Football

is one of the most popular spectator sports in Britain and a favourite sport for many schoolboys. Football dates back to the nineteenth century when the first clubs were formed. For the mass of the British public the eight months of the football season are more important than the four months of cricket.
There are plenty of amateur association ("soccer") clubs, but professional football is big business. In England over 350 clubs are affiliated to the English Football Association (FA) and some 40,000 clubs to regional and district associations. There are many more amateur association football players than there are professionals, but with one or two notable exceptions their teams cannot compete on equal terms, since professional teams are more systema¬tically and intensively trained. Many of these clubs depend for their funds on charity and their common problem is lack of money. Much of their time is spent on raising funds and organizing all kinds of social functions and lotteries. Although the press does not pay a lot of attention to them these little clubs carry on the best tradition of the game.