England national football team

• 1. Foundations And First Matches

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  The England national football team played its first international match on the 5th of March 1870. This fixture was organized by the Football Association against Scotland. A return game took place at Hamilton Crescent in Scotland on the 30th of November 1872. That specific match is viewed as the first official international football match because both teams were independently selected and operated. Over the next forty years, England played exclusively with the other three Home Nations: Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. They competed in the British Home Championship during this period.

  England had no permanent home stadium for their early years. The original Empire Stadium was built in Wembley, London, for the British Empire Exhibition. England played their first match at that venue in 1924 against Scotland. For the next twenty-seven years, Wembley was used as a venue for matches against Scotland only. The stadium later became known simply as Wembley Stadium and it became England's permanent home stadium during the 1950s. In October 2000, the old stadium closed its doors after a defeat against Germany.

  The relationship between England and FIFA became strained over time. This resulted in their departure from FIFA in 1928 before they rejoined in 1946. As a result, they did not compete in a World Cup until 1950. In that tournament, they were beaten in a 1, 0 defeat by the United States. Their first defeat on home soil to a foreign team was a 2, 0 loss to Ireland on the 21st of September 1949 at Goodison Park.

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• 2. The Golden Era Of Sixty Six

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  Alf Ramsey took over management of the team in 1963. He guided England to victory in the 1966 World Cup hosted on home soil. The final saw England defeat West Germany 4, 2 after extra time. Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick during that match. This win made them one of eight nations to have won the World Cup. They qualified for the World Cup sixteen times since then.

  In UEFA Euro 1968, the team reached the semi-finals for the first time. They were eliminated by Yugoslavia. England qualified automatically for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico as reigning champions. They reached the quarter-finals where they were knocked out by West Germany. England had been 2, 0 up but were eventually beaten 3, 2 after extra time. They failed to qualify for Euro 1972 and the 1974 World Cup. This led to Ramsey's dismissal by the FA.

  Walter Winterbottom was appointed as England's first full-time manager in 1946. The team was still picked by a committee until Alf Ramsey took over. The 1966 World Cup remains their only major tournament title at senior level. They are also the only team representing a non-sovereign country to have won the World Cup.

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• 3. Managers Through The Decades

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  Don Revie was appointed as new permanent manager in 1974 following Joe Mercer's temporary charge. Under Revie, the team underperformed and failed to qualify for either Euro 1976 or the 1982 World Cup. Revie resigned in 1977 and was replaced by Ron Greenwood. Under Greenwood, performances improved. The team qualified for Euro 1980 without losing any of their games. They exited in the group stage of the final tournament.

  Bobby Robson managed England from 1982 to 1990. Although the team failed to qualify for Euro 1984, they reached the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup. They lost 2, 1 to Argentina in a game made famous by two highly contrasting goals scored by Diego Maradona. Gary Lineker finished as the tournament's top scorer with six goals. England went on to lose every match at Euro 1988.

  Graham Taylor was Robson's immediate successor. England failed to win any matches at Euro 1992. They drew with tournament winners Denmark and later with France before being eliminated by host nation Sweden. The team then failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup after losing a controversial game against the Netherlands in Rotterdam. Taylor faced much newspaper criticism during his tenure for his tactics and team selections.

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• 4. Penalty Shootout Heartbreaks

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  England suffered their first penalty shoot-out defeat in the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup against West Germany. The match finished 1, 1 after extra time and ended 3, 4 in England's favor. Despite losing to Italy in the third-place play-off, the members of the England team were given bronze medals identical to the Italians'. Thousands of people lined the streets for an open-top bus parade.

  Hosting Euro 1996, they reached the semi-finals as they did in 1968. They exited via another penalty shoot-out loss to Germany. England striker Alan Shearer was the tournament's top scorer with five goals. At Euro 96, the song Three Lions became the definitive anthem for fans on the terraces. Venables announced before the tournament that he would resign from his post because of muddy personal details set to be showcased in a high-profile trial related to financial irregularities.

  In the second round of the 1998 World Cup, England were eliminated again by Argentina. The match ended 2, 2 after extra time and went to penalties. In the quarter-finals of Euro 2012, England exited via a penalty shoot-out against Italy. They also lost to Croatia on penalties in the semi-final of the 2018 World Cup.

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• 5. Kits And National Identity

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  The motif of the England national football team has three lions passant guardant. This is the emblem of King Richard I who reigned from 1189 to 1199. In 1872, English players wore white jerseys emblazoned with the three lions crest of the Football Association. Initially topped by a crown, this was removed in 1949 when the FA was given an official coat of arms by the College of Arms. Since 2003, England top their logo with a star to recognize their World Cup win in 1966.

  England's traditional home colours are white shirts, navy blue shorts and white or black socks. Although England's first away kits were blue, England's traditional away colours are red shirts, white shorts and red socks. In 1996, England's away kit was changed to grey shirts, shorts and socks. This kit was only worn three times including against Germany in the semi-final of Euro 1996 but the deviation from the traditional red was unpopular with supporters.

  Umbro first agreed to manufacture the kit in 1954 and since then has supplied most of the kits. The exceptions being from 1959 to 1965 with Bukta and 1974, 1984 with Admiral. Nike purchased Umbro in 2008 and took over as kit supplier in 2013 following their sale of the Umbro brand. A total £400m deal was signed for twelve years starting August 2018.

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• 6. Rivalries And Cultural Impact

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  England's rivalry with Scotland is one of the fiercest international rivalries that exists. It is the oldest international fixture in the world, first played in 1872 at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow. Scottish sports journalists traditionally refer to the English as the Auld Enemy. The footballing rivalry has diminished somewhat since the late 1970s, particularly since the annual fixture stopped in 1989.

  Games between England and Argentina are often marked by notable and sometimes controversial incidents such as the hand of God in 1986. The rivalry emerged across several games during the latter half of the 20th century. As of 2008 the teams have played each other on only 14 occasions in full internationals. The rivalry was intensified, particularly in Argentina, by non-footballing events, especially the 1982 Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom.

  All England matches are broadcast with full commentary on Talksport and BBC Radio 5 Live. From the 2008, 09 season until the 2017, 18 season, England's home and away qualifiers were broadcast live on ITV Sport. In April 2022, Channel 4 won the rights for England matches until June 2024. The number of subscribers paying between £4.99 and £11.99 each for a one-off event was estimated at between 250,000 and 300,000.

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