Editing Association football (section)

=== Modern era ===
[[File:Cambridge rules 1856.png|thumb|left|upright|The "Laws of the University Foot Ball Club" (''Cambridge Rules'') of 1856]]
The [[Cambridge rules]], first drawn up at the [[University of Cambridge]] in 1848, were particularly influential in the development of subsequent codes, including association football. The Cambridge rules were written at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], at a meeting attended by representatives from [[Eton College|Eton]], [[Harrow School|Harrow]], [[Rugby School|Rugby]], [[Winchester College|Winchester]] and [[Shrewsbury School|Shrewsbury]] schools. They were not universally adopted. During the 1850s, many clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the English-speaking world to play various forms of football. Some came up with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the [[Sheffield Football Club]], formed by former public school pupils in 1857,<ref>{{cite book |last=Harvey |first=Adrian |title=Football, the first hundred years |publisher=Routledge |page=126 |year=2005 |location=London |isbn=978-0-415-35018-1}}</ref> which led to the formation of a [[Sheffield FA]] in 1867. In 1862, [[John Charles Thring]] of [[Uppingham School]] also devised an influential set of rules.<ref>{{cite news |first=David |last=Winner |date=28 March 2005 |title=The hands-off approach to a man's game |newspaper=The Times |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,27-1544006,00.html |access-date=7 October 2007 |location=London |archive-date=23 January 2014  |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140123053942/http://web.archive.org/web/20100605085610/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article438583.ece |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Original laws of the game 1863.jpg|right|thumb|An early draft of the original hand-written "Laws of the Game", drawn up on behalf of the Football Association by [[Ebenezer Cobb Morley]] in 1863, on display at the [[National Football Museum]] in [[Manchester]].]]

These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of [[the Football Association]] (the FA) in 1863, which first met on the morning of 26 October 1863 at the [[Freemasons' Tavern]] in [[Great Queen Street]], London.<ref name="FAhistory">{{cite web |title=History of the FA |publisher=The Football Association |url=http://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/history |access-date=9 October 2007 |archive-date=25 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125012322/http://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/history |url-status=live}}</ref> The only school to be represented on this occasion was [[Charterhouse School|Charterhouse]]. The Freemasons' Tavern was the setting for five more meetings of the FA between October and December 1863; the English FA eventually issued the first comprehensive set of rules named [[Laws of the Game (association football)|Laws of the Game]], forming modern football.<ref name="BLibrary" /> The laws included bans on running with the ball in hand and [[Hacking (rugby)|hacking]] (kicking an opponent in the shins), tripping and holding.<ref name="nov_24">{{cite news |title=The Football Association |work=Bell's Life in London |date=28 November 1863 |page=6 |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Football_Association_(Bells_Life_in_London)_1863-11-28.png |access-date=18 September 2023 |archive-date=20 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230920175802/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Football_Association_(Bells_Life_in_London)_1863-11-28.png |url-status=live}}</ref> Eleven clubs, under the charge of FA secretary [[Ebenezer Cobb Morley]], ratified the original thirteen laws of the game.<ref name="FAhistory" /> The sticking point was hacking, which a twelfth club at the meeting, [[Blackheath FC]], had wanted to keep, resulting in their withdrawal from the FA.<ref name="FAhistory" /> Other [[History of rugby union|English rugby clubs followed this lead]] and did not join the FA, and instead in 1871, along with Blackheath, formed the [[Rugby Football Union]]. The 1863 FA rules included handling of the ball by "[[Mark (Australian rules football)#Origins of the mark|marks]]" and the lack of a crossbar, making the game remarkably similar to [[Victorian rules football]], which was being developed around the same time in Australia. The Sheffield FA played by its own rules until the 1870s, with the FA absorbing some of its rules until there was little difference between the games.<ref name="Merger">{{cite book |last=Young |first=Percy M. |year=1964 |title=Football in Sheffield |pages=28–29 |publisher=S. Paul}}</ref>

[[File:AstonVilla1896-97.jpg|thumb|The [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] team in 1897, after winning both the [[FA Cup]] and the [[English Football League]]]]
The world's oldest football competition is the [[FA Cup]], which was founded by the footballer and cricketer [[Charles W. Alcock]], and has been contested by English teams since 1872. The [[1872 Scotland v England football match|first official international football match]] also took place in 1872, between Scotland and England in [[Glasgow]], again at the instigation of Alcock. England is also home to the world's first [[The Football League|football league]], which was founded in [[Birmingham]] in 1888 by [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] director [[William McGregor (football)|William McGregor]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The History of the Football League |publisher=The Football League |url=http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/History/HistoryDetail/0,,10794~1357277,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501121005/http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/History/HistoryDetail/0%2C%2C10794~1357277%2C00.html |archive-date=1 May 2011 |date=22 September 2010 |access-date=4 March 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The original format contained 12 clubs from the [[Midlands]] and [[Northern England]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Parrish |first1=Charles |last2=Nauright |first2=John |title=Soccer around the World: A Cultural Guide to the World's Favorite Sport |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2014 |location=Santa Barbara, CA |page=78 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N6qSAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA78 |isbn=978-1-61069-302-8 |access-date=8 December 2018 |archive-date=26 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026170504/https://books.google.com/books?id=N6qSAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA78 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Laws of the Game are determined by the [[International Football Association Board]] (IFAB).<ref>{{cite web |title=IFAB |url=https://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/ifab/aboutifab.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008092538/http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/ifab/aboutifab.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 October 2011 |publisher=FIFA |access-date=10 December 2011}}</ref> The board was formed in 1886<ref>{{cite web |title=The International FA Board |publisher=FIFA |url=http://access.fifa.com/en/history/history/0,3504,3,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070422035010/http://access.fifa.com/en/history/history/0%2C3504%2C3%2C00.html |archive-date=22 April 2007 |access-date=2 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> after a meeting in [[Manchester]] of the Football Association, the [[Scottish Football Association]], the [[Football Association of Wales]], and the [[Irish Football Association]]. [[FIFA]], the international football body, was formed in [[Paris]] in 1904 and declared that they would adhere to the Laws of the Game of the Football Association.<ref name=Wherebegan /> The growing popularity of the international game led to the admittance of FIFA representatives to the IFAB in 1913. The board consists of four representatives from FIFA and one representative from each of the four British associations.<ref name="FIFA">{{Cite web |title=The IFAB: How it works |url=https://www.fifa.com/who-we-are/news/the-ifab-how-works-1177401 |date=4 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129205955/https://www.fifa.com/who-we-are/news/the-ifab-how-works-1177401|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 January 2021|access-date=30 October 2020 |website=FIFA}}</ref>