Soccer

The popularity of football on the continent was well established by the 19th century, with the first club being Switzerland’s Lausanne Football and Cricket Club, established in 1860. However, the actual development of the sport came much later. The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) was formed in 1898 but the league only came about in 1929, while the first Spanish competition was the Copa del Rey in 1902, followed by La Liga in 1928.

Furthermore, European and worldwide developments were heavily influenced by the aforementioned innovations in England. For example, the first recorded game outside of Europe took place in Argentina in 1867 and involved English workers in the country. Indeed, many clubs across the world today exist due to the efforts of British natives, Corinthians FC being a prime example. Originally an amateur side based in London, they joined the Amateur Football Association rather than aligning themselves with the Football League and the FA Cup. Rather than disband though, Corinthians toured the world, inspiring the small Brazilian side in São Paulo, who renamed themselves Sports Club Corinthians Paulista in 1910 and are now one of the most important clubs in South American football, and even encouraging Spain’s fledgling Real Madrid CF to copy their trademark white shirts. Similarly, arguably the most successful Italian side in the world, AC Milan, were the brainchild of Alfred Edwards who, in 1899, established the Milan Cricket and Football Club. Such was Britain’s worldwide influence that the Argentina Football Association was founded in 1893 by Scotland-born Alexander Watson Hutton.

It is for reasons like these that football can arguably be considered the greatest export in Britain’s long history. What is certainly not in question is the incredible influence Britain had on the development of modern football; laying down the original regulations, establishing the basic competitions and spreading the game quite literally worldwide.