The very first Football League
It is generally accepted how the first officially organised league competition in the world was the (English) Football League formed in 1888. Then, it consisted of 12 clubs all of whom were based in the North and also the Midlands of England. The 1st winners with the Football League Championship were Preston North End.
In 1992 using the influx of megabucks from BSkyB (now called Sky TV), the most notable teams broke off to form their own league called the FA Premier League.
Today, the original Football League has 3 divisions called; the Championship, Division 1 and Division 2.
In order that England today includes a total of four years old professional football leagues, with teams upgrading (promotion) or down (relegation) through the leagues according to their points tally at the conclusion of each season.
The very first Football Association Cup (FA Cup)
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The initial FA Cup final was played in England in 1872 between Royal Engineers and Wanderers in front of 2,000 spectators. Wanderers ran out 1-0 winners partly because Royal Engineers -- who were the favourites -- lost a new player through injury, early in the match, coupled with to experience on with only 10 men since substitutes were not allowed then. The "Challenge Cup", because it was known originally, was the brainchild of Mr. C. W. Alcock of Sunderland who proposed only the year before that "A challenge cup ought to be established in connection with the Association"; the "Association" being the Football Association, hence the FA Cup.
The Oldest Soccer club on earth
There have for ages been many arguments over the oldest football club on the planet. Here are some points to consider though...
The oldest, continuously documented, "football" club in the world is Dublin University Soccer club, within the Republic of Ireland, that was founded in 1854. However, the club now plays Rugby Union, not Association Football. Because of this it isnt officially recognized as the oldest soccer club on the planet.
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Sheffield Soccer club -- Sheffield FC -- founded in England in 1857, is recognised by both the English FA and FIFA being the oldest, continuously documented soccer club on the planet still playing Association Football. They play in the Northern Premier League Division 1 South in England. So they are often now recognised being the oldest soccer club in the world.
But, there is documentation of a "football club" in Edinburgh, Scotland between 1824 and 1841. Several documents still exist today which refer to the "Foot Ball Club" and its really rules. It worked rather like a golf club where members selected teams from their membership to experience one another. The club has been now been reconstituted and plays under the name of "The Foot Ball Club of Edinburgh" in an amateur capacity.
The First International Football Match
The first international football match was played between Scotland and England in Glasgow, Scotland on 30th November 1872, before 4,000 spectators. The result would be a hard-fought 0-0 draw. As well as the 110 games played between 1872 and 1999 when the fixture was disbanded, Scotland had won 41, England 45, and 24 games had ended in a draw.
The very first Trainers Dugout
The first ever recorded use of a sunken covered enclosure at the side of the pitch (the dugout) is at the early 1920s at Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen, Scotland. The trainer at the time, Donald Coleman, been there designed to protect himself as they took detailed notes of his players during matches, as was his practice, and, was partly sunken in to the ground so you dont block spectators views from the game. Visiting teams were so impressed how the idea soon spread throughout great britain and then the rest of the world.
