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The English Football Portal

The England national football team playing at Wembley.

Football is the most popular sport in England, 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. 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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Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional football team based in Sheffield, England who currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the Football League. Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world.

Nicknamed the "Owls", the club has won four league titles, three FA Cups and one League Cup, but their League Cup triumph in 1991 is their only major trophy since World War II. They did reach both domestic cup finals in 1993, but lost 2-1 to Arsenal each time.

Their main rivals are neighbours Sheffield United. Matches between Wednesday and United are nicknamed Steel City derbies and are usually the highlight of the season for both sets of fans. Famous matches include The Boxing Day Massacre, a Football League Third Division match which took place at Hillsborough on 26 December 1979. A record Third Division crowd of 49,309 fans watched Wednesday beat United 4-0 and the game has become part of Sheffield Wednesday folklore, even inspiring a song.

Whilst they have some successes, there has been a few bleak moments for the Owls. After relegation from the First Division in 1970, Wednesday did not reappear at this level until 14 years later after a grim 70s. Currently, they have played in the top tier 66 times, but have not returned since 2000.

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Did you know...

...that Stoke City F.C. (1870s squad pictured) is the second-oldest English football league club, as it was founded in 1863?

...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 England football captain Eddie Hapgood was forced by diplomats to give a Nazi salute before a match with Germany in 1938?

...that English football referee Matt Messias once urged a Portsmouth defender not to kick an opposing player during a match against Newcastle United because "the devil was trying to get him sent off"?

...that Stockport County physio Rodger Wylde formed a rock group with player Tom Bennett whilst treating his broken leg?

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The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association. The name "FA Cup" refers to the English men's tournament. The equivalent competition for women's teams is the FA Women's Cup.

The FA Cup is the oldest football competition in the world, commencing in the 1871-72 season. Because it involves clubs of all standards playing against each other there is the possibility for "minnows" from the lower divisions to become "giant-killers" by eliminating top clubs from the tournament, although lower division teams rarely reach the final. A record 762 teams were accepted into the FA Cup in 2011-12, which is to date, the most amount of entrants. In comparison, the League Cup can involve only the 72 members of The Football League (which organises the competition) and the 20 teams in the Premiership for a total of 92 eligible teams. The team who have won the most FA Cups throughout the competition's history is Arsenal, having won it on 14 occasions and The Gunners also appeared in the final the most, reaching the showpiece event 21 times. Manchester United are second on the list on Cup wins on 12 and, like Arsenal, appeared in 21 finals, but they hold the most defeats there with 9. Everton and Chelsea have both lost one less, but the latter became the first team to lose three successive final appearances (2020, 2021, and 2022).

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Former manager of Russia Fabio Capello. He became manager on July 26, 2012 following the resignation of Dick Advocaat. Before Russia, he managed England, he resigned from England on February 8, 2012, following the FA removing the captaincy from John Terry. He was a former President of the League Managers Association.

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