Football in London
The playing of team ball games (almost certainly including football) was first recorded in London by William FitzStephen around 1174–1183.
In 1581 he wrote about his game of football, which included smaller teams, referees, set positions and even a coach.
Morley wrote to the 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.
The founder members present at the first meeting were Barnes, Civil Service, Crusaders, Forest of Leytonstone (later to become Wanderers), N.N.
A rise in the popularity of football in London dates from the end of the 19th century, when a fall in church attendance[specify] left many people searching for a way to spend their weekend leisure time.
Of those clubs currently playing in the Football League, Fulham is generally considered to be London's oldest, having been founded in 1879.
Initially, football in London was dominated by amateur teams, drawing their membership from former public schoolboys but gradually working-class sides came to the forefront.
Other London clubs soon followed Arsenal's footsteps in turning professional, including Millwall (1893), Tottenham Hotspur (1895), Fulham (1898) and West Ham (1898).
The 2009–10 season saw Chelsea (1st), Arsenal (3rd) and Tottenham (4th) all finish in the top four, qualifying all three of these London teams into the same UEFA Champions League competition.
Before the 1996–97 season, when Chelsea started its run of consistent high finishes, the two highest profile London clubs were Arsenal and their long-standing North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, both of whom were considered to be members of English football's "big five" (with Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton) for much of the post-war period.
As of the end of the 2021–22 season, all three clubs were in the top ten in the all-time top-flight table for England – Arsenal at second overall, Tottenham at seventh overall and Chelsea at eighth overall.
There are also a huge number of minor London clubs playing outside the top eight levels of English football.
[1] Many association football clubs from London are also successful on social media with a large international fanbase.
Three of the top 20 most popular sports clubs on Instagram in the world, as of 23 November 2023, are from London:[12] The figures in bold represent the most times this competition has been won by an English team.
Outside of those five, the highest league positions of London clubs which have played in the top-flight are 2rd Queens Park Rangers, 3rd (Crystal Palace, West Ham United), 5th (Brentford), 6th (Wimbledon), 7th (Fulham), 10th (Millwall), and 22nd (Leyton Orient).
