Prior to 1913, Arsenal played near the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich. Since 1913 the club had played at Arsenal Stadium in Highbury. In 2006, Arsenal moved half a kilometre to Emirates Stadium in Lower Holloway.As well as football matches, Wembley has hosted many other sporting events, including the rugby league Challenge Cup final. Wembley will host the semi-finals and finals of the Euro 2020 after winning the right to host the semi-finals and finals when Germany withdrew their bid. It also was the venue for the European Cup final in 1968, 1978, 1992, 20. Wembley was one of the venues for the 1966 FIFA World Cup and the 1996 European Football Championship, and hosted the final of both tournaments. Cardiff's Millennium Stadium was the venue for FA Cup finals during the reconstruction, while England played at various venues around the country. The old stadium was closed in 2000 to be demolished and completely rebuilt, and the new stadium opened in 2007. Wembley Stadium, in north-west London, is the national football stadium (and also hosted Tottenham Hotspur's home games from 2017 to 2019), and is traditionally the home of the FA Cup Semi-finals and Final, League Cup Final and England's home internationals. The new Wembley Stadium during construction
Hackney Marshes in east London, home to many amateur sides, is reportedly the single largest collection of football pitches in the world.
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There are also numerous London clubs playing outside the top four divisions of English football, one or two of which are fully professional and many of which are part-time professional. The 2020–21 Premier League features six London clubs: Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham and West Ham United.Īs of the 2020–21 season, there are eight London clubs in the fully professional Football League (the three divisions below the Premiership), namely AFC Wimbledon, Barnet, Brentford, Charlton Athletic, Dagenham & Redbridge, Leyton Orient, Millwall and Queens Park Rangers. Before Chelsea's recent rise in fortunes the two highest profile London clubs were Arsenal and their long-standing North London rivals Tottenham, both of whom were considered to be members of English football's "big five" for most of the post-war period. London clubs are able to charge higher ticket prices than clubs in other parts of the country (particularly for corporate facilities), and this has swung English football's balance of power towards London. This meant that the 2010–11 season would see three London clubs in the UEFA Champions League for the first time ever. In 2009–10, three of the top four places were occupied by London sides-Chelsea (champions), Arsenal (3rd) and Tottenham Hotspur (4th). In 2004–05 they did so again, this time with Chelsea winning.
In 2003–04 they became the first pair of London clubs to finish first and second in the top flight, with Arsenal winning. Historically the London clubs have not accumulated as many trophies as those from the north-west of England, such as Liverpool and Manchester United, but at present Arsenal (founded at Woolwich Arsenal but playing in Holloway), and Chelsea (who actually play in Fulham) are regarded as two of the Premier League's "big four" alongside Manchester United and Liverpool.
Most London clubs are named after the district in which they play (or used to play). įootball is now the most popular spectator sport in London, and the city has several of England's leading clubs. The modern passing game was invented in London in the early 1870s by the Royal Engineers A.F.C. He wrote the first set of rules of true modern Association football at his house in Barnes. Morley wrote to Bell's Life newspaper proposing a governing body for football which led directly to the first meeting at the Freemasons' Tavern in central London of the FA. Key to the establishment of the modern game was Londoner Ebenezer Cobb Morley who was a founding member of The Football Association, the oldest football organisation in the world. The modern game of football was first codified in 1863 in London and subsequently spread worldwide. In the sixteenth century the headmaster of St Paul's School, Richard Mulcaster, is credited with taking mob football and transforming it into organised and refereed team football. The playing of football in London has been well documented since it was first outlawed in 1314.
London has a special place in the history of football.