Soccer's history in England dates back centuries.
Soccer, or football, has long held an important place in English culture. While it isn't the only national sport, it is often the most watched athletic event in the country. England can claim various "firsts" in the history of soccer, such as the first official match and rules.
Dark Ages
Soccer's history can be traced back to the Dark Ages in England. The earliest accounts of a sport resembling soccer can found in records from 1280. Some games were banned when the action turned violent then, and King Henry IV once declared it illegal to bet on football games. Still, it became a popular sport among the ruling and wealthy class of English citizens.
Development of Rules
By the 1800s, various sets of rules emerged to govern the games. The Cambridge Rules came first in 1848. According to the website soccer-fans-info.com, the actual rules aren't known but they are "allegedly the base on which the "Laws of the Game" would later be constructed." When the Football Association (FA) was formed in 1863, its members wrote up their own set of rules that further advanced the so called laws that soccer still uses.
Pros
England's Sheffield F.C., created in 1857, is considered to be the first professional soccer team in the world. Club teams still dominated English play until 1888 when the first full pro league was formed. The Football League had 12 teams that first year. In 1892 a second division was added, and more expansion followed. In 2010, the league had 72 teams across four different tiers of play.
English National Team
England met Scotland in March of 1870 in a match considered to be a first between national teams. The English national team joined FIFA, which governs soccer on an international level, in 1906. England appeared in its first World Cup competition in 1950. The English side won the 1966 World Cup and placed fourth in 1990.
Prominent Individuals
Some of soccer's greatest personalities are from England, including William McGregor, who created the first football league. Some star players include George Best, Frank Lampard and most notably for post-2000 fans, David Beckham. In his prime Beckham captained the national team and his celebrity in England was unrivaled by any other athlete. His striking ability was so well known that it served as the title of a 2002 movie, "Bend it Like Beckham." The lead character in the film idolized Beckham.
Tags: considered first, Dark Ages, national team
