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The English Football Portal

The England national football team playing at Wembley.

Football is the most popular sport in England. England is home to the world's first football league, the oldest national governing body, and the oldest national knockout competition. The first modern rules for the game were established in England in 1863. England is one of the oldest national football teams, having played in the first international match in 1872. England won the FIFA World Cup in 1966, and has qualified for the World Cup 16 times. England has more football clubs than any other country, including the world's first club, Sheffield F.C., and the world's oldest professional club, Notts County. England's top domestic league, the Premier League, is one of the most popular and richest leagues in the world. The British Empire's cultural power spread the rules of football to areas of British influence. England the home of football, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association football clubs, England has more clubs involved in the code than any other country. England hosts the world's first club, Sheffield F.C.; the world's oldest professional association football club, Notts County; the oldest national governing body, the Football Association; the joint-oldest national team; the oldest national knockout competition, the FA Cup; and the oldest national league, the English Football League. It also has 31% of the population interested in Football. Today England's top domestic league, the Premier League, is one of the most popular and richest sports leagues in the world, with five of the ten richest football clubs in the world as of 2022.

The England national football team is one of only eight teams to win the FIFA World Cup, having done so once, in 1966. A total of six English club teams have won the UEFA Champions League, formerly known as the European Cup. (Full article...)

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The 2008 UEFA Champions League final was a football match played at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia on 21 May 2008, to decide the winner of the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League. It was contested by Manchester United and Chelsea, making it an all-English final for the first time in European Cup history. It finished 1-1 after extra time, but Manchester United won 6–5 on penalties, winning it for the third time. This success also marked the 100th anniversary of Manchester United's first league triumph in 1908, the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, and the 40th anniversary of United's first European Cup triumph in 1968.

Chelsea have never gone to this stage of the competition until 2008, but United have appeared in two European Cup finals before in 1968 and 1999, both ending in victory, with the latter capping off a treble. The two started off in the group stages and both finished top spot, but Chelsea decided to change their manager, with Jose Mourinho being dismissed and Avram Grant was named as his replacement. United had gotten past the defending French champions Lyon, Italian club Roma, and a two-time European Cup winner at the time, Barcelona. Chelsea, on the other hand, have had a more bumpier ride, having only drawn 0-0 at Greek club Olympiakos in the last 16 and trailed 2-1 to Turkish champions Fenerbahçe in the quarter-final first legs. However, they won both second legs at home and set up a semi-final against Liverpool, the team that beat them at this stage twice in three years. Ultimately, Chelsea made it third time lucky against the then five-time winners, defeating them 4-3 on aggregate to make their first ever European Cup final.

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Did you know...

...that a steam-powered portable engine (pictured) drove the dynamo for the first floodlit football match in the UK in 1878?

...that Garry Parker ran the full length of the pitch at Wembley Stadium to score a goal for Nottingham Forest in the final of the Simod Cup against Everton in 1989, which Forest won 4-3?

...that footballer David Weir scored Manchester City's first ever FA Cup goal?

...that John Percival, when headmaster of Rugby School, gained the nickname "Percival of the knees" because he was concerned about "impurity" and insisted that boys secure their football shorts below the knee with elastic?

...that after retiring, former Premier League footballer Adrian Whitbread worked in four different clubs as assistant coach for Martin Allen?

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Playoff final in 2006 at the Millennium Stadium

The Football League is a league competition featuring professional football clubs from England and Wales, and is the oldest such competition in world football. Its 72 clubs are evenly divided into three divisions, The Championship, League One, and League Two. Promotion and relegation between these divisions is a central feature of the League and is further extended to allow the top Championship clubs to exchange places with the lowest placed clubs in the Premier League, and the bottom clubs of League Two to switch with the top clubs of the Football Conference, thus integrating the League into the English football league system. Although primarily a competition for English clubs, three clubs from Wales also take part.

The Football League is also the name of the governing body of the league competition and this body also organises two knockout cup competitions, the Football League Cup and the Football League Trophy.

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Football • England • English football task force

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Credit: en.wikipedia user Richj1209

England have had a long running rivalry with nearby Germany since an early tour of the country in 1899. Although the main rivalry began after the 1966 FIFA World Cup, it was fed by other events, like the second world war.

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