Local and National Provision Football

AS and A Level Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

History Of Football

The game of 'Association Football' originates in England. The earliest records of man kicking something resembling a ball date back to the Chinese Han Dynasty, 2000 years ago. There are records of the ancient Greeks and Romans developing the pastime known as ‘Harpastum’, a curious mixture of association and rugby football. The Romans introduced this to Britain in the time of Julius Caesar. It was during the Middle Ages that the game took hold of the public with annual Shrovetide matches being played between neighbouring villages with teams of unlimited numbers. The ball was usually a pig’s bladder although on one infamous occasion in Chester the head of a dead Viking was used to celebrate a recent victory over the invaders. In the late 13th century and early 14th century street matches were so popular in London that traders called on King Edward ll to outlaw the game in the city. 13th April 1314 the first ever football ban came into force. The ban proved quite ineffective despite the threat of prison. Kings Edward lll, Richard ll, Henry lV and James lll made many attempts at bans, all with similar effectiveness. The only ban with any level of effectiveness was that introduced by Oliver Cromwell, the game briefly disappeared but reappeared with even greater popularity following the Restoration in 1660. The author Strutt in his ‘Sports and Pastimes’ publication gave an insight into football in the 1700’s. He described two teams of equal numbers who lined up between two goals made of sticks placed about 1 yard apart. The goals were between 80-100 yards from each other, he also wrote: “The ball, which is commonly made of a blown bladder and cased in leather, is delivered in the midst of the ground, and the object of each party is to drive it through the goal of their antagonists, which being achieved, the game is won.” Having survived lots of attempts to ban the game, football remained a fairly lawless and unruly game until the mid-1840s when the desire of teams, particularly public schools, to play against each other made the lack of a generally accepted set of rules an issue, which needed resolving. in 1848 Mr. H. de Winton and Mr. J.C. Thring, two football players from Cambridge University called a meeting with representatives from the major public schools, a 7hr 55min meeting produced Sheffield FC, the world’s oldest football club came into existence in 1855. The oldest still existing league club is Notts County, which was formed in 1862. As more and more clubs were set up the lack of a governing body for the game began to cause problems. This gap was filled when; following a meeting in October 1863 at “The Freemason’s Tavern”, Great Queen Street, London, ‘The Football Association’ was formed, with Mr. A. Pember, the first president, and ten other founder members present. One of the FA’s first priorities was to establish the rules of the game for all members to abide by. Initially there were some difficulties as at that stage the public schools were still playing by their own rules established at the 1848 meeting. Eventually they were persuaded and the first FA rules were published in December 1862. However there was still considerable ill feeling about the rules and many disagreements primarily between the ‘Associationists’ and the ‘Rugby Unionists’, this led to a split with the latter leaving the FA to develop their own game and ‘The Rugby Football Union’.

The game of football generally flourished in England from around the 8th Century onwards. The game was incredibly popular with the working classes and there were considerable regional variations of the game throughout the country. Games were normally violent and disorganised affairs with any number of players - it was not uncommon for 1000 people to play in a single game. By the 11th Century, games were often played between rival villages and the 'pitch' could be an incredibly large area. The 'pitch' was not a defined size with a parameter, but included streets, fields, village squares and anything else that got in the way!

The level of violence within the game was high. Players were kicked and punched regularly by opponents. In addition to any personal injury that occurred, countless property items were destroyed in the course of a match. Fields were often ruined, as were fences and hedges. Damage also occurred to people's houses and businesses within the main streets of the village (or wherever the game travelled in its course).

For people living within the cities, football was still an alien concept and considered to be a 'rural custom'. However in the second half of the 12th Century football had established itself in London. By 1175 an annual competition had been established in the capital and every Shrove Tuesday the game created huge interest and gained further popularity.

Football today

The Football Association is responsible for ensuring that the international Laws of the Game are applied on the field, and that the rules and regulations concerned with running football in England are observed by officials, clubs and players off the pitch as well as on it.

The Laws of the Game are determined by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), and The Rules and Regulations of The Football Association, determined by The FA Council, are aimed at establishing an efficient and fair regulatory structure. These rules and regulations cover matters ranging from the affiliation of clubs and associations, ...

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Football today

The Football Association is the governing body of the game in England, and seeks to develop our sport at all levels under the vision of 'using the power of football to build a better future.'

The Football Association, as the game's governing body in England and the world's pre-eminent national association, occupies a central role in the relationships between football's many constituent parts: fans, players, officials, managers and coaches.

The scope of The F.A.'s responsibilities are encompassed in the range of its key aims and objectives, set out as part of a 3-year Strategic Plan.

Under the over-arching vision of "using the power of football to build a better future", The F.A.'s purpose is to lead the successful development of football at every level, with the overall aim of England winning the World Cup by 2006.

The organisation's core objectives are:

To be seen by fans, players, managers, clubs and the government as the leading sports governing body in the world
To lead the development of a grass-roots framework which will achieve the highest levels of participation in the world
To achieve consistent, long-term success on the field through player development at every level
To be a leading-edge marketing organisation
To lead and shape the debate about football at a national, UEFA and FIFA level
To provide leading-edge service levels internally and externally

game played by two teams on a rectangular field, in which players attempt to knock a round ball through the opponents’ goal, using any part of the body except the hands. Generally, players use their feet and heads as they kick, dribble, and pass the ball toward the goal. One player on each team guards the goal. This player, the goalkeeper, is the only player allowed to touch the ball with the hands while it is in play.

Soccer is a free-flowing game that has relatively few rules and requires little equipment. All that is needed to play is an area of open space and a ball. Much of the world's soccer is played informally, without field markings or real goals. In many places, the game is played barefoot using rolled-up rags or newspapers as a ball. Soccer is the world's most popular sport, played by people of all ages in about 200 countries. The sport has millions of fans throughout the world.

The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the worldwide governing body of soccer. FIFA governs all levels of soccer, including professional play, Olympic competitions, and youth leagues. The organization also governs the sport’s premier event, the World Cup, an international competition held every four years pitting national teams from 32 countries against one another.

FIFA’s rules state that a soccer field must be rectangular. It must be between 90 and 120 m (100 and 130 yd) long and between 45 and 90 m (50 and 100 yd) wide. The rectangular goals at each end of the field are 7.32 m (24 ft) wide and 2.44 m (8 ft) high. The goals are generally made of metal or plastic. A nylon mesh net attached to the goal traps the ball when a team scores.

Several field markings define the area of play. These include the penalty areas, sidelines, end lines, and corner kick quarter-circles. The two penalty areas are the most important field markings. They lie at each end of the field directly in front of the goals. The areas are 40.32 m (44 yd) wide and extend 16.5 m (18 yd) in front of the goal. Goalkeepers can use their hands within this area, but if they venture beyond the boundaries of the penalty area, they must follow the general rules applying to all players. If a player commits a major foul inside the penalty area, the other team is awarded a penalty kick. (Fouls and penalty kicks are discussed in greater detail in the Play section of this article.)

Sidelines and end lines define the area of play, meaning that any space outside these lines is considered out of play. If a team kicks the ball out of bounds over a sideline, the opposing team puts it back in play by a throw-in. To make a throw-in, a player outside the sideline throws the ball to a teammate who is in play. The player must always use two hands and bring the ball from behind the head while standing in the spot where the ball left the field of play. Failure to do so results in a change of possession, and the other team is awarded the throw-in.

ESFA

The ESFA is the governing body of schools football and is responsible for the running and development of schools competitions and festivals for primary and secondary aged boys and girls.

The FA works with ESFA to support high quality, administered and co-ordinated inter-school football competition programmes for all young people.

The Association run a programme of national competitions from U11 to U19. District and County Associations as well as providing locally co-ordinated competitions also provide opportunities for young people to have the experience of playing at a higher level by representing their District or County team.

New Primary Competitions

ESFA Council have looked at the structure of our primary competitions and with the new sponsorship agreement with SAINSBURY’S it has been agreed that the following changes will be made to the 2004-5 Sainsbury’s Small Sided Competitions: -

New competition - girls only Under 11 Individual Schools’ 6-a-side
New competition - boys only Under 11 Individual Schools’ 7-a-side

These new competitions will be in addition to the Sainsbury’s Small Schools’ Sixes and the Sainsbury’s Under 11 7-a-Side Inter-Association Competition
The Finals of the Primary Competitions for Centenary Season (2003-4) will be held at the National Sports Centre, Lilleshall on Saturday 24 April 2004 and will include the winners AND runners-up from each of the four area finals.

The PE, School Sport and Club Links is part of the Government's £539 million investment project. Football, over the next three years, will receive £800,000 funded by DfES, with the project, along with six other sports, managed by Sport England.

Through the School-Club Link programme, The FA aims to:

- Increase the number of young people, aged 5-16 years old, playing on a regular basis in an FA Charter Standard, Community or Ability Counts programme.
- Increase the number of FA Charter Standard and Community clubs
- Develop sustainable partnerships between schools and FA Charter Standard clubs

Local Funding will be available to support The School Club link project, whilst a research program will be set up to monitor and evaluate it's success.

Phase 1 of the project will commence in March 2004 in 9 county sport partnerships that have been chosen by Sport England; Durham, Liverpool, North Riding, Shropshire, Derbyshire, Suffolk, Kent, Somerset and London.

Each County FA will receive funding to work with a minimum of 4 FA Charter Standard clubs, linked to a minimum of one named school in a School-club partnership. This will cover supporting coaches fees for running introductory sessions at schools, bursaries for coaches in clubs, competitions and festivals for schools, as well as supporting liaison work for schools wishing to become FA Charter Standard.
In England the majority of young people between the ages of 16-19 continue their studies through attending Colleges of FE and Sixth Form Colleges.

ECFA

The English Colleges Football Association (ECFA) is a relatively young organisation formed in 2002 following the developments that had taken place within British Colleges Sport its parent body. The English Colleges Football League is a National Youth League sanctioned by the FA, to provide a competitive fixtures for young talented footballers enrolled into College Football Development Centres throughout the country.

Initially eighteen Football Development Centres were established at colleges with some 800 student enrolments. By the start of the 03/04 season the number of college centres had increased to seventy one with over 2500 full-time students. These college Football Development Centres provide for students who wish to return or continue with full-time education or vocational training whilst at the same time improving their football skills through exposure to a minimum of six hours practical coaching delivered by regional coaches qualified to level 3 or level 4 and structured playing opportunities.

The seventy one centres play competitive fixtures based on a regional structure of eight leagues with the winners of each league competing in a champions knock out competition. Additionally many of the Football Development Centres have long standing partnership arrangements with their local non-league football clubs with a small number recently developing links with football league clubs as part of their youth development policy.

The start of 03/04 season has heralded a more structured development of opportunities for women 16-19 students in colleges. The women’s league, growing from a small base in 02/03 has now expanded to three regional leagues accommodating 21 college teams.

The work of ECFA is supported by the Football Association through its Football Development Strategy. The second year of the ECFA business plan focuses on quality assurance processes linked to the piloting of the FA College Charter Standard Scheme, player development through the staging of a number of residential weekends and coach development.

The development of additional partnerships with the Professional Footballers Association and Adidas along with grant support from British Colleges Sport has benefited ECFA’s national representative squad programmes with fixtures in the USA and Italy.

As well as maximising footballing opportunities for all, The Football Association plays a lead role in encouraging, promoting and nurturing the talented players of tomorrow.

The game's future, from a domestic point of view as well as from the perspective of a successful England senior side, depends upon ensuring that the best young players are given every opportunity to fulfil their talent and potential.

At the heart of the F.A.'s commitment is the Charter for Quality programme, which ensures best practice in terms of the coaching and education received by young players. As part of the Charter for Quality, all Premier League clubs must have academies and all Football League clubs must have Centres of Excellence. In the past, youth structures at clubs were fragmented and inconsistent.

This section sets out the progress made in implementing the structures to ensure that the best young players have access to the highest standards of coaching and education and that England continues to produce players of the highest calibre.

Setting Standards

The Charter for Quality is The Football Association’s programme to ensure and guarantee that the development of the country’s best young footballers meets the highest possible standards. By building on the best traditions of this country and learning from techniques employed abroad, The F.A. has built a framework of excellence which is being put into practice at clubs up and down the country.

After considerable research undertaken by The F.A. Technical Department, it became obvious that the following issues had to be addressed if the potential of England’s young players was to be maximised:

Elite young players require a development process to protect and nurture their special talents.
Technical development cannot, and should not, be viewed in isolation of the player’s overall educational and social welfare.
Effective school/home/club links.
F.A. Premier League and Football League Clubs need to have more access to the very best players.
Young gifted players are exposed to too much competitive football and too little practice time.
Enhanced facilities coaching and medical provision is required.
Competitive matches as part of an integrated development programme.
Better qualified coaches to work with elite young players.
Compulsory in-service training a requirement for a Club’s staff.
The registration and screening for all staff together with specific training regarding Child Protection.
The registration of gifted young players carries a responsibility for the Clubs to provide expert tuition, medical provision and educational support.

These key issues formed the basis of the recommendations agreed by the Council of The Football Association in November 1997 involving the creation of licensed Football Academies and the enhancement of licensed Centres of Excellence. The arrangements should mirror the current best practices for gifted musicians, artists and outstanding athletes in other sports.

REGULATIONS FOR THE CONTROL OF YOUTH FOOTBALL
(Players under the age of eighteen (18) on thirty-first (31st) August in the current season)

1. A County Association may form a County Youth Football Association, or carry out the duties by a Committee of its own Association.

2. The constitution of the Youth Association, or Committee, must be submitted to The Football Association.

CHILDREN OF SCHOOL AGE AND SCHOOL GAMES

One of the important aspects of games in school is the opportunity they afford of developing a pupil’s sense of loyalty and honour. It is therefore of concern when interest in games outside the school conflict with a pupil’s loyalty to the school and/or school organisations’ activities.

1. It is usually the pupil of outstanding Football ability whose services are sought by any Club, and the Player is most likely to be a member of the school or association team. While schools’ matches are often arranged on Saturday mornings and Club matches take place in the afternoon, it is considered that a player should not play in two matches on the same day, for the one match is likely to affect play in the other.

2. An outside Club or organisation should consult the head-teacher before selecting any child of school age to play for a team, and should accept the head-teacher’s decision on these matters.

Head-teachers of schools should not restrain pupils, who are not selected for school games of any kind, from playing for an outside organisation during their free time

Club Route

Clubs get established by many sources for example newspapers which have a sections for football on the weekend which show results from the matches and pictures of the teams who have performed the best. fundings for club football come from the government and lottery. Matches are us

Women in sport

Women’s football has been played in England for over 100 years. The first match recorded was in 1895 held between a northern and southern team on March 23rd. The North won the game 7-1. Its popularity continued to grow and early 20th Century was a big era for women’s football where crowds of up to 50,000 watched teams such as Dick, Kerr ladies from Preston play matches to raise money for charity. Unfortunately The Football Association banned the women from playing on league grounds in 1921 and this effectively destroyed the game in this country for over 40 years. When the England men’s team won the World Cup in 1966 football mania swept the country and resurgence in the game began. From 1969 to 1993 the Women’s Football Association set up and ran a successful England team, a national league, an F.A. Cup competition all on limited funds but it was very hard for them to develop the game further at grass roots level and in 1993 The F.A. took control.

With The F.A. taking over the game women’s football received a major boost in terms of access to funding and resources. An example of this is in 1993 there were only 80 girls teams, today there are over 3,500 in schools and clubs and an estimated 45,000 under-16 players. There are 42 Girls Centres of Excellence mainly linked to men’s clubs, 20 academies and a fully-funded scholarship programme for elite England players at Loughborough University. At senior level there is the women’s FA Nationwide Premier League, F.A. Cup and League Cup for domestic competitions as well as school competitions, festivals and girls’ leagues. At England international level we have Under-16, Under-18 and Senior sides.

The FA is pleased to boast that football is now the top female sport in England - this was achieved in the 2001-02 season, two years ahead of our own tough target

Women’s football is a key part of The F.A.’s Development Programme:

Top Sports - putting football bags in every primary school at the cost of £6 million to provide opportunities for both girls and boys and to train teachers who are predominantly female.

Sport England, Football Foundation and FA funding is ensuring there are kick-start courses across the country for girls new to playing football, while developing school and club links to ensure girls develop a lifelong participation in the game rather than dropping out when they’re too old for the school team.

The F.A. have funded the appointment of development officers in every county to deliver programmes including girls and women’s football opportunities (77 appointed so far).

7 FA Regional Development Managers (male and female) are working across the country to help introduce the playing opportunities required by today’s football loving girls and women.

Research has shown that professionalism in women’s football is inevitable and that The FA must lead the development to ensure it is structured and will survive long-term.

Fulham showed how standards can be raised dramatically with their three-year spell as full-time athletes between 2000-2003. There are now five sides within the 10-team National Division who pay their players to play football.

The FA is already working to professionalise the game at all levels, from pitches to ticketing and the general promotion of the game to allowing the opportunity where talented and committed girls can make a career out of their sport.

The women’s game currently faces many challenges to taking steps towards professionalism, but by increasing participation and providing platforms to generate interest in the women’s game as a spectator sport, The FA is driving forward the development of the game at the elite level.

The FA decided to treble its women’s league and cup prize funds for the 2003-04 season to give added investment directly into women’s clubs.