1870-1888 The FA Cup and professionalism
An offside rule had not been included in the 1863 FA rules. In 1867 a "loose" offside rule based on the Cambridge rules was introduced, permitting forward passing Consequently, in the late 1860s "scientific" team play and ball passing strategies started to evolve, which created the modern game as we know it. Teamwork and passing were the innovation of the Royal Engineers AFC By 1869 they were "working well together", "backing up" and benefiting from "cooperation".By 1870 the Engineers were the first team to use ball passing strategies: "Lieut. Creswell, who having brought the ball up the side then kicked it into the middle to another of his side, who kicked it through the posts the minute before time was called"Passing was a regular feature of their style and their skills included "turn[ing] the ball" to colleagues and "irreproachable organisation" of forwards and defenders By early 1872 the Engineers were the first football team renowned for "playing beautifully together the FA Cup was the first nationally organized competition. A knockout cup, it began 1871, with the first winners being the Wanderers. In those days professionalism was banned, and the cup was dominated by service teams or old schoolboys' teams (such as Old Etonians). The Scottish Football Association split from the FA in 1873.
In the early 1870s the modern team passing game was invented by the Royal Engineers A.F.C.and Scottish players of the era, known as the Scotch Professors. This was the predecessor to the current passing, defensive game was known as the Combination Game and was spread around the world by British expatriates.
England was home to the first ever international football match on the 5th March 1870. The first match ended in a draw and was one of a series of four matches between representatives of England and Scotland at The Oval, London. These matches were arranged by the Football Association, at the time the only national football body in the world.
The origin of these games came in 1870 when CW Alcock's challenged homegrown contenders in Scotland against an English eleven . These challenges were issued in Scottish newspapers, including the Glasgow Herald. He received no response to these adverts. One response to Alcock's challenges illustrates that soccer was eclipsed in Scotland by other codes:
"Mr Alcock's challenge to meet a Scotch eleven on the borders sounds very well and is doubtless well meant. But it may not be generally well known that Mr Alcock is a very leading supporter of what is called the "association game" - devotees of the "association" rules will find no foemen worthy of their steel in Scotland".
As a result he was forced to draw upon London-based players with Scottish origins. One notable Scottish player of the 1870 and 1871 games was Smith, a player of Queens Park FC. This suggests that southern teams were not so isolated from Glasgow players and style of play as originally thought. Alcock was categorical that although most players were London based, this was due to lack of response from north of the border:
"I must join issue with your correspondent in some instances. First, I assert that of whatever the Scotch eleven may have been composed the right to play was open to every Scotchman Alcock's italics] whether his lines were cast North or South of the Tweed and that if in the face of the invitations publicly given through the columns of leading journals of Scotland the representative eleven consisted chiefly of Anglo-Scotians - the fault lies on the heads of the players of the north, not on the management who sought the services of all alike impartially. To call the team London Scotchmen contributes nothing. The match was, as announced, to all intents and purposes between England and Scotland".
The 1870 and 1871 matches are not currently recognised by FIFA as official, however the Scotsman newspaper certainly identified them as "international [The Scotsman's italics]" Alcock continued to pursue players from "north of the Tweed", inviting them in papers such as the Scotsman to contact (for example) A F Kinnaird"[. At this time, however, it was unusual for national sides to travel far for matches and even in the 1873 England v Scotland game, the first FIFA recognised match in England, only 3 Scottish players were not from English sides Alcock decided "in order to further the interests of the Association in Scotland, it was decided that during the current season, a team should be sent to Glasgow to play a match v Scotland
The first official (i.e. currently recognised by FIFA) international match would take place between Scotland and England on November 30 1872. This match was played under the Football Association rules.
Englishman C. W. Alcock was responsible for instigating the world's first official football international in Glasgow on 30 November 1872. This match was played under the Football Association rules and was drawn, however, the following year England became the first team in the world to win an international football match when they beat Scotland in London.
This period in English football was dominated by conflict between those who supported professionalism, and those who wanted the game to remain amateur. Clubs in Scotland and Northern England generally supported a professional game, as the working class of these regions could not afford to miss work in order to play football. In Southern England, the game was more popular with the middle class, who supported "Corinthian" values of amateurism. A number of clubs, such as Blackburn Rovers and Darwen were accused of employing professionals, and the FA eventually legalized the practice in 1885, in order to avoid a split.
1888 - 1915 Football League Founded >