British Football Association

The British Football Association was a short lived ruling body for the game of football. It was set up in 1884 in response to the attitude of the Football Association to the issue of professionalism.

History

Until the employment of professionals by Darwen and their success in reaching the quarter finals of the FA Cup in 1879, all teams had been amateur. There was a proposal by a London club before the match that any side not consisting entirely of amateurs should be barred from the Cup.

The FA Cup was initially contested by mostly southern, amateur teams but more professionally organised northern clubs began to dominate the competition during the early 1880s; "The turning point, north replacing south, working class defeating upper and professionals impinging upon the amateurs' territory, came in 1883."[1] Hitherto, public school sides had played a dribbling game punctuated by violent tackles, but a new passing style developed in Scotland was successfully adopted by some Lancashire teams, along with a more professional approach to training. Blackburn Olympic reached the final in March 1883 and defeated Old Etonians.[2] In 1883 Accrington were expelled from the FA for paying players, while nearby Blackburn Rovers had also started to pay players, and the following season won the first of three consecutive FA Cups.[2][1]

The FA initially tried to outlaw professionalism but, in the face of a threatened break-away association (the British Football Association was formed by 37 mainly northern and midlands-based clubs), was forced to permit payments to players in 1885[3] (the first Football League, established in 1888, featured six teams from northwest England and six from the midlands).[1] This action by the FA was eventually to lead to the break-away and formation of the Amateur Football Association in 1907.

A similar split in rugby led to the separate sports of rugby union and rugby league.

Sources
  1. Jolly, Richard (23 October 2010). "Football's working-class roots". The National. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  2. "Blackburn Olympic 1883". When Saturday Comes. October 2006. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  3. Lewis, R.W. "'Touched Pitch and Been Shockingly Defiled': Football, Class, Social Darwinism and Decadence in England, 1880-1914", in Mangan, J.A. (1999) Sport in Europe: Politics, Class, Gender (Frank Cass, London), pp.117-143.
  • Butler, Bryon (1991). The Official History of The Football Association. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 30. ISBN 0-356-19145-1.
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