Timeline of English football

1840s – 1850s – 1860s – 1870s – 1880s – 1890s – 1900s – 1910s – 1920s – 1930s – 1940s – 1950s – 1960s – 1970s – 1980s – 1990s – 2000s

2010s

2019 – 2018 – 2017 – 2016 – 2015 – 2014 – 2013 – 2012 – 2011 – 2010

2019

2018
  • Manchester City win the Premier League Title and become the Centurions, the first club to win the Premier League with 100 points. During the season they break multiple all-time Premier League and Top Division records.
  • In League One, the two offshoot clubs of Wimbledon, AFC Wimbledon and Milton Keynes Dons, end the 2017–18 season with different fates, with AFCW surviving and MK Dons relegated to League Two. This means that the 2018–19 season will be the first in which AFCW will play in a higher division than MK Dons.

2017

2016
  • The Football League renames itself as the English Football League, with all of the leagues and cup competitions it organises including "EFL" in their titles.
  • Manchester United equal Arsenal's record 12 FA Cups.
  • Leicester City win the top tier title of English football for the first time in history, with one British sports book having offered preseason odds of 5000/1 against their winning the title.
  • Leicester City's Jamie Vardy became the first player to score in 11 consecutive appearances in Premier League history.

2015
  • Arsenal win the FA Cup for a record twelfth time.
  • Bournemouth plays in the Premier League for the first time after winning the Football League Championship.

2014
  • 19 May: Louis van Gaal is confirmed as manager of Manchester United. Former interim manager Ryan Giggs is named as his assistant, and confirms his retirement as a player at the age of 40 after nearly a quarter of a century during which he played 963 games and won an English record of 22 major trophies.[1]

2013
  • Sir Alex Ferguson retires after winning Manchester United's record-setting 20th league title.
  • Wigan Athletic wins the FA Cup for the first time, but are relegated from the Premier League, becoming the first FA Cup winner to be relegated on the same season as their Cup win.
  • Swansea City wins the Football League Cup for the first time and becomes the first Welsh club to represent the English football league system in European tournaments.
  • Gareth Bale signs for Real Madrid for an £85.3 million transfer fee.

2012

2011
  • Manchester City won the 130th FA Cup Final beating Stoke City 1–0 at Wembley.
  • On Saturday, 5 February there were 41 goals from 8 Premier League games which was the record for a single day in the Premier League since it became a 20 team division. The results were Aston Villa 2–2 Fulham, Everton 5–3 Blackpool, Manchester City 3–0 West Brom, Newcastle 4–4 Arsenal, Stoke 3–2 Sunderland, Tottenham 2–1 Bolton, Wigan 4–3 Blackburn, Wolves 2–1 Manchester United.
  • Chelsea sign Fernando Torres from Liverpool for a British record £50 million.

2010

2000s

2009 – 2008 – 2007 – 2006 – 2005 – 2004 – 2003 – 2002 – 2001 – 2000

2009
  • Manchester United become the first team to win three consecutive top division titles on more than one occasion. They also win the third Football League Cup of their history, but endure disappointment when losing 2–0 to FC Barcelona of Spain in the UEFA Champions League final.
  • Cardiff City leave Ninian Park after 100 years and relocate to a new 27,000-seat stadium nearby.
  • Cristiano Ronaldo, a Portuguese forward, becomes the most expensive footballer in the world when Manchester United sell him to the Spanish giants Real Madrid for £80million
  • Sir Bobby Robson, who guided Ipswich Town to FA Cup glory in 1978 and UEFA Cup glory in 1981, as well as guiding the England team to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup, dies of cancer aged 76.
  • Chester City, the Conference team who were relegated from The Football League last year, go out of business after 125 years in existence. They are reformed as Chester and will initially compete in a regional division.
  • Having been deducted a record 30 points for financial irregularities before the start of the season, Luton Town are relegated to the Conference and become the first club to fall to that level after three successive relegations.

2008
  • Portsmouth beat Cardiff City 1–0 in the FA Cup final.
  • In early September, both Kevin Keegan and Alan Curbishley walk out of their Premier League management jobs, citing boardroom interference in transfers. In the same week, Dimitar Berbatov completes a move to Manchester United against the wishes of the Tottenham Hotspur board, and Manchester City were purchased by the Abuansfer record by purchasing Robinho of Brazil for £32million – slightly exceeding the £30.75million that their city rivals paid for Berbatov.
  • Three clubs start the Football League Two season with points deductions. Both Rotherham United and Bournemouth started the season on −17 points after exiting administration without using a Company Voluntary Agreement. Luton Town started on −30 points after a 20-point deduction due to exiting administration without using a CVA and a 10-point deduction due to illegal agent payments during transfers. This 30-point deduction doubled the previous record points deduction imposed on a club in 2007.
  • Manchester United win the Premier League for the 10th time and overall 17th English League Championship. It is also the tenth title for manager Sir Alex Ferguson (now the longest serving manager in English football with 22 years of unbroken service at the club) and Ryan Giggs, the only player to have collected title medals with all 10 of their championship winning sides since 1993.
  • Tottenham Hotspur beat Chelsea 2–1 after extra time in the first final of the Football League Cup to be held at the new Wembley Stadium
  • Fabio Capello succeeds Steve McClaren as head coach of the England national football team.
  • Derby became the first Premier League side to be relegated in March.
  • The 2008 UEFA Champions League Final is the first all English club final in European Cup/Champions League history
  • In the first all-English European Cup final, Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties after a 1–1 draw in Moscow, Russia.
  • Leicester City are relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time in their 124-year history.
  • Aldershot Town win promotion to the Football League as Conference National champions, 16 years after the old Aldershot club went out of business.
  • Hull City A.F.C. reach Premier League for first time in their history beating Bristol City F.C. 1–0 at Wembley Stadium.

2007
  • Luton Town F.C. enter administration on 22 November thus incurring a 10-point deduction for the 2007–08 season.[2]
  • Steve McClaren is fired from the job as England manager after failing to qualify for Euro 2008 – the first time in 24 years that England have failed to qualify for the European Championships.
  • Leeds United are hit with the biggest point deduction yet in English professional football history on 4 August after the club was sold without a C.V.A. after entering administration, required by league rules.[3] This penalty was applied for the 2007–08 season meaning Leeds would start the season on minus 15 points.
  • Manchester United win the Premiership for the ninth time under Sir Alex Ferguson.
  • Chelsea win a cup double winning the FA Cup in the first final back at the recently completed Wembley Stadium. The match however was not one of the better finals to ever have graced the Wembley turf and finished 1–0. Didier Drogba scored the only goal in the last minute of extra-time. Ryan Giggs set a new record for the player to appear in the most finals, however he could not beat Mark Hughes' record for the most finals won by one player. The victory by Chelsea stopped Manchester United from winning the Double.
  • Leeds United enter administration on 4 May after a number of years struggling with the debt incurred by previous boards, thus incurring a 10-point deduction for the 2006–07 season.
  • Boston United enter administration in the final minutes of the league season to take a 10-point deduction in the 2006–07 season. They are relegated two divisions to the Conference North.
  • Chelsea become League Cup champions after beating Arsenal 2–1 at the Millennium Stadium. This was also the last major English Cup Final to be played at the Millennium Stadium before the move back to Wembley Stadium after its completion.
  • The Arsenal women become the first (and to date only) English club to win the competition now known as the UEFA Women's Champions League, winning the UEFA Women's Cup Final against Swedish side Umeå 1–0 on aggregate.
  • American tycoons George N. Gillett Jr. and Tom Hicks pay £174.1m to take over Liverpool.
  • Alan Ball Jr., member of England's World Cup winning team of 1966, dies of a heart attack aged 61.

2006
  • Doug Ellis sells Aston Villa to American billionaire Randy Lerner for £64million.
  • John Terry succeeds David Beckham as England's national team captain. Liverpool's Steven Gerrard is named vice-captain.
  • Sven-Göran Eriksson announces that he will step down as England manager following the 2006 World Cup. He will be succeeded by Steve McClaren with effect from 1 August.
  • Chelsea win the Premiership for the second year in succession.
  • Thierry Henry scores the last goal, and the last hat trick, in the final game at Highbury before Arsenal move to their new 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium
  • Manchester United win the League Cup for the second time in their history beating Wigan Athletic 4–0 at the Millennium Stadium.
  • Middlesbrough reach the UEFA Cup final for the first time in their history, only to be beaten 4–0 by Sevilla.
  • Peter Osgood, who won FA Cups with Chelsea and Southampton in the 1970s, dies of a heart attack aged 59.
  • Charlton Athletic become the first Premiership club to change their shirt design mid-season due to the collapse of former sponsors Allsports.
  • Alan Shearer retires two weeks early following a knee injury. After a professional career which lasted almost 20 years, the former England and Newcastle captain bows out as the Premiership's leading goalscorer of all time with 260 goals in 441 games but only one trophy, the 1994–95 Premiership title.[4]
  • Sunderland are relegated from the Premiership, and break their own record set three years earlier for the lowest points accumulated, ending the season with just 15 points. They also set a new record low of just 3 wins.
  • Reading are promoted to the Premiership, for the first time in their history, after winning the Football League Championship with a record 106 points.
  • Liverpool beat West Ham 3–1 on penalties in the 125th FA Cup final after the game finished 3–3 in normal time. It is the last FA Cup game at the Millennium Stadium before Wembley re-opens.
  • Arsenal's first UEFA Champions League final sees Jens Lehmann become the first player dismissed in a final as FC Barcelona win 2–1. The club also play their last season at Highbury at 93 years, and relocate to the new 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium at nearby Ashburton Grove.
  • The players of Aston Villa make history on 14 July by issuing a joint statement critical of chairman Doug Ellis, the first ever time such a statement has been formally issued to the press by a collective of players from any English football club.
  • In their first season as a top division club and only their 28th in the professional leagues, Wigan Athletic finish tenth (having spent much of the season in the top five) and are League Cup runners-up to Manchester United who beat them 4–0 in the final.
  • Oxford United, the 1986 League Cup winners and members of the First Division from 1985 to 1988, become the first former winners of a major trophy to be relegated to the Conference.

2005

2004
  • Arsenal are crowned Premiership champions after going a 38-game league season unbeaten.
  • Manchester United win the FA Cup for a record eleventh time.
  • Divisions One, Two and Three of The Football League are renamed the Football League Championship, League One and League Two respectively as part of a rebranding exercise.
  • Everton striker Wayne Rooney, still only 18, becomes the world's most expensive teenager when he signs for Manchester United in a transfer deal which could eventually rise to £25million from an initial £20million.
  • Middlesbrough beat Bolton Wanderers 2–1 in the League Cup final to win the first major trophy in their 128-year history.
  • Carlisle United, who spent one season in the First Division during the 1970s, become the first former members of the top flight to be relegated to the Conference after 76 years of league membership. They go down with York City, who have played in the top flight for 75 years and eliminated several top clubs (notably Arsenal, Manchester United and Everton) from the top flight in cup competitions.
  • Brian Clough, the legendary manager who guided Derby County to a League title & Nottingham Forest to League & European Glory, dies of stomach cancer aged 69.
  • Bill Nicholson, the legendary former Tottenham Hotspur manager, dies aged 85.
  • Wimbledon become Milton Keynes Dons to reflect their new location.

2003

2002
  • Arsenal join Manchester United as the second club to have won three league championship/FA Cup doubles.
  • West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City win promotion to the Premiership, ending an exile from the top flight which both clubs had begun in 1986.
  • Mobile phone operator MM02 replaces SEGA as Arsenal's shirt sponsor.
  • Leicester City leave Filbert Street after 111 years and relocate to the 32,000-seat Walkers Stadium.
  • Manchester United break the British transfer record once again by paying Leeds United £29million for central defender Rio Ferdinand.
  • On 16 March, a First Division match between Sheffield United and West Bromwich Albion degenerates into one of the most violent in English football history, featuring multiple on-field assaults and ending with an abandonment when United, trailing 3–0 at the time, were left with 6 players. This match enters English football lore as the Battle of Bramall Lane.
  • Alan Shearer hits his 200th Premiership goal against Chalton Athletic at St. James' Park on 20 April 2002.
  • Everton become the first team to have spent 100 seasons in the top flight of English football.
  • The FA approves the plan of Wimbledon to move to Milton Keynes. The move is extremely unpopular with the club's fans, who form a breakaway club called AFC Wimbledon. The new club is playing at a much lower level (Combined Counties League) than the original one, who are competing in Division One, but the new Wimbledon club is soon enjoying the highest attendances.
  • Brighton & Hove Albion become only the seventh club in English football history to win back to back promotion championships after winning the 2001-02 League One title (having won the 2000-01 League Two title the season before).

2001
  • Manchester United become only the fourth English club to win three successive league championships, following Huddersfield Town in the 1920s, Arsenal in the 1930s, and Liverpool in the 1980s.
  • Liverpool complete a unique treble of the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup.
  • David Rocastle, who won a League Cup and two league championships with Arsenal as well as never being on the losing side in his 14 England appearances, dies of cancer aged 33.
  • Paul Vaessen who famously scored the winning goal for Arsenal against Juventus at the Stadio Comunale, in the second leg of a Cup Winners' Cup semi-final on 23 April 1980, (the first time an English club had beaten Juventus in Turin), dies of a drug overdose at the age of 39, He had led a troubled life since injury resulted in his premature retirement from football in 1983 aged just 21. He was known as "a forgotten hero" as his death gained no media coverage at all, announcements of Paul's death in his local free newspaper omitted the fact that he had formerly been a footballer and merely labelled him a "local addict".
  • Coventry City suffer relegation from the Premiership after 34 successive seasons of top-flight football.
  • Fulham are promoted to the Premiership, becoming the first club since the Premier League's formation to have made their way from Division Three (now League Two) to the top flight.
  • Stan Cullis, legendary former player and manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers, dies aged 85.
  • Bertie Mee, managed of Arsenal's 1971 double winning team, dies aged 82.
  • Les Sealey, who kept goal for Manchester United in their FA Cup triumph of 1990 and the European Cup Winners' Cup triumph of 1991, dies of a heart attack aged 43.
  • Oxford United leave the Manor Ground after 76 years and relocate to the new 12,500-seat Kassam Stadium (named after chairman Firoz Kassam) at Blackbird Leys, while Southampton end 103 years at The Dell and move into their new 32,000-seat St Mary's Stadium – which holds more than twice as many spectators as their old ground.
  • Manchester United break the national transfer fee record twice – first by paying PSV Eindhoven £19million for Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, and then by paying Lazio of Italy £28.1million for Argentine midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron.

2000

1990s

1999 – 1998 – 1997 – 1996 – 1995 – 1994 – 1993 – 1992 – 1991 – 1990

1999

1998
  • Arsenal equal Manchester United's record of two league championship and FA Cup doubles in their first full season under the management of Frenchman Arsène Wenger, who was also the first foreign manager to win the English first division.
  • Chelsea complete a double of the Cup Winners' Cup and League Cup within four months of Gianluca Vialli taking charge of team affairs following Ruud Gullit's dismissal, which follows a dispute with chairman Ken Bates over transfer funds.
  • Doncaster Rovers F.C. are relegated from the Football League with a record of 34 league defeats.
  • Manchester City are relegated to the third tier of the English league for the first time in their history.
  • Halifax Town win the Conference title and are promoted back to the Football League after five years away.
  • Reading leave Elm Park after 102 years and relocate to the 25,000-seat Madejski Stadium named after chairman John Madejski.
  • England go out of the World Cup in France after losing on penalties to Argentina after a 2–2 draw.
  • Charlton Athletic win promotion to the Premier League by beating Sunderland 7–6 on penalties after a 4–4 draw in the Division One playoff final at Wembley.

1997
  • After captaining Manchester United to their fourth Premiership title in five seasons and 11th English League Championship overall, Eric Cantona announces his retirement as a player.
  • Ruud Gullit becomes the first foreign manager to win an English trophy after his Chelsea side defeated Middlesbrough 2–0 in the FA Cup final to end their 26-year trophy drought.
  • Middlesbrough experience a unique season. They are on the losing side in both domestic cup finals and have a 3-point deduction imposed for postponing a Premiership fixture at short notice seeing them relegated in second from bottom place – so they finished in the last two of all three major English competitions.
  • Alan Shearer is ruled out of football for seven months after suffering a broken ankle in a pre-season game.
  • Kevin Keegan shocks Newcastle United by resigning as manager just after the turn of the New Year. He felt that he could take the club no further, and is succeeded by Kenny Dalglish.
  • Bolton Wanderers move into the Reebok Stadium, leaving Burnden Park, their home for 102 years.
  • Sunderland end 99 years at Roker Park and move to the 42,000-seat Stadium of Light on the banks of the River Wear.
  • Derby County relocate to Pride Park Stadium after 101 years at the Baseball Ground.
  • After a record 119 years at the Victoria Ground, Stoke City relocate to the 28,000-seat Britannia Stadium.
  • Brighton & Hove Albion, FA Cup runners-up 14 years ago, avoid relegation to the Conference by drawing 1–1 away with Hereford United, who go down instead, on the last day of the Division Three season.
  • Billy Bremner, legendary Leeds United captain of the 1960s and 1970s, dies of a heart attack aged 54.

1996
  • Manchester United win a unique second league championship and FA Cup double. Following taunts that "You win nothing with kids", the young team hits back by achieving something that no English team has done before.
  • Alan Shearer becomes the world's first £15million player when he leaves Blackburn Rovers to join his hometown club Newcastle United.
  • England hosts the European Championships for the first time and reach the semi finals, losing 6–5 on penalties after a 1–1 draw.
  • Terry Venables steps down after two-and-a-half years as England manager after the European Championships and is replaced by Glenn Hoddle.
  • Bob Paisley, who won a record 21 prizes in nine seasons as Liverpool manager, died, aged 77, after a long illness.
  • Aston Villa win the League Cup for a record equaling fifth time, against Leeds United 3–0.
  • Goalkeeper Peter Shilton plays his 1000th career league game for Leyton Orient against Brighton & Hove Albion.
  • Bristol Rovers end a decade of ground-sharing with non-league Bath City and move back to Bristol to play at the Memorial Ground, home of the local rugby team.

1995

1994
  • Manchester United become only the fourth club in the 20th century to win the league championship and FA Cup double. They achieve this triumph just four months after the death of former manager Sir Matt Busby at the age of 84. They are denied an unprecedented 'treble' by Aston Villa, who defeat them in the final of the League Cup.
  • Blackburn Rovers break the English transfer fee record by paying Norwich City £5million for 21-year-old striker Chris Sutton.
  • Bryan Robson leaves Manchester United after 13 years to become player-manager of Middlesbrough.
  • Tottenham Hotspur are found guilty of financial irregularities dating back to the 1980s and handed the most severe punishment in the history of English football: a £600,000 fine, 12 league points deducted and a one-year ban from the FA Cup. The points deduction and the FA Cup ban are later quashed but the fine is increased to a new record of £1.5million.
  • Billy Wright, former captain of Wolverhampton Wanderers and England, dies of cancer aged 70.
  • Huddersfield Town end 86 years at Leeds Road and move into their new 20,000-seat Alfred McAlpine Stadium.
  • Northampton Town relocate to Sixfields Stadium after 97 years at the County Ground.
  • Liverpool's famous Spion Kop is demolished to make way for a new all-seater stand, as is Aston Villa's Holte End, as standing accommodation is banned from Premier League stadiums.

1993

1992
  • The Football Association creates the FA Premier League, an elite league of 22 clubs which replaces the old Football League First Division as England's highest division.
  • Blackburn Rovers, back in the top flight for the first time since the 1960s, make Alan Shearer England's most expensive footballer by paying Southampton £3.5million for his services.
  • Leeds United win the last Football League First Division championship before the creation of the FA Premier League.
  • Aldershot, who have struggled to stay afloat for two years, finally go out of business on 25 March. Maidstone United follow suit on 17 August after their financial crisis leaves them with no option but to quit the Football League.
  • Eight years after retiring as a player, Kevin Keegan returns to football as manager of Newcastle United and saves them from Second Division relegation.
  • Chester City move into their new Deva Stadium, having ground-shared with Macclesfield Town for two years since leaving Sealand Road.
  • Gary Lineker retires from international football with 48 goals to his name for England – just one goal short of the record set by Bobby Charlton. He also calls time on his career in England, joining Nagoya Grampus of Japan.
  • England are eliminated from Euro 92 in the group stages after losing their final group game 2–1 to host nation Sweden.
  • After a slow start to the new Premier League campaign puts their league title hopes under serious doubt, Manchester United pay Leeds United £1.2million for French striker Eric Cantona in hope of winning a title race which by late November is being led by the likes of Aston Villa and Norwich City.
  • Paul Gascoigne joins Lazio of Italy in a £5.5million move from Tottenham Hotspur.

1991
  • Arsenal win the Football League title with just one defeat from 38 fixtures.
  • Manchester United mark the comeback of English clubs in European competition by beating FC Barcelona 2–1 in the Cup Winners' Cup final.
  • Liverpool are readmitted to European competition and, as First Division runners-up are entered into the UEFA Cup for the 1991–92 season.
  • After three years with French side AS Monaco, Glenn Hoddle returns to England to become player-manager of Swindon Town.
  • Dean Saunders becomes the most expensive player in English footballer when he is transferred from Derby County to Liverpool in a £2.9million deal.
  • Tottenham Hotspur win the FA Cup for a record eighth time, beating Nottingham Forest 2–1 in the final, but midfielder Paul Gascoigne is ruled out for a year with a knee injury suffered early in the game.
  • Aston Villa and England midfielder David Platt joins Italian side Bari for £6.5million.
  • Barnet are promoted to the Football League as Conference champions.
  • Kenny Dalglish resigns as Liverpool manager on 22 February, and returns to football as manager of Second Division side Blackburn Rovers on 12 October following the club's takeover by wealthy local steel baron Jack Walker.

1990
  • Liverpool win their eighteenth top-flight title.
  • England reach the semi finals of the World Cup before losing to eventual winners Germany on penalties after a 1–1 draw. Manager Bobby Robson resigns after the competition to take charge of Dutch side PSV Eindhoven and is succeeded by Aston Villa manager Graham Taylor, who in turn is replaced by Czech coach Jozef Venglos – the first foreign manager in the top flight of English football.
  • English clubs are readmitted to European competition after a five-year ban arising from the Heysel Stadium disaster. First Division runners-up, Aston Villa, qualify for the UEFA Cup whilst FA Cup winners, Manchester United, qualify for the Cup Winners' Cup. Champions Liverpool are unable to compete in the European Cup because they have to serve an extra year of the ban.
  • Leeds United won the Second Division championship to end their eight-year exile from the First Division.
  • York City striker David Longhurst collapses and dies in his side's Fourth Division home fixture against Lincoln City at Bootham Crescent.
  • Bournemouth director Brian Tiler, a former Aston Villa player, is killed in a car crash. Manager Harry Redknapp is also involved in the crash but survived.
  • Play-off finals become one-legged matches played at Wembley. In the Second Division, Swindon Town beat Sunderland 1–0 but stay in the Second Division after being found guilty of financial irregularities, with Sunderland being promoted in their place.
  • Manchester United win their first major trophy under the management of Alex Ferguson, beating Crystal Palace 1–0 in the FA Cup final replay after drawing the first match 3–3.
  • Peter Shilton retires from international football at the age of 40, kept goal a record 125 caps for the country.
  • Manchester United and Arsenal were respectively deducted 1 and 2 points, for a 21-man brawl involving their players on the pitch. The first and, so far, the only instances in English league history where a team were docked points for player misconduct.

1980s

1989 – 1988 – 1987 – 1986 – 1985 – 1984 – 1983 – 1982 – 1981 – 1980

1989
  • Arsenal win the league championship in final minute of the final game of the season from Michael Thomas, giving them a 2–0 away win over nearest rivals Liverpool to snatch the title on goals scored, with both teams goal difference being equal.
  • 94 Liverpool fans die on 15 April after being crushed on the terraces at Hillsborough, where Liverpool were taking on Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi final.[5] The final death toll for the disaster was 96.
  • Liverpool go on to win the FA Cup with a 3–2 extra-time victory over Everton at Wembley. Ian Rush, who scored twice in the 1986 all-Merseyside final triumph, does so again.
  • John Lyall's 15-year reign as West Ham manager comes to an end after they are relegated from the First Division.
  • Newport County go out of business on 27 February and are then expelled from the Football Conference for failing to fulfill their fixtures.
  • Leeds United's most successful ever manager, Don Revie, dies on 26 May from motor neurone disease aged 61.
  • Peter Shilton becomes the most capped England international when he wins his 109th cap beating Bobby Moore's record.
  • Nottingham Forest end their nine-year wait for a major trophy by winning the Football League Cup.
  • Alex Ferguson makes a host of big money signings for Manchester United in his latest attempt to win them their first league title since 1967, paying a total of more than £7million for Mike Phelan, Neil Webb, Paul Ince, Gary Pallister and Danny Wallace.
  • Gary Lineker returns to English football after three years in Spain with FC Barcelona when he joins Tottenham Hotspur for £1.1million.

1988
  • Liverpool wrap up their seventeenth league title after losing just two league games in a 40-game season.
  • Wimbledon beat Liverpool 1–0 to win the FA Cup in one of the most dramatic finals seen at Wembley. The triumph came at the end of Wimbledon's 11th season as a Football League club and only their second as First Division members.
  • Luton Town win the first major trophy of their history by beating Arsenal 3–2 in the League Cup final.
  • Jackie Milburn, former Newcastle United striker, dies of cancer at the age of 64.
  • Lincoln City, the first club to suffer automatic relegation from the Football League, regain their league status at the first time of asking by clinching the Football Conference title.
  • Paul Gascoigne, 21-year-old Newcastle United midfielder, becomes England's first £2million footballer when he signs for Tottenham Hotspur.
  • Shortly after Gascoigne's transfer, the national transfer fee record is broken again when Everton pay £2.2million for West Ham United striker Tony Cottee.
  • Ian Rush returns to Liverpool after an unsuccessful season at Juventus in Italy for £2.8million – the third time in the space of a few weeks that the record fee paid by an English club is broken.
  • Billy Bonds, the oldest outfield player in the Football League at 41, retires from playing with West Ham United.
  • Mark Hughes returns to Manchester United after two years away for a fee of £1.8million.
  • Portsmouth are relegated to the Second Division a year after promotion.

1987
  • Tottenham manager David Pleat resigns after rumours in the media that he has been involved in a vice ring. He is replaced by Terry Venables.
  • Coventry City win the first major trophy in their history by beating Tottenham Hotspur (unbeaten in their previous seven finals) 3–2 in the FA Cup final.
  • Everton win their ninth league title in adversity after struggling with massive injuries all season, still managing to win the league by 11 clear points.
  • Lincoln City become the first English club to suffer automatic relegation from the Football League after the re-election system is scrapped. They are replaced by Conference champions Scarborough.
  • The Football League introduces play-offs to settle the final promotion place initially including one team from the higher division.
  • Former Aston Villa and Wales midfielder Trevor Hockey dies of a heart attack at the age of 43.
  • Arsenal become the first team to defeat Liverpool in a game in which Ian Rush had scored by defeating them 2–1 at Wembley in the League Cup Final.
  • Liverpool are forced to play their first few games of the season away from home after a sewer collapses below the Spion Kop terrace.
  • Ian Rush moves to Juventus, as agreed in his deal the previous summer.
  • Portsmouth are promoted back to the First Division after 29 years away.
  • Alex Ferguson begins to rebuild Manchester United by signing Arsenal defender Viv Anderson, Celtic striker Brian McClair and Norwich City defender Steve Bruce.
  • Liverpool sign Watford and England winger John Barnes for £900,000, and replace Ian Rush with Oxford United's John Aldridge for £750,000.

1986
  • England are eliminated from the 1986 FIFA World Cup in the quarter finals after losing 2–1 to Argentina, whose first goal had been an obviously deliberate handball by Diego Maradona – an act which he quickly labelled the Hand of God goal. Argentina go on to win the competition.
  • Liverpool win the league championship and FA Cup double in Kenny Dalglish's first season as player-manager, after Everton throw away their huge advantage in the closing weeks of the season.
  • Liverpool sell Ian Rush to Juventus of Italy for £3.2million, but keep him for a season on loan.
  • Sir Stanley Rous, one of the Football Association's most prominent administrators, dies at the age of 90. Shortly after his death, a stand at Watford's Vicarage Road stadium is to be named in his honour.
  • Wimbledon are promoted to the First Division in only their ninth season as a Football League club.
  • Wolverhampton Wanderers complete a hat trick of successive relegations to fall into the Fourth Division for the first time in their history.
  • Terry Venables signs two English based strikers for Spanish club FC Barcelona – Mark Hughes from Manchester United for £2.2million and Gary Lineker from Everton for £2.7million.
  • Oxford United survive their first season in the First Division and also win the Football League Cup.
  • Wimbledon, who only joined the Football League nine years ago, win promotion to the First Division to complete a four-year rise from the Fourth Division.
  • Swindon Town, Fourth Division champions, set a new Football League record of 102 points.
  • Wolverhampton Wanderers suffer a third successive relegation and fall into the Fourth Division, but are saved from going out of business by a new takeover deal, as are Middlesbrough after relegation to the Third Division.
  • West Ham United finish a club best third in the league and are just four points behind champions Liverpool.

1985
  • Everton win their 8th league title with 5 league games to spare, they then take their foot off the gas to lose 3 of their last 5 but still set a club record points total.
  • 56 spectators are burnt to death and more than 200 are injured in a fire at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium on 11 May.
  • 39 spectators, most of them Italian, are trampled to death in rioting on the terraces of the Heysel Stadium at the European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus.[5] Despite the carnage, the match is played and Juventus win 1–0. The sequel of the tragedy was a 5-year ban on English clubs from European competition, with a 6-year ban on Liverpool.
  • Everton establish themselves as one of the strongest club sides in Europe after winning the league championship with four matches to spare and adding the Cup Winners' Cup to their trophy cabinet.
  • Anton Johnson is banned from football for life after it is revealed that he had illegally taken control of two football clubs (Southend United and Rotherham United) at the same time and had also mishandled the finances of both clubs.
  • Preston North End and Burnley are both relegated to the Fourth Division for the first time.
  • 16 years old Matthew Le Tissier finishes a trial at Oxford United and signs for Southampton.
  • Oxford United promoted to the top flight, after claiming the Second Division championship, a year after they won the Third Division championship in 1984, the only club to have won two consecutive championships on the way to the Top Flight.
  • A 14-year-old boy is crushed to death by a collapsed wall when Leeds United fans riot on the last game of the Second Division season at Birmingham City, but media coverage and public attention of the tragedy is overshadowed as it occurred on the same afternoon as the Bradford City fire.
  • Harry Catterick, who managed Everton to league title glory in 1963 and 1970 as well as an FA Cup triumph in 1966, dies from a heart attack while watching their FA Cup quarter-final win over Ipswich Town at Goodison Park.

1984

1983

1982

1981

1980

1970s

1979 – 1978 – 1977 – 1976 – 1975 – 1974 – 1973 – 1972 – 1971 – 1970

1979

1978

1977

1976

1975
  • Derby County, in David Mackay's first full season as manager, win their second league title in four years to add to the 1972 championship which had been won by Mackay's predecessor, Brian Clough.
  • John Lyall ends his first season as West Ham manager with an FA Cup triumph at the expense of Fulham, whose side included former West Ham captain Bobby Moore.
  • Carlisle United, who had topped the 1974–75 First Division after three games, are relegated after failing to put together a consistent run of good form in their first season as a top division club.
  • Manchester United are promoted back to the First Division one season after losing their top-flight status.
  • Aston Villa re-establish themselves a top English side by winning the League Cup and gaining promotion to the First Division in the same season.

1974

1973
  • An Ian Porterfield goal gives Second Division Sunderland a shock win over Leeds United in the FA Cup final.
  • Leeds United also blow their title chances and Liverpool are crowned league champions instead.
  • Bobby Charlton and Denis Law both leave Manchester United after long and illustrious careers.
  • The Football League announces that three clubs, instead of two, are to be relegated from the First and Second Divisions from the end of the 1973–74 season onwards, with three clubs being promoted to the Second and Third Divisions. The four-up, four-down system between the Third and Fourth Divisions would continue.
  • Hereford United end their first season as a Football League club by winning promotion from the Fourth Division.

1972

1971

1970

1960s

1969 – 1968 – 1967 – 1966 – 1965 – 1964 – 1963 – 1962 – 1961 – 1960

1969

1968

1967

1966

1965

1964

1963
  • Tottenham Hotspur win the Cup Winners' Cup to establish themselves as the first English club to win a European competition.
  • Everton win their first league championship of the postwar years.
  • Manchester United win the FA Cup for the first time in 15 years. It is their first major trophy since the Munich Air Disaster five years earlier.
  • Birmingham City beat Aston Villa 3–1 on aggregate in the League Cup final to win the first major trophy of their history.
  • 1911 FA Cup winners Bradford City finish second from bottom in the Fourth Division and have to seek re-election in order to preserve their Football League place.

1962

1961

1960

1950s

1959 – 1958 – 1957 – 1956 – 1955 – 1954 – 1953

1959

1958

1957
  • Manchester United win the league title for the second year running.
  • Aston Villa beat Manchester United 2–1 in the FA Cup final to win the trophy for a record seventh time. Their victory denies United the double, meaning Villa are still the last team to achieve the feat, back in 1896–7.
  • Stanley Matthews retires from international football at the age of 42, but continues his club career with Blackpool.
  • Charlton Athletic turn the tables on Huddersfield Town during the final 20 minutes of a Second Division fixture by turning a 5–1 deficit into a 7–6 lead.
  • Eastbourne United manager Ron Greenwood, 36, is appointed first-team coach of Arsenal.

1956

1955

1954
  • Wolves win the league title for the first time in their history.
  • West Bromwich Albion complete a double for clubs in central England by winning the FA Cup for the fourth time in their history.
  • Everton finish Second Division runners-up, are promoted to the First Division and have remained there ever since.
  • Bournemouth and Swindon Town are bracketed together in 19th place in the Third Division South having both accumulated 40 league points, scored 67 goals and conceded 70 goals!

1953

1940s

1948

1946
  • Football League North (Wartime – Joint Division One League with Football League South)
  • Champions: Sheffield United
  • Derby County become the first team to win the FA Cup after losing a game when two-legged games are introduced for one season only.
  • League football resumes following the end of the Second World War.
  • The Football Association end their boycott of FIFA, paving the way for England to play in World Cup matches.

1930s

1939
  • The Football League is abandoned three games into the new season after the outbreak of the Second World War
  • Portsmouth beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–1 in the FA Cup final

1936

1935
  • Arsenal win their third successive league title.

1934

1931
  • Aston Villa set an all-time top-flight record of 129 goals in a season, but still finish runners-up to Arsenal by a point.

1920s

1928
  • Arsenal and Chelsea are the first clubs to play with shirt numbers on 25 August.

1927
  • FA Cup: Cardiff City 1 Arsenal 0
  • The FA Cup is won by a team outside England for the first time prompting it to become known as the FA Cup rather than the English Cup as previously.

1926
  • Huddersfield Town become the first team to be the Football League champions three seasons in succession.

1925
  • FA Cup: Sheffield United 1–0 Cardiff City
  • Sheffield United F.C Win the FA Cup. Runners-Up Cardiff City
  • The offside rule is changed: a player is now onside if a minimum of two (instead of three) opposing players are between him and the goal line.

1924
  • FA Cup: Corinthian 1-0 Blackburn Rovers
  • A major shock in the first round as five times Cup winners, and First Division staple, Blackburn Rovers, are unexpectedly beaten by the amateurs of Corinthian F.C. at the Crystal Palace.

1923
  • Bolton Wanderers defeat West Ham United 2–0 in the first FA Cup final to be held at Wembley. The match kicked off 44 minutes late due to overcrowding – there was an estimated 200,000 fans in attendance, and it was not until police constable on a white police horse helped clear the pitch that the match took place. As a result, the match is now known as the White Horse Final.
  • Aston Villa centre-half Tommy Ball is shot dead by his neighbour in November thus becoming the only Football League player to have been murdered.[9]

1921

1920

1910s

1919
  • Leeds City are expelled and dissolved by the football league after financial irregularities including the payment of players during the First World War. In its place a new club is formed, Leeds United.

1915
  • Everton win the final league title before league football is suspended because of the First World War.
  • FA Cup Final: Sheffield United 3–0 Chelsea
  • Sheffield United F.C win the FA Cup.

1914
  • Blackburn Rovers win their second league title and their second in three seasons.

1913

1912
  • Blackburn Rovers succeed in winning their first league title.

1911

1910

1900s

1909

1908

1907

1905

1903
  • Bradford City are elected to the Football League before they have ever played a game.

1902
  • Norwich City FC formed as an amateur club
  • Sunderland A.F.C. wins their 4th league championship
  • J.H. Davies takes over near bankrupt Newton Heath (L&YR) F.C. and changes its name to Manchester United.
  • Sheffield United 1–1 Southampton - (R) Sheffield United 2–1 Southampton
  • Sheffield United win the FA Cup. Runners Up: Southampton

1901
  • Tottenham Hotspur 2–2 Sheffield United - (R) Tottenham Hotspur 3–1 Sheffield United
  • Tottenham Hotspur become the first non-league club to win the FA Cup. Runners Up: Sheffield United F.C

1900
  • Aston Villa win the league championship, their fifth title in seven years.
  • Sheffield United F.C Finish 2nd.
  • Sunderland Finish 3rd.
  • Leading Goalscorer Billy Garraty (Aston Villa) 27
  • Brighton & Hove Albion are founded.

1890s

1899
  • Aston Villa win the last championship of the 1800s, defeating runners-up Liverpool F.C. 5–0 in the last match to secure the title.
  • Sheffield United F.C Win the FA Cup. Runners Up Derby County.

1898
  • Sheffield United F.C secure the league title for the first time and only time.
  • Sunderland Finish 2nd.
  • Wolverhampton Wanderers Finish 3rd.
  • Leading Goalscorer Fred Wheldon (Aston Villa) 21
  • Portsmouth F.C is formed.

1897
  • Aston Villa capture the third league title.
  • Sheffield United Finish 2nd.
  • Derby County Finish 3rd.
  • Leading Goalscorer: Steve Bloomer (Derby County) 22

1896

1895

1894
  • Aston Villa win their first league championship. Later that year though their former captain Archie Hunter dies aged just 35.

1893

1892

1891
  • Everton win their first league championship.
  • Luton Town become the south of England's first professional club in August – paying the entire team 2 shillings and sixpence plus expenses.
  • The penalty kick is introduced.
  • Assistant referees are first introduced as linesmen.

1890
  • Luton Town player Frank Whitby becomes the first professional player in the south of England on 15 December, earning 5 shillings per week.

1880s

1889
  • Preston North End complete the first season of the Football League as unbeaten champions. They also become the first team to win the 'double', gaining the FA Cup without conceding a goal.
  • Sheffield United F.C is formed.

1888

1887

1886
  • Blackburn Rovers become the first team to win the FA Cup 3 years in a row.
  • Plymouth Argyle F.C are founded.
  • Dial Square are founded, the team who went on to become Arsenal.

1885

1884

1883

1882

1870s

1879
  • Doncaster Rovers are formed.
  • Sunderland A.F.C are formed.

1878
  • First floodlit football match played at Bramall Lane, Sheffield on 14 October 1878 in front of an attendance of 20,000.
  • Newton Heath LYR Football Club was formed by the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath (later known as Manchester United Football Club).

1876
  • Middlesbrough Football Club are formed.

1875
  • The crossbar is introduced, replacing tape as the means of marking the top of the goal.
  • Blackburn Rovers Football Club are formed.

1874
  • Aston Villa Football Club is formed by members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel, in Aston.
  • Bolton Wanderers Football Club are formed.

1872

1871

1870
  • St Domingo's FC formed later changing its name in November 1878 – to Everton.
  • First "goalkeepers", and transition from "dribbling game" to "passing game" is seen in club matches in Sheffield and London.
  • A match between England and Scotland, finishes in a 1–0 win for England at the Kennington Oval in London. This was the first match between the nations but is not recognised as being the first international (see 1872).

1860s

1867
  • The first ever football tournament, the Youdan Cup, is played by twelve Sheffield clubs.
  • Wednesday 4 September 1867, Sheffield Wednesday Football Club was established.

1865

Although disputed by Stoke.

1863

1850s

1857

1840s

1849
  • Official referees appear for the first time in a football match in Cheltenham, two in field and one in tribune.

1848
  • The Cambridge Rules are created being the first attempt to establish formal rules.

1846
  • A time limit on length of play is first introduced and first described in Lancashire[11]

1845

1842
  • First use of referee. During a match in Rochdale, between the Bodyguards club and the Fearnaught club[11]

1820s

1823
  • First description of a pass comes from Suffolk.[12][13] In this Moor describes a team ball game with goals in which a player who can not advance further "throws the ball [he must in no case give it] to some less beleaguered friend more free and more in breath than himself". Although this description refers to throwing, Moor tells us that the game was at other times a football one: "Sometimes a large football was used; the game was then called 'kicking camp'."

1790s

1796
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See also

References
  1. "Man United's Giggs ends glittering career". BBC Football. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  2. "Luton suffer 10-point deduction". BBC Sport. 22 November 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
  3. "Leeds hit with 15-point penalty". BBC Sport. 4 August 2007. Retrieved 4 August 2007.
  4. "Injury forces Shearer retirement". BBC News. 22 April 2006. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  5. On This Day – 29 May 1985 BBC Online – news.bbc.co.uk
  6. Guardian Unlimited – "Excited Scotland fans"
  7. BBC Scotland (RealVideo)
  8. "History of Match of the Day". BBC News. 14 February 2003. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  9. Cowan, Mark (6 May 2010). "The star Villa player shot dead by neighbour". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  10. The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), Wednesday, 15 March 1871; Issue 8181.
  11. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=SnsWWfIzu0cC&printsec=frontcover&dq=sport+in+europe+politics+class+gender page 105
  12. Edward Moor, Suffolk Words and Phrases: Or, An Attempt to Collect the Lingual Localisms, J. Loder, London
  13. Moor, Edward (1823). Suffolk Words and Phrases: Or, an Attempt to Collect the Lingual Localisms of that County. J. Loder. moor date:1823-2007.
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