The Football Association came into being on October 26, 1863,
when a meeting of members of the leading clubs and schools playing the sport
decided to co-operate in framing a unified set of official rules under which
everyone could play.
This meeting was held at the Freemason's Tavern in Great Queen
Street, London, and the following clubs were represented: Barnes, Blackheath,
Charterhouse, Perceval House (Blackheath), Kensington School, War Office,
Crystal Palace, Blackheath Proprietary School, The Crusaders, Forest and No
Names (Kilburn).
It took five meetings before the laws of the game could be
agreed. Shortly afterwards Blackheath withdrew from membership because they
opposed the law banning hacking (uncontrolled kicking). The other early
controversy concerned the offside law and it was not until 1867 that the new
laws obtained general acceptance.
The development which did most to promote the sport's
development came on July 20, 1871, when it was proposed that a Challenge Cup be
established for competition among members. After this membership increased
rapidly and had reached 128 by 1881. The FA Challenge Cup is, of course, thus
the oldest competition in the world game - and also one of the most famous and
prestigious. Professionalism was legalised in 1885 though such was the
controversy caused that it was not until 1914 that all professional and amateur
clubs agreed to recognise the overall authority of the FA as the single
governing body for football in England.
The headquarters of the FA were originally in Holborn Viaduct.
In 1890 the association moved to 61 Chancery Lane, then back to High Holborn, to
Russell Square, to 22 Lancaster Gate in 1929 and - finally - to the present
address, at 16 Lancaster Gate, in 1971.As governing body of the sport in
England, the FA works to promote, develop and protect the game at all levels
although much of this work does not attract the headline attention of the top
level professional game. High profile activities include the organisation of the
FA Cup with its spectacular annual Final at Wembley and the England national
team's participation in major events such as the World Cup - which England
hosted in 1966 - and the European Championship - which it welcomed for the first
time in June 1996.
