The 1870s in the development of soccer
Year |
Event |
1871 |
The first FA Cup matches were played in the 1871-72 season. The first goal in the competition was scored by Jarvis Kenrick for Clapham Rovers at West Ham Park. Known officially as The Football Association Challenge Cup, it is the oldest national football competition in the world. |
1872 |
Wanderers won the first FA Cup competition, beating Royal Engineers, 1.0, at Kennington Oval, London. in front of 2,000 paying spectators. |
1872 |
The first international football match was played at Hamilton Crescent, Partick, Glasgow between the national teams of Scotland and England. A crowd of 4,000 saw it finish in a 0.0 draw. |
1874 |
The FA authorised referees to send players off for certain offences. Teams were also now required to change ends at half-time. |
1875 |
Crossbars were introduced, replacing tape which used to mark the top of the goal. |
1877 |
The length of each football match was set at 90 minutes. |
1878 |
Blackburn Olympic was formed. In 1880, the club entered the FA Cup for the first time, and three years later defeated Old Etonians at Kennington Oval to win the trophy. Although the club was only in existence for just over a decade, it is significant in the history of football in England as the first club from the north of the country and the first from a working-class background to win the country's leading competition. The Cup had previously been won only by teams of wealthy amateurs from the home counties, and Olympic's victory marked a turning point in the sport's transition from a pastime for upper-class gentlemen to a professional sport. |
1878 |
The first football match ever to be staged under electric floodlighting took place at Sheffield's Bramall Lane ground, featuring a game between Reds and Blues representing the leading players of the day. |