| Brief competition history |
| League |
| 1885 Professionalism legalised 1888 Football League founded 1891 Goal nets introduced, penalty kick introduced 1898 Promotion and relegation introduced 1925 New offside law 1938 Laws re-written 1939 Player numbers 1951 White ball first used 1956 First floodlit game – Portsmouth v Newcastle 1960 League Cup launched 1961 Maximum wage removed 1965 Substitution allowed for injuries 1966 Substitution allowed for any reason 1973 3 up and 3 down promotion and relegation introduced 1981 3 points for a win 1983 League sponsored by Canon 1986 league sponsored by Today newspaper 1987 Play-offs (promotion and relegation) 1992 First Division breaks away to form Premier League 2004 Leagues change names and sponsored by Coca-Cola The Football League was the brainchild of William McGregor. McGregor decided that football needed order and he wrote to the leading clubs of the time putting forward a proposal that they should combine to arrange home and away fixtures each season. Many changes to the league have been made over the years such as, introduction of goal nets and penalty kicks, then later, the expansion of extra divisions. In 1992, 10 of the leading teams break away from the first division, and formed a Super League in the hunt for more television money. The Premiership was created. In 2004, Division one, two and three change their names to 'The Championship, League one and League two' along with a new sponsor (Coca-Cola) seeking to strengthen their status within the Football League competitions. |
| European Cup |
| 1956-91 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1992 UEFA Champions League The European Cup was the idea of L'Equipe journalist Gabriel Hanot. In the first season English league champions Chelsea bowed to FA disapproval of the competition and did not enter. The following season new champions Manchester United were the first English club to play in the European Cup. Following the Heysel stadium disaster English teams were barred from 1986 to 1991. In 1995 some league champions were no longer granted entry, and in 1997 some league runners-up were admitted, as were some third placed teams in 1999. |
| UEFA Cup |
| 1958 - 1966 Inter-City Fairs Cup 1967 - 1971 European Fairs Cup 1972 - UEFA Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was the idea of Swiss pools supremo, Ernst Thommen, Ottorino Barassi from Italy and the English FA general secretary, Stanley Rous, all of whom later became senior officials at FIFA. As the name suggests, the competition was set up to promote international trade fairs. Friendly games were regularly held between teams from cities holding trade fairs and it was from these games that the competition evolved. The competition was initially only open to teams from cities that hosted trade fairs and where these teams finished in their national league had no relevance. Early competitions also featured a one city, one team rule. After 1967-68 The competition was sometimes referred to as the Runners Up Cup, or European Fairs Cup, with teams qualifying based on league position. In 1971 it came under the auspices of UEFA and was replaced by the UEFA Cup. English teams were banned from 1986-91. |
| European Super Cup |
| The idea of Dutch paper De Telegraaf, the Super Cup was for the winners of the European Champions Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup. With the demise of the latter trophy, since 2000 the opponents have been the UEFA Cup winners. Officially recognised by UEFA in 1974. |
| Super Cup |
| Following the UEFA ban on English clubs in 1985 the Super Cup was hastily conceived to fill the gap for the clubs who would have otherwise qualified for Europe. Sponsored by cable TV company Screen Sport, the competition was a dismal failure and was dropped after just one season. |
| FA Challenge Cup |
| The F.A. Challenge Cup is the oldest and most famous football competition in the world. The number of entries in the competition has risen steadily from the original 15 clubs in 1871. In the inter-war years over 600 clubs took part. Now there is a standard of ability and ground facilities which must be reached before a club's entry is accepted by The F.A |
| League Cup |
| 1961-82 Football League Cup 1983-86 Milk Cup 1987-90 Littlewoods Challenge Cup 1991-93 Rumbelows Cup 1994-98 Coca-Cola Cup 1999-03 Worthington Cup 2003- Carling Cup Football League secretary Alan Hardaker came up with the idea for a new cup competition and the League Cup was born in 1961. The competition was open to the 92 clubs in The League and was originally a two-legged final. |
| FA Community Shield |
| 1898-1907 Sheriff of London (Dewar) Charity Shield (revived between 1931-34 and 65 - 66) 1908 - 2001 The FA Charity Shield 2002 - The FA Community Shield The FA Charity Shield is the successor to the Sheriff of London (George Dewar) Shield, originally a best professional v best amateur tie. A fall-out in 1908 between amateur clubs and the FA ended the competition. It has occasionally been revived since. The Charity Shield was originally played at the end of season, it is now the opening match of the season. The first Charity Shield involved the League Champions and the Southern League champions. Since 1975 it has been contested at Wembley between the FA Cup Winners and the League Champions (runners-up when there is a Double). The name has now been changed to the FA Community Shield |
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
