England 1885

England and the Football Association: The Early Years

The origins of the England national team are rooted in the very creation of association football itself. Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, “football” was played in many different forms, with rules varying from school to school and town to town. Attempts had been made to bring order to the game—notably through the Cambridge Rules of 1848 and the Sheffield Rules of the 1850s—but no single, universally accepted code existed.

That changed on 26 October 1863, when representatives of a number of London clubs and schools met at the Freemasons’ Tavern on Great Queen Street. From this gathering emerged The Football Association (FA), the first governing body of association football. Unlike every national association that followed, the FA did not include the name of its country in its title, reflecting its role as the original authority of the game.

A central figure in its formation was Ebenezer Cobb Morley, who had earlier proposed the creation of a governing body. Morley went on to draft the first unified Laws of the Game—often referred to as the “London Rules.” Over a series of six meetings held between October and December 1863, these laws were debated and agreed. The discussions were not without division.

A fundamental disagreement arose over whether players should be permitted to run with the ball and physically challenge opponents. When these elements were removed, clubs such as Blackheath withdrew, later helping to form the Rugby Football Union in 1871. From this split emerged two distinct sports: association football and rugby.

Matches under the new FA rules began almost immediately. A fixture between Barnes and Richmond in December 1863 provided the first practical demonstration, followed by a more formal exhibition match at Battersea Park in January 1864. From these modest beginnings, association football began its steady growth.

A defining milestone came on 30 November 1872, when England faced Scotland at Hamilton Crescent in Glasgow in what is recognised as the first official international football match.

Although earlier matches between English and Scottish sides had taken place, those teams had been selected solely by the English FA and are not regarded as true internationals. The 1872 contest, which ended in a goalless draw, marked the beginning of international football as it is understood today.

In these early years, England’s identity on the field was already clear. The team wore white jerseys bearing the three lions crest of the FA, accompanied by white knickerbockers, dark hose and caps. The shirts themselves were not entirely plain, featuring a subtle diamond pattern woven into the fabric across the chest. While the FA supplied the jerseys, players were expected to provide their own shorts and stockings, often drawn from their club attire.

Regular matches between England and Scotland soon became an annual tradition, typically staged each spring. England continued to play in all-white into the early 1880s, with a notable variation occurring in March 1882, when navy blue knickerbockers were worn for the first time. The following year saw the establishment of the Home International Championship (1883–84), contested between England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, creating the first structured international tournament in the sport.

Domestically, the FA strengthened its authority through the introduction of the FA Cup in 1871, the world’s oldest football competition. Initially dominated by amateur teams from the south, the competition underwent a significant shift during the 1880s as northern clubs embraced professionalism and a more organised, passing style of play. The victory of Blackburn Olympic over Old Etonians in 1883 symbolised this transformation, as working-class, professional teams began to challenge and surpass the traditional amateur elite. Although the FA initially resisted professionalism, it was formally recognised in 1885, marking a turning point in the evolution of the game.

As football spread beyond Britain, the need for an international governing body became increasingly apparent. In 1904, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was formed by several European nations, without the initial involvement of the British associations. England joined FIFA in April 1905, stepping into the wider international arena. However, relations between the FA and FIFA were not always harmonious.

The FA resigned from FIFA in 1928 following disagreements over the definition of amateur status and the issue of financial compensation for players—disputes that reflected broader tensions between traditional British ideals and the increasingly professional nature of the global game. The FA remained outside FIFA until 1946, when it rejoined in the aftermath of the Second World War.

England’s first matches against non-British opposition came in June 1908, when the national side toured Central Europe, facing Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. These fixtures represented England’s earliest encounters beyond the British Isles and remained their only such matches prior to the First World War.

By the close of the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth, the FA had not only unified the rules of football but had overseen its transformation into a structured, competitive sport with both national and international reach. The England team, wearing white and bearing the three lions, stood at the centre of this development—both a symbol of the game’s origins and a participant in its rapid expansion across the world.

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