The history of English football. Its past and present.

: Pre-codification In 1280 comes the first account of a kicking ball game. This happened at Ulgham, near Ashington in Northumberland. In 1409 King Henry IV of England gives us the first documented use of the English word "football". In 1581 comes the earliest account of football as an organised team sport. Richard Mulcaster provides the earliest references to teams, positions, a referee and a coach.

: Early rules The first attempts to come up with single codes probably began in the 1840s, with various meetings between school representatives attempting to come up with a set of rules with which all would be happy. The first attempt was The Cambridge Rules, created in 1848; others developed their own sets, most notably Sheffield F.C. and J.C. Thring. These were moulded into one set in 1863 when the Football Association was formed.

: The FA Cup and proffessionalism The FA Cup was the first nationally organized competition. A knockout cup, it began 1871, with the first winners being the Wanderers. The first official (i.e. currently recognized by FIFA) international match would take place between Scotland and England on November 30, 1872.

: Creation of the Football League The new professionals needed more regular competitive football in which they could compete, which led to the creation of the Football League in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor.

: Interwar years From 1920 to 1923 the Football League expanded further, gaining a new Third Division. In 1923 Wembley Stadium opened, and hosted its first Cup final, between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United, known today as the "White Horse Final"; Bolton won 2-0.

: The end of English dominance English football reconvened in the years following the end of World War II, when most clubs had closed down for a period. The first post-war trophy went to Derby County, who beat Charlton Athletic 4-1 in the final. The league restarted in the season, with the first title going to Liverpool.

: The golden age The end of the 1950s had seen the beginning of the modernization of English football, with the Divisions Three North and South becoming the national Division Three and Division Four in saw the introduction of the League Cup

: The rise of Liverpool However, the dominant team in England in this period was Liverpool, winning league titles in 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983 and They also collected three European Cups, three FA Cups and four League Cups, under Shankly and his successor Bob Paisley, who retired as manager in 1983 to be succeeded by veteran coach Joe Fagan.

: the end of an era During the 1970s and 1980s, the spectre of hooliganism had begun to haunt English football. The Heysel Stadium disaster was the epitome of this, with English hooligans mixing with poor policing and an old stadium to cause the deaths of 39 Juventus fans during the 1985 European Cup final. This led to English teams being banned from European football for five years

: The Premier League and Sky Television The FA Premier League was formed in 1992 when the top twenty two clubs in English football broke away from the football league, in order to increase their incomes and make themselves more competitive on a European stage. By selling TV rights separately to the Football League, the clubs increased their income and exposure. The Premier League became the top level of English football, and Division One fell to the second level.

2003-present day: Financial polarization In England, as in Europe in general, the early 2000s saw the financial bubble burst, with the collapse of ITV Digital in May 2002 leaving a hole in the pockets of the Football League clubs who had relied on their television money to maintain high wages