The principal clubs

belong to the Football League (92 clubs) and in Scotland to the Scottish Football League (38 clubs); in England and Wales professional teams are organized into four divisions. Scotland has three. During every football season, each team in the top two divisions plays forty-two matches while the other play forty-six, after which pairs of teams are sent up and down to other divisions according to results. The regular Saturday afternoon "league" games provide entertainment on the field and Saturday evening viewing on television. These games are the basis for the popular betting scheme on the football pools.
As well as league football there is a knock-out "Cup" competition between all the English and Welsh clubs, including amateur clubs. The annual Cup Final match is played in May at the Wembley Stadium in London and thousands of football enthusiasts flock from all parts of the British Isles to see their favourite team win or lose the Cup Final. The first FA Cup Final was played in 1871 at the Oval in south London (now the headquarters of the Surrey County Cricket Club) and it was won by a team called "The Wander¬ers" who beat the "Royal Engineers" by one to nil.