Facts on the English Football Club

Organized football is the most popular spectator sport in England, where the game was first organized into league play in the late nineteenth century. There are more than 30,000 active amateur and professional clubs playing on 45,000 pitches, and about 5 million players playing in school leagues. The English professional football team plays in one of dozens of leagues, but always has the opportunity to advance to a higher level--making it possible, at least theoretically, for the most humble amateur club to rise to the top of organized football, the Premier League.

  1. The Football League

    • English "association football" organized itself into the Football League in 1888. This now includes three 24-team leagues: Champions, League One and League Two. The lower divisions include Conference North and South, Southern League, Isthmian League, and Northern Premier League. These leagues have a more local geographic focus, and teams in these levels generally play in smaller venues and have smaller player budgets.

    Premier League

    • There are currently 20 clubs in the top-ranked Barclays Premier League, which broke away from the Football League's First Division in 1992. The football season runs from August to May, with teams playing a schedule of 38 games: one at home and one away against each of the other teams. Teams are ranked according to a point system, with three points rewarded for a win and one point for a draw. If two teams are tied in points, they are then ranked by goal difference (team goals versus opponent goals), then by total goals scored. In the 17 years of competition, Manchester United has won 11 championships, the most in the Premier League's short history.

    Promotion

    • English football clubs are subject to a system of promotion and demotion, in which they move into different leagues according to their performance. The Premier League's three lowest placed teams at the end of the season, for example, are moved into the Football League, while the three leading teams from this league move into the Premier League for the following season. The top four Premier League teams also compete in the UEFA Champions League, a competition among the best teams of Europe.

    Players

    • An English football squad consists of 11 on-field players, including a goalkeeper. In the usual formation, strikers play offense in the opponents' half, while midfielders contend for the ball in the middle of the pitch, and defenders keep watch in front of the team's own goal, sending the ball forward when possession changes hands. Players can roam the field freely. The rules don't set any particular alignment of players on the field, which is up to the manager's discretion and the game conditions, which may demand that a team change between defensive and offensive stances.

    The Association

    • Overseeing all organized professional and amateur football in England is the Football Association, founded in 1863. All English clubs follow the guidelines set down by the FA, including the rules of play (as set forth in the "Laws of the Game"), the league structures and disciplinary actions. The FA oversees the participation of English clubs in overseas matches and the organization of the national World Cup team.