Football is the most popular sport in the United Kingdom. Football is organised on a separate basis in each of the four constituent countries, England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that make up the United Kingdom (UK), with each having a national football association responsible for the overall management of football within their respective country. There is no United Kingdom national football team. Football has been the most popular sport in the UK since the 1860s. Rugby union, rugby league and cricket are other popular sports.
This article provides some comparisons concerning football in the home nations. For details about football across the United Kingdom and its territories, refer to the table below:
Men's footballWomen's footballHome nationsFootball in EnglandWomen's football in EnglandFootball in ScotlandWomen's football in ScotlandFootball in WalesWomen's football in WalesFootball in Northern IrelandWomen's football in Northern IrelandCrown dependencies Football in the Isle of ManFootball in JerseyFootball in GuernseyBritish Overseas Territories Football in AnguillaFootball in BermudaFootball in the British Virgin Islands Football in the Cayman IslandsFootball in GibraltarFootball in Montserrat Football in the Turks and Caicos Islands
Football associations
Each of the countries of the United Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the home nations, has a national football association responsible for the overall management of football within their respective nation: The Football Association, (FA) is responsible for England and the Crown Dependencies and was founded in 1863, The Scottish Football Association (SFA) was founded in 1873 followed by the Football Association of Wales (FAW) in 1876 and Irish Football Association (IFA) in 1880. They are the world's four oldest national football associations and play an important part in football worldwide as they take up four of the eight seats on the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which determines the Laws of the Game, the other four seats being occupied by FIFA.
Men's International football
The United Kingdom plays its international football as separate Home Nations teams of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The only exception to this is during the Summer Olympics where the United Kingdom is represented by Great Britain Olympic football team, which despite the name includes Northern Ireland. Some people, such as politician Tony Banks, have argued for the UK having just one team to represent it for all competitions but all four football associations are very much against such an idea.
There are sometimes issues about which team players are eligible for (as all the players representing those teams have British passports), but a player is generally eligible for whichever nation he, his parents or grandparents were born in (in the case of these being different nations, then he can choose). This has been the case with some players such as Aiden McGeady and Jack Collison who have chosen to play for the country of their parental heritage rather than the country of their birth. Players from crown dependencies (i.e. the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands), which are technically not in the UK, are eligible for all four teams (e.g. Matt Le Tissier and Graeme Le Saux, both of whom opted for England), as were British citizens born outside the UK or its possessions – Eric Young (born in Singapore) and Pat van den Hauwe (born in Belgium) had previously opted for Wales under the same rulePat Van den Hauwe: Kendall told me to pick Wales , Nil Satis Nisi Optimum, 23 October 2015Eric Young went from non league to the international stage via Brighton and Crystal Palace, In Parallel Lines, 26 November 2017 and Maik Taylor (born in Germany to a British father) used it to represent Northern Ireland – but residency criteria now also apply.
United Kingdom Olympic history
In the early years, the Olympic football competition was contested between amateur sides, and the British Olympic Committee agreed to let the England amateur team represent the entire UK. More recently the Olympic competition has been played by under-23s teams and Great Britain has not normally been represented. This is because qualification is based on the UEFA Under-21 championship, which means it is impossible for Great Britain to qualify as the national teams participate separately in that competition. There have been instances where an individual nation would have qualified, but a lower ranked nation has taken its place instead.
An exception to this was the 2012 Summer Olympics, which were hosted to London. This meant that Great Britain qualified, by right of being host nation, for the football tournaments. While the English Football Association favoured the idea of a unified team for 2012, the other three federations opposed the concept. The Scottish Football Association was particularly strident in this view, fearing that a single UK team would jeopardise the independent status all four Home Nations enjoy. FIFA set a deadline of 1 June 2009 for the Home Nations to come to an agreement, which resulted in the four associations sending a letter to FIFA stating that while the Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Ireland associations still opposed the concept of a unified Great Britain team and would not participate in such a team, they would not prevent England from fielding a team under that banner. FIFA president Sepp Blatter officially approved the deal within days. However, even though the Welsh had said they would not participate in such a team, Welsh players such as Gareth Bale expressed an interest in playing for a unified team. The Football Association chose to disregard the agreement and selected five Welsh players for the men's team. The future of Great Britain Olympic teams is uncertain as there is no mechanism for them to qualify for forthcoming tournaments. However, the presence of a unified women's team at Tokyo 2020 gave hope for the future of the men's team.
International matches between the home nations
The UK teams have played each other more times than any other footballing nations in the world. The world's first international football match was played between Scotland and England in Glasgow in 1872 (a 0–0 draw). From then on, all four teams started playing regular friendlies against each other. In 1883 a formal competition between the UK's teams, the British Home Championship, was introduced, guaranteeing that each team would play the other three at least once a season. The Championship was discontinued in 1984, partly due to problems of crowd trouble, and partly due to the desire of England (and to a lesser extent Scotland) to contest international fixtures against larger and more powerful nations.
While the British Home Championship was being played, the UK teams were also drawn together on a number of occasions during qualification competitions for the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championships. Early tournaments simply used the British Championship as a qualifying group, but during qualification for the 1974 World Cup, England and Wales were drawn in the same group. Subsequent to this, three more qualification tournaments saw UK teams drawn together while the British Championship was being played. Since the end of the British Home Championship, the teams have played each other mainly when drawn together in international competitions such as the European Championship or the World Cup, with occasional friendly fixtures.
In 2011, Vauxhall signed sponsorship deals with the FA, SFA, FAW and IFA, and stated their desire to see the four home nations play each other in a version of the British Home Championship again.
Since the end of the British Home Championship, there have been many calls for it to be restored to the schedule. One argument is that it would replace so-called "meaningless friendlies" with a proper tournament that would raise the interest of both the players and fans. However there has been a lack of enthusiasm for such a proposal, particularly from England; as time has passed, The Football Association has grown in commercial power beyond that of the other three home associations, so that it could be claimed that friendlies against major footballing nations from Europe and South America are worth more than playing the home nations.
In December 2006, Lawrie Sanchez suggested that a tournament featuring the three home Celtic nations plus the Republic of Ireland could be organised. He stated that the IFA hierarchy were supportive of a new Home Championship, while the SFA expressed guarded interest. This was further elaborated in February 2007 when Alex McLeish, the newly appointed manager of Scotland, expressed interest in playing against the home nations and the Republic of Ireland. Accepting that England would probably not be interested in a new Home Championship, he said, "If the English FA are thinking about opposition for the new Wembley, I hope we're in their thoughts." Both England and Wales were less enthusiastic, stating that with the number of friendlies played each year it would "be difficult to see how the Home Nations would fit in".BBC Sport: "Home nations consider new league, 4 Feb 2007 accessed 18 September 2008
On 18 September 2008, it was announced that a tournament featuring the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – the Nations Cup – would be played in 2011."Celtic nations to play 2011 event BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 September 2008 The attendances for the matches, particularly those not involving the Republic or Scotland, were low and the tournament has not been repeated.
Coefficients of British national teams
FIFA As of October 2020 Team Points Rank 1669 4/210 1550 20/210 1458 41/210 1446 45/210 983 168/210 921 184/210 897 193/210 890 195/210 862 203/210 842 208/210 821 209/210
UEFA As of 2017 Team 36,231 6/55 29,269 14/55 27,127 21/55 25,662 27/55 7,550 55/55
CONCACAF As of 2018 Team Points Rank 924 21/40 543 33/40 483 34/40 435 35/40 261 39/40 261 40/40
National football teams of the Crown dependencies and overseas territories Although technically not part of the UK, football in the crown dependencies is governed by The Football Association and represented by the England national football team. At the same time the crown dependencies also have their own non-FIFA affiliated teams:
Guernsey national football team Alderney national football team Sark national football team Isle of Man national football team Jersey national football team
Overseas territories are not technically part of the UK either, and they have their own teams. Some of the overseas territories have full or associate membership in the corresponding regional federations:
Ascension Island national football team Anguilla national football team Bermuda national football team British Virgin Islands national football team Cayman Islands national football team Falkland Islands national football team Gibraltar national football team Montserrat national football team Pitcairn Islands national football team Saint Helena national football team Turks and Caicos Islands national football team
Women's International Football
History The history of women's club football in the United Kingdom dates back to the early 20th century. Despite facing numerous obstacles and challenges, the sport has seen an increase in popularity and success over the years, becoming an integral part of the United Kingdom's sports culture.