Football in England

English football is the home of the beautiful game. Domestic football consists of four professional divisions, two historic cup competitions, and a pyramid that stretches from the Premier League all the way down to amateur clubs playing in Sunday League. Whether you're new to it or grew up with it, this is where to start.

What is English Football

English football's professional game is structured around four national divisions, the Premier League, the Championship, League One, and League Two, covering 92 clubs in total. Promotion and relegation connect every tier, so a club finishing top of League Two one season can be in the Championship a few years later.

The English Football Pyramid

The pyramid is what makes English football distinctive. At the top sits the Premier League. Below it, the three EFL divisions take the professional game down to level four. From level five downwards, the National League system branches into regional divisions, becoming more local the further down you go. The beautiful game promotes inclusivity, where a football club can climb from the bottom of the pyramid to the Premier League through successive promotions.

The Four Professional Leagues

The Premier League - 20 clubs, 38 games, the most-watched club football competition in the world. Each season, the bottom 3 clubs get relegated.

The EFL Championship - 24 clubs at level two. Three go up to the Premier League each season: two automatically, one through a play-off that is regularly called the most valuable single match in football.

EFL League One - 24 clubs at level three, with automatic promotion for the top two and a four-team play-off for the third spot.

EFL League Two - 24 clubs at level four, the lowest rung of the English Football League, with promotion into League One and relegation into the National League.

The Cup Competitions

The FA Cup - Founded in 1871, it's the oldest national cup competition in football. Open to clubs across the professional and non-league pyramid, it ends each May with a Wembley final.

The EFL Cup - Open to all 92 professional clubs, running from August through to a Wembley final in February or March. Better known in recent years as the Carabao Cup.

The FA Community Shield - A one-off season opener between the previous year's Premier League winners and FA Cup holders, usually played at Wembley in August.

European Competition

English clubs qualify for European football primarily through Premier League finishing position, with the top four entering the Champions League. FA Cup winners qualify for the Europa League; EFL Cup winners for the Conference League. If a cup winner has already qualified through the league, the place passes down to the next eligible club.

A Short History of English Football

The FA Cup in 1871 was the first national football competition in the world. The Football League followed in 1888. The modern era began in 1992, when the top-division clubs broke away to form the Premier League operating independently but still connected to the EFL below through promotion and relegation.

England International Football Team

England's National Team

While club football dominates the weekly conversation, the England national team is where the whole country watches together regardless of club affiliation. This is the beauty of football, where nations come together for the biggest tournaments in world football including the World Cup, Euro 2028 and beyond. England played in the first ever international match back in 1872, against Scotland.

The Men's Team

England's one and only World Cup accolade came in 1966, beating West Germany 4-2 in the final at Wembley. Over recent years, the team has come close several times since, including a runner-up finish at Euro 2020 (played in 2021 due to Covid) and regular quarter-final and semi-final appearances at major tournaments.

The team is managed separately from any club and is run by the FA, the association that oversees the rest of English football. Players are selected from across the Premier League, the EFL, and clubs abroad, with squads named ahead of each major tournament, the World Cup and the European Championship, both held every four years, alternating two years apart.

The Women's Team

The Lionesses, as the England women's team is known, won the European Championship in 2022, beating Germany in the final at Wembley. It was the first major trophy won by an England senior team, men's or women's, since the men's in 1966, and it's widely accelerating interest in women's football across the country.

Women's football in England has a complicated history. The FA actually banned women's matches from being played on club grounds in 1921, calling the game "unsuitable for females." That ban stayed in place for fifty years, until 1971. The FA didn't take direct responsibility for the women's national team until 1993, and the modern professional league, the FA Women's Super League, only launched in 2011.

Beyond the senior teams

There are youth and development teams too, from Under-16s through to Under-21s, with the Under-21 side generally seen as the main pipeline into the senior squad. There's also an England C team, made up of non-league players, which plays in its own international fixtures separate from the main international calendar.

Where England play

Wembley Stadium in North-West London, is the national stadium for England hosting home fixtures. With a capacity of 90,000 people, it's owned by the FA and also hosts the FA Cup final, the EFL Cup final, and other domestic matches throughout the season including the Championship Play-Offs, considered the most valuable single football match in the world as a result of the increase in revenue.