtures and the FA Cup tied up until at least 2021.

For the four seasons from 2008 to 2012, the FA secured £425 million from ITV and Setanta for England and FA Cup games domestic television rights, a 42% increase over the previous contract, and £145 million for overseas television rights, up 272% on the £39 million received for the previous four-year period. However, during 2008–09 Setanta UK went into administration, which weakened the FA's cashflow position.

Turnover for the year ending 31 July 2016 was £370 million on which it made a profit after tax of £7 million. It has also made an investment of £125 million back into every level of Football in 2016. In July 2015 the FA announced plans to carry out a significant organisational restructure, in order to deliver considerable cost savings to invest in elite England teams, facilities and grassroots coaching.

The FA's income does not include the turnover of English football clubs, which are independent businesses. As well as running its own operations the FA chooses five charities each year to which it gives financial support.

In three years up to 2014, the FA received £350,000 in fines from players over comments made on Twitter. The highest fine imposed was a £90,000 fine to Ashley Cole in 2012 after calling the FA "a bunch of twats." The FA became stricter on comments made by players on Twitter, disciplining 121 players in three years.

Principals

thumb|170px|[[William, Prince of Wales|The Prince of Wales is the current Patron of the FA.]]

The FA has a figurehead President, who since 1939 has always been a member of the British royal family. The Chairman of the FA has overall responsibility for policy. Traditionally this person rose through the ranks of the FA's committee structure (e.g. by holding posts such as the chairmanship of a county football association). In 2008 politician David Triesman was appointed as the FA's first "independent chairman", the first from outside the football hierarchy. The day-to-day head of the FA was known as the Secretary until 1989, when the job title was changed to Chief Executive.

{| class="wikitable"

|+Office-holders

!Office!!Name!!Tenure

|-

|rowspan=13|President

|Arthur Pember

|1863–1867

|-

|E. C. Morley

|1867–1874

|-

|Francis Marindin

|1874–1890

|-

|Lord Kinnaird

|1890–1923

|-

|Sir Charles Clegg

|1923–1937

|-

|William Pickford

|1937–1939

|-

|The Earl of Athlone

|1939–1955

|-

|The Duke of Edinburgh

|1955–1957

|-

|The Duke of Gloucester

|1957–1963

|-

|The Earl of Harewood

|1963–1971

|-

|The Duke of Kent

|1971–2000

|-

|The Duke of York

|2000–2006

|-

|The Prince of Wales

|2006–2024

|-

|Vice President

|Charles Crump

|1886–1923

|-

| rowspan="19" |Chairman/person

|Charles Clegg

|1890–1937

|-

|A. G. Hines

|1938

|-

|Mark Frowde

|1939–1941

|-

|Sir Amos Brook Hirst

|1941–1955

|-

|Arthur Drewry

|1955–1961

|-

|Graham Doggart

|1961–1963

|-

|Joe Mears

|1963–1966

|-

|Sir Andrew Stephen

|1967–1976

|-

|Sir Harold Thompson

|1976–1981

|-

|Sir Bert Millichip

|1981–1996

|-

|Keith Wiseman

|1996–1999

|-

|Geoff Thompson

|1999–2008

|-

|The Lord Triesman

|2008–2010

|-

|David Bernstein

|2011–2013

|-

|Greg Dyke

|2013–2016

|-

|David Gill

|2016 (interim)

|-

|Greg Clarke

|2016–2020

|-

|Peter McCormick

|2020–2022 (interim)

|-

|Debbie Hewitt

|2022–present

|-

| rowspan="8" |Secretary

|E. C. Morley

|1863–1866

|-

|R. W. Willis

|1866–1867

|-

|R. G. Graham

|1867–1870

|-

|C. W. Alcock

|1870–1895

|-

|Sir Frederick Wall

|1895–1934

|-

|Sir Stanley Rous

|1934–1962

|-

|Denis Follows

|1962–1973

|-

|Ted Croker

|1973–1989

|-

|Chief executive

|Graham Kelly

|1989–1998

|-

|Executive Director

|David Davies

|1998–2000

|-

| rowspan="9" |Chief executive

|Adam Crozier

|2000–2002

|-

|David Davies

|2002–2003 (acting)

|-

|Mark Palios

|2003–2004

|-

|David Davies

|2004–2005 (acting)

|-

|Brian Barwick

|2005–2008

|-

|Ian Watmore

|2009–2010

|-

|Alex Horne

|2010 (acting)

|-

|Martin Glenn

|2015–2019

|-

|Mark Bullingham

|2019–present

|-

|General Secretary

|Alex Horne

|2010–present

|}

Board of directors

Taken from The FA's website on 25 May 2026

  • Chairwoman: Debbie Hewitt
  • Chief executive: Mark Bullingham

National game representatives:

  • Sarah Walters
  • Alex Baker

Professional game representatives:

  • Rick Parry
  • Dharmash Mistry

Independent non-executive directors:

  • Kate Tinsley
  • Stephen Morana
  • Mark Esiri
  • Jobi McAnuff

Board observers:

  • Paul Elliott
  • David Gill

Notes and references

Notes

References

  • FIFA profile (archived)
  • UEFA profile