British Records

Football can be traced back to 1314 in England through a reference to the game by Royal Proclamation by Edward II banning the game in London.

The earliest clear representation was in Edinburgh in 1672.

Football was standardised when the football association(FA) was formed in 1863 on the 26th October. The oldest club is Sheffield F.C. formed on the 24th October. The oldest team in the football league at present is Nottingham County who were formed in 1862. Eleven players per side was standardised in 1870.

The highest score recorded in a first-class match was on the 5th September 1885 by Arbroath and Bon Accord with Arbroath winning 36-0.

The highest individual score in the :

Football League was 10 by Joe Payne(1914-77) for Luton Town against Bristol Rovers in the 3rd Division (South) on the 13th April 1936

Football League Division One(Now the Premier Division) was 7 by Ted Drake(1912-) for Arsenal against Aston Villa on the 14th December 1935 and by James David Ross for Preston North End against Stoke on the 6th October 1888.

F.A. Cup(Preliminary Round) was 10 by Chris Marron for South Shields against Radcliffe on the 20th September 1947.

F.A. Cup was 9 by Edward 'Ted' MaxDougall(1947-) for Bournemouth against Margate(first round) on the 20th November 1971.

League Cup was 6 by Frankie Bunn(1962-) for Oldham against Scarborough on the 25th October 1989.

The most goals in a season was by William Ralph 'Dixie' Dean(1907-80) for Everton(Old First Division) in 1927/28 with 60 goals (39 games) in the league season with a further 3 more in cup ties and 19 in representative matches bringing his total to 82.

The Fastest Goal was in 6 second by Albert E. Mundy(1926-) for Aldershot against Hartlepool (25 October 1958), Barrie Jones(1938-) for Nottingham County against Torquay United (21 March 1962) and by Kieth Smith(1940-) for Crystal Palace against Derby County (12 December 1964).

The Fastest Own Goal was in 6 seconds by Torquay United's Pat Kruse(1953-) when playing against Cambridge United on the 3rd January 1977.

The Most International Caps for England was 125 by Peter Shilton(1949-)(Keeper) between 1970-90.

The Oldest International Cap was by William Henry 'Billy' Meredith(1874-1958) for Wales when he was aged 45 years 229 days. The match was againts England on the 15th March 1920. He played internationally for 26 years between 1895 and 1920.

The Youngest International player was Norman Whiteside who played for Northern Ireland when he was 17 years 41 days on 17th June 1982. The games was against Yugoslavia.

The Youngest International Player for England was Duncan Edwards (1936-58) and played when he was 18 years and 183 days.

The Greatest attendance in the World was 199,589 in a game between Brazil and Uruguay on the 16th July 1950 at the Maracana Municipal Stadium, Rio de Janeiro.

The British Paid Record is 149,547 in a game between Scotland and England at Hampden Park, Glasgon the the 17th April 1937.

The Smallest Crowd for a British International was 2,315 between Wales and Northern Ireland on the 27th May 1982 at the Racecourse Ground, Wexham, Clwyd, Wales.

The Smallest Paying Crowd for a League Match was 13 in a game between Stockport County and Leicester City match at Old Trafford, Manchester on the 7th May 1921. The match though had an attendance of a further 2000 people gaining free entrance. The match was played at Old Trafford because Stockports ground was under suspension.

The Record Number of Penalty kicks awarded in a league match is 5 in a match between Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion. Palace missed 3 of their 4 penalties. The overall score was 2-1 to Crystal Palace.

The Closest Championship was by 0.02 of a goal with a goal average of 1.81 by Huddersfield with Cardiff having a goal average of 1.79 in the 1923/4 season.

The Closest League Championship was in 1988/9 with Arsenal and Liverpool finishing with the same points and goal difference. The championship was decide by Arsnal scoring more goals with 73 to Liverpools 65.

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