Evolution of the English Football Business

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In October 1863, after a meeting of London and suburban clubs, the Football Association, which is English football’s present-day governing body and the first national FA in the world, was created. It also became the association to which all clubs and lower institutions were affiliated. The rules of the FA were codified in 1877 and were approved among all members. All the rules and the disciplinary decisions were guaranteed by the state.

Soon afterwards the oldest football association competition in the world emerged: The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. The first FA Cup in 1871-72 was contested by 15 clubs mainly from London or near London. In 1883 it was the first time that a northern team (Blackburn Olympics) won the FA Cup.

The principle of professionalism was accepted by the FA in July 1885 after 4 years negotiation, and three years later was formed the Football League, for the simple reason that professionalism was a key development for its creation in 1888. It was created by William McGregor, a Scotsman who became a director of Aston Villa. He decided that football needed order and wrote to the main clubs of the time that they should combine to arrange home and away fixtures each season. It became official the 22 March 1888. However, Professionalization of Football which helped its creation was much contested at the time. The FA introduced a maximum wage for players but the clubs provided under-the-counter payments for them with generous salaries.

The first non-British FA was formed in 1889 but English was the official language of associations and football terms like «corner», «penalty», or «hooligan» became standard among players and supporters all over the world. Another interesting thing is that the referee only came in 1891 because of some trouble taking decisions during the matches. But some people always thought it was not hard to intimidate the neutral individual.

The Football League started with 12 teams in one division. But during the next three decades this membership expanded progressively. In 1893, a second division of 12 teams was created while the membership of the first division expanded to 16. Several leading clubs of the present time made their appearance in the 1890, including Manchester United (Newton Heath at the time) in 1893 and Liverpool in 1894. The number of teams of the two divisions was expanded to 32 teams in the 1895 season, 36 teams in 1899 and then 40 teams in 1906. In the 1921 season, a Division 3 was added to the existing two divisions (which had a membership of 44 teams by then). This new division included the 22 teams from the southern division. In the next season (1922), another Division 3, from the northern division this time, was created, including 22 teams. So, shortly after the First World War, the league managed to achieve a membership of 88 teams, which can actually be compared to the membership of today’s Football League and Premier League. In 1922, the main structure of the Football League was here but there were still important changes in the following years.

The first one was the number of teams that increased from 88 to 92 teams in 1951. Another thing is that before 1959, the teams of the lower two Third divisions were based on the geographical situation (South and North divisions) and there was no difference in the level, but after this date, these divisions were reorganized into Division 3 and 4 with membership determined on merit this time ( promotion and relegation system). Besides that, another promotion and relegation system was made between Division 4 and the top league outside the Football League. Concerning later important rule changes, we have the introduction of players’ substitution in 1965 for injuries and then for any other reason in 1966. Plus, since 1981 only, they decided to give 3 points for a win. But we think the most important change of the Football League since the 1920 is the withdrawal of division 1 to form a breakaway Premier League the 15 august 1992 (the date of the premier league's first match) because this development had big organisational and financial implications, even if it has not really affected professional football’s basic competitive structure.

The Carling cup was at the beginning The League cup. This league was created in 1960. This competition is less important for the club as the other competition like the FA cup or the Championship. Only 92 can take part to the Carling Cup: the 20 of the Premier League and the 72 of the football League. Since 1982 the League Cup had been sponsored by five different organisations (The Milk Marketing Board, Littlewoods, Rumbelows, Coca Cola and Worthington’s) and most of these sponsors didn’t hang around for long. Now the sponsor is Carling. The League Cup took the name of its sponsor. That’s why it’s now called the Carling cup.

The Carling Cup is played in 7 rounds: during the first round the clubs from all the football League except if they are playing a European competition are divided depending their geographical localisation. The north and the south. Each section is divided in two. One half of each is “seeded” and the other is not. Then a draw is made to know if the “seeded” club are playing home or away and then another draw is made with the “unseeded” clubs to know the opponent. Its single matches and if it’s draw there is extra-time and penalties. The winner goes to the next round.

In the second round, the clubs from the Premier League are playing against the winners of the first round. It’s also knock out matches with extra-time and penalties. The winner goes to the next round. In the third round it’s the clubs who are competing in a European competition who are introducing in the cup against the winners of the second round. Same matches that the other round. For the fourth and the five it’s the winners of the others rounds who are competing in knock out matches. The particularity of the Cup is that during the semi-finals the clubs are playing two home and away matches. The first match hasn’t extra-time and the second can have prolongation if there is draw in the number of points. The final is a single match with extra-time and penalties if necessary.

Carling became the sponsor of the League Cup at the start of the 2003/04 season. The competition’s standing and credibility was very bad. The first thing to do for Carling was to restore credibility and stability

Having spent two years establishing Carling as a credible sponsor of the League Cup, the 2005/06 season was the right time for the brand to start something new. Fans and media were ready for something more adventurous from the sponsor. Carling has created the “Fans’ Final” concept which was launched ahead