London football, a very brief history
From ‘hustling over large balls’ to world-class stadia, plus Greater London’s top football clubs in 2011–12 – mapped and listed
Football has been played in London for centuries, although in its early form it consisted of little more than gangs of youths running wild through the streets, kicking one or more balls as they went and tackling each other rugby-style.
A royal proclamation of 1314 decreed: “Forasmuch as there is great noise in the city caused by hustling over large balls, from which many evils may arise, which God forbid, we command and forbid on behalf of the King, on pain of imprisonment, such game to be used in the city in future.”
This had little effect and Elizabeth I vainly tried again in 1572: “No foteball player be used or suffered within the City of London and the liberties thereof upon pain of imprisonment.” James I adopted a much more supportive attitude towards the game, at least when it wasn’t being played on the public highway, and various versions flourished over the following two hundred years.
By the early 19th century numerous amateur clubs were in existence in London (and elsewhere), each consisting of several teams that played each other under their own rules. At that time the discrepancies between different clubs’ rules prevented the formation of a wider league.
Harrow School was influential in pioneering a more gentlemanly form of football that limited physical harrassment of opponents and forbade the use of the hands, except by the goalkeeper. (To enforce the ‘feet only’ rule, it is said that the school provided opposing players with a pair of white gloves and two silver crowns, which were to be gripped tightly in each hand throughout the game.)
Present-day association football took recognizable shape with the establishment of the Football Association at a series of meetings held in 1863 at the Freemason’s Tavern in Covent Garden, where, after the withdrawal of dissenting rugby advocates (notably from Blackheath), the basic laws of the game were agreed. The first match under these rules, a goalless draw, was played between Barnes and Richmond at Mortlake on 19 December 1863.
London’s oldest professional football club is Fulham FC, which is usually considered to have been founded, in amateur form, in 1879. Leyton Orient, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers, Arsenal, Millwall, Barnet and Brentford began playing in the 1880s (mostly under variant identities from their present ones) and West Ham United in 1895. Charlton Athletic, Chelsea and Crystal Palace are relative newcomers, all established in 1905.
Dagenham & Redbridge and AFC Wimbledon are the most recent London entrants to the Football League, and (along with the merged Hayes & Yeading United) London’s youngest successful clubs.
The Football Association was based at Lancaster Gate for over 70 years; it relocated to Soho Square in 2000 and then to Wembley Stadium in 2009.
The map below shows the ground locations for all the London clubs in the top six tiers of English football. The black lines on the map are borough borders. The pink oval encompasses all the current Premiership clubs, three of which play in the same borough – Hammersmith & Fulham – a remarkable west London convergence.
The map also shows the locations of:
- The 2012 Olympic Stadium – which may become the future home of West Ham United
- Wembley Stadium – which will host the Olympic football finals
- The capital’s nearest professional neighbour – Watford – which is situated closer to Charing Cross than are some parts of Greater London
- A site presently being considered for Chelsea’s new stadium, identified by a jagged-topped icon representing Battersea power station
The 19 London clubs mapped above, listed alphabetically within each division:
Barclays Premier League
- Arsenal, Emirates Stadium
- Chelsea, Stamford Bridge
- Fulham, Craven Cottage
- Queens Park Rangers, Loftus Road
- Tottenham Hotspur, White Hart Lane
Npower Championship
- Crystal Palace, Selhurst Park
- Millwall, New Den Stadium
- West Ham United, Boleyn Ground, Upton Park
Npower League One
- Brentford, Griffin Park
- Charlton Athletic, The Valley
- Leyton Orient, Matchroom Stadium, Brisbane Road
Npower League Two
- AFC Wimbledon, Fans’ Stadium, Kingsmeadow
- Barnet, Underhill Stadium
- Dagenham & Redbridge, Victoria Road
Blue Square Bet Premier (Conference)
- Hayes and Yeading United, Church Road
Blue Square Bet South (Conference South)
- Bromley, Courage Stadium, Hayes Lane
- Hampton & Richmond Borough, Beveree Stadium
- Sutton United, Borough Sports Ground, Gander Green Lane
- Welling United, Park View Road
Most of the text on this page constitutes the article on football in Brewer’s Dictionary of London Phrase and Fable
