England are the oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland. The two countries first played in the first international match, at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland on 30 November 1872.[2] Over the next forty years, regular games between the four Home nations - England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland - were the only football England played. The British Home Championship began in 1883, making these games competitive. The championships continued until 1984.

Prior to 1924, when Wembley was opened, England had had no permanent home ground. They had played their first ever games outside of the British Isles in 1908 and though the FA had joined FIFA in 1906, the relationship between the two had been strained and the British nations left FIFA in 1928, only rejoining in 1946. This meant that England did not compete in a World Cup until 1950, in which they were humiliated in a 1-0 defeat against the United States, and failed to qualify past the first round. A 6-3 loss in 1953 to Hungary was England's first ever defeat to a non-British team at Wembley and confirmed the end of English claims to dominate world football.

Walter Winterbottom was appointed as the first ever full time manager in 1946, though the team was still picked by committee until Alf Ramsey took over in 1963. Ramsey was the coach for England's greatest ever success, winning the 1966 World Cup Final against West Germany 4-2 after extra time. Geoff Hurst famously scored a hat-trick in the final. The 1966 World Cup had also been held in England. After this victory, the fortunes of England declined and teams of the 1970s were unsuccessful, qualifying for no tournaments at all. Ron Greenwood's England were knocked out of the 1982 World Cup without losing a match, then his successor Bobby Robson fared better, reaching the quarter finals of the 1986 World Cup and finishing fourth in the tournament four years later.

Graham Taylor's short reign as Robson's successor ended after his England didn't qualify for the 1994 World Cup, but then the 1996 European Championships were held in England, and under new coach Terry Venables the team had its best performance at a European Championship, reaching the semi-final. The England team of the 1990s and 2000s has been consistently in football's top twenty countries, but failed to progress beyond the quarter finals of any international tournament, and had a quick turnover of coaches, with both Glenn Hoddle and Kevin Keegan lasting little more than two years each in the role. Sven-Göran Eriksson, in charge from 2001 to 2006, was notable as the first non-English manager of England.

Steve McClaren is the new head coach, with John Terry his choice to replace David Beckham as captain. The revised management team now features Terry Venables, the former head coach. Beckham was left out of McClaren's first international squad for the friendly match against Greece on 16 August 2006, and was not recalled until the friendly against Brazil on 1 June, 2007, almost a year later.

After a good start with three straight victories against Greece, Andorra, and Macedonia, England had a goalless draw against the same Macedonia side on home ground, followed by a 2-0 defeat to Croatia in Zagreb, which ended Paul Robinson's run of six consecutive clean sheets for his country. This defeat was the worst competitive defeat suffered by England in almost exactly thirteen years, since the loss to Holland by the same score in the qualifying matches for the 1994 World Cup. England's unimpressive form continued as they lost 1-0 to Spain in a friendly match, with the cold and disappointed crowd booing off the home side at the final whistle. England's return to competitive football in March 2007 resulted in a disappointing 0-0 draw in Tel Aviv against Israel with yet another jeering and booing from English fans.

On 28 March, 2007, England finally ended their goal drought thanks to a goal in the 54th minute of their match against Andorra by Steven Gerrard. The match ended with a 3-0 win for England, with the second goal by Gerrard and a very close-range goal from David Nugent, ending their run of 5 games without a win. England were heavily booed off the pitch at half-time by a primarily English crowd, angry at their team's failure to score in the first-half. However, even after scoring there were still loud chants off "We want McClaren out" and "There's only one David Beckham" (in reference to McClaren's afore-mentioned dropping of Beckham from the team in August 2006), as well as continued booing at the final whistle. It should be emphasised that the crowd's disappointment was a combined result of England's poor form in previous games and the under par performance of an England team, ranked 6^th in the March 2007 FIFA World Rankings,[3] in a game against an Andorran team (mostly made up of part-time players) ranked 157 places below them in 163^rd position.

A year on from the World Cup in Germany and things are looking up for McClaren and England now, despite the thought of the remaining qualifiers being mainly must win games. England's veterans are returning with the news of a fit again Michael Owen and a recall of an in-form David Beckham. Also after seven year absence football is coming home as England will return to the New Wembley Stadium for their home fixtures. England's first match in the new Wembley stadium will be a friendly against Brazil on June 1.

For the first 50 years of its existence, England played its home matches all around the country; for the first few years it used cricket  grounds, before later moving on to football clubs' stadiums. England played their first match at Wembley Stadium in 1924 against Scotland, but for the next 27 years would only use Wembley as a venue for Scotland matches.

In May 1951, Argentina became the first team other than Scotland to be played at Wembley, and by 1960 nearly all of England's home matches were being played there. Between 1966 and 1995, England did not play a single home match anywhere else.

England's last match at the old Wembley was against Germany on 7 October 2000, a game which England lost 1-0. Since then the team has played at 14 venues around the country, with Old Trafford having been the most used. The FA have ruled that when the new Wembley is completed in 2007, England will play all of their home matches there until at least 2036. The main reason for this is financial. The FA did not own the old Wembley stadium, but it does own the new one, and has taken on debts of hundreds of millions of pounds to pay for it. Thus it needs to maximise the revenue from England matches, and does not wish to share it with the owners of other grounds.

The new Wembley held its first international game in March 2007, when England U21s played Italy U21s in front of 55,700 people. The match was drawn 3-3, with David Bentley scoring the first goal in an England shirt at the new stadium. However, Italian striker Giampaolo Pazzini scored the first goal, after just 29 seconds.

England have traditionally worn white shirts with navy shorts and since the early 1960s, white socks. Their change kit is red shirts, white shorts and red socks.

Other away kits worn by England have included blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks during the 1930s, '40s and '50s and pale blue (first used during the 1970 World Cup and again from 1986-1992 as a rarely-used third choice kit). In 1973 England wore a change kit of yellow shirts and socks with blue shorts, and at Euro '96 an all grey kit was used as a second choice strip. This deviation from tradition was so unpopular amongst supporters that since then, England's away kit has remained red.[5]

In modern times England's kit has been supplied by Umbro, with the exception of the years 1974 - 1984 when it was manufactured by Admiral.

England rotates its kits every two years, with a new home kit released at the beginning of every odd numbered year and a new away kit released at the beginning of every even numbered year. The previous home kit (used during the 2006 FIFA World Cup) made its final appearance on 15 November, 2006 against the Netherlands. A new kit was released on 5 February, 2007 and was first used on 7 February, 2007 against Spain. The jersey has a single red stripe partially across the front of the shoulders. The crest and gold star appear on the left of the chest, with the Umbro logo, now gold, and the front shirt number appearing on the right. This symmetry also applies to the away jersey. There are now Umbro diamonds on the top of the right shoulder. A navy and white stripe depicting the three lions appears on the sides. The numbering and lettering font and colour is the same as the previous two home jerseys, and continues with silver Umbro diamonds, first seen in 2005.
Player names and numbers

For the first 65 years of competition, England footballers' shirts contained no identifying names or numbers. Numbers were first worn in 1937 in a match against Scotland in Glasgow. They quickly became associated with a certain position, so to describe someone as 'England's number 9' would be to describe a player as the best choice for centre forward. This terminology continues today, and the team has kept to the tradition of numbering players from 1 to 11 (12 upwards for substitutes), outside of major tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Football Championship, where permanent squad numbers are required.

Numbers are traditionally associated with a certain position, but there are no set rules. Furthermore, established players will tend to use the same number whenever they play. Steven Gerrard, for example, retains the England number 4 no matter what position he plays in. However, when Gerrard does not play, another player will be number 4.

The first time that England wore names on their jerseys was at EURO 92 in Sweden. They have since worn player names on their jerseys at every major tournament. However, it was nine more years before names were worn outside major tournaments. This was due to the fact that England would issue new numbers (and therefore new jerseys) for every game. Outside the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Football Championship, England first wore player names for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying match on 6 October, 2001 against Greece at Old Trafford. With new technology, player names can now be affixed to the jerseys as late as the day of the match.

Forthcoming fixtures

    * Friendly: England v Brazil, 1 June 2007 at Wembley Stadium, London, England
    * Euro 2008 Qualifying Group E:
          o Estonia v England, 6 June 2007 at A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia
          o England v Israel, 8 September 2007 at Wembley Stadium, London, England
          o England v Russia, 12 September 2007 at Wembley Stadium, London, England
          o England v Estonia, 13 October 2007 at Wembley Stadium, London, England
          o Russia v England, 17 October 2007 in Russia
          o England v Croatia, 21 November 2007 at Wembley Stadium, London, England

Recent results

This is a list of match results from the past year. Goal scorers in brackets.

    * Friendly: England (B team) 3-1 Albania, 25 May at Turf Moor (England: Smith 34, Downing 37, 58; Albania: Berisha 44)
    * Euro 2008 Qualifying Group E:
          o Andorra 0-3 England, 28 March at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys (England: Gerrard 54, 76, Nugent 90)
          o Israel 0-0 England, 24 March at Ramat Gan Stadium
    * Friendly: England 0-1 Spain, 7 February at Old Trafford (Spain: Iniesta 63)
    * Friendly: Netherlands 1-1 England, 15 November at Amsterdam Arena (Netherlands: van der Vaart 86; England: Rooney 37)
    * Euro 2008 Qualifying Group E:
          o Croatia 2-0 England, 11 October at Maksimir Stadium (Croatia: Da Silva 60, Neville o.g. 68)
          o England 0-0 Republic of Macedonia, 7 October at Old Trafford
          o Republic of Macedonia 0-1 England, 6 September at Skopje City Stadium (Crouch 46)
          o England 5-0 Andorra, 2 September at Old Trafford, Manchester (Crouch 5, 66, Defoe 38, 47 Gerrard 13)
    * Friendly: England 4-0 Greece, 16 August at Old Trafford, Manchester (England: Terry 14, Lampard 30, Crouch 35, 42)
    * 2006 World Cup Quarter-finals
          o England 0 - 0 (1-3 on penalties) Portugal, 1 July, at Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen
    * 2006 World Cup Round of 16
          o England 1 - 0 Ecuador, 25 June, at Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart (England: Beckham 60)
    * 2006 World Cup Group B:
          o Sweden 2-2 England, 20 June at Müngersdorfer Stadion, Cologne (England: J. Cole 34, Gerrard 86; Sweden: Allback 51, Larsson 90)
          o England 2-0 Trinidad & Tobago, 15 June at Frankenstadion, Nuremberg (England: Crouch 83, Gerrard 91)
          o England 1-0 Paraguay, 10 June at Waldstadion, Frankfurt (England: Gamarra og 3mins)
    * Friendly: England 6-0 Jamaica, 3 June 2006 at Old Trafford, Manchester (England: Lampard 11, Taylor 17 og, Crouch 29, Owen 32, Crouch 67, 89)
    * Friendly: England 3-1 Hungary, 30 May 2006 at Old Trafford, Manchester (England: Gerrard 45, Terry 51, Crouch 84; Hungary: Dardai 55)

European Championship record

    * 1960 - Did not enter
    * 1964 - Did not qualify
    * 1968 - Third place
    * 1972 - Did not qualify - Quarter-finals
    * 1976 - Did not qualify
    * 1980 - Round 1
    * 1984 - Did not qualify
    * 1988 - Round 1
    * 1992 - Round 1
    * 1996 - Semi-Finals
    * 2000 - Round 1
    * 2004 - Quarter-Finals

Famous past players



    * Tony Adams 1987-2000
    * Darren Anderton 1992-2001
    * Viv Anderson 1978-1988
    * Jimmy Armfield 1959-1966
    * Alan Ball 1965-1975
    * Gordon Banks 1963-1972
    * John Barnes 1983-1995
    * Cliff Bastin 1931-1938
    * Peter Beardsley 1986-1996
    * Colin Bell 1968-1975
    * Steve Bloomer 1895-1907
    * Eric Brook 1929-1939
    * Trevor Brooking 1974-1982
    * Terry Butcher 1980-1990
    * Mick Channon 1972-1977
    * Bobby Charlton 1958-1970
    * Jack Charlton 1965-1970
    * Allan Clarke 1970-1976
    * Ray Clemence 1972-1983
    * George Cohen 1964-1967
    * Terry Cooper 1969-1975
    * Steve Coppell 1976-1983
    * Tony Currie 1972-1979
    * Steve Coppell 1976-1983
    * Dixie Dean 1927-1932
    * Jimmy Dickinson 1949-1956
    * Duncan Edwards 1955-1957
    * Tom Finney 1946-1958
    * Ron Flowers 1955-1966
    * Trevor Francis 1977-1986
    * Paul Gascoigne 1988-1998
    * Jimmy Greaves 1959-1967
    * Eddie Hapgood 1933-1939
    * Sam Hardy 1907-1920
    * Johnny Haynes 1954-1962
    * Glenn Hoddle 1979-1988
    * Emlyn Hughes 1969-1980
    * Roger Hunt 1962-1969
    * Norman Hunter 1961-1976
    * Geoff Hurst 1966-1972
    * Paul Ince 1992-2000
    * Kevin Keegan 1972-1982
    * Tommy Lawton 1938-1948
    * Gary Lineker 1984-1992
    * Nat Lofthouse 1950-1958
    * Paul Madeley 1971-1977
    * Paul Mariner 1977-1984
    * Stanley Matthews 1934-1957
    * Bobby Moore 1962-1973
    * Stan Mortensen 1947-1953
    * Phil Neal 1976-1983
    * Stuart Pearce 1987-1999
    * Martin Peters 1966-1974
    * David Platt 1989-1996
    * Alf Ramsey 1948-1953
    * Bryan Robson 1980-1991
    * Kenny Sansom 1979-1988
    * Paul Scholes 1997-2004
    * David Seaman 1988-2002
    * Alan Shearer 1992-2000
    * Teddy Sheringham 1993-2002
    * Peter Shilton 1970-1990
    * Ron Springett 1959-1966
    * Gareth Southgate 1995-2004
    * Trevor Steven 1985-1992
    * Gary Stevens 1985-1992
    * Nobby Stiles 1965-1970
    * Frank Swift 1946-1949
    * Phil Thompson 1976-1982
    * Chris Waddle 1985-1991
    * Des Walker 1988-1993
    * Dave Watson 1974-1982
    * Ray Wilkins 1976-1986
    * Ray Wilson 1960-1968
    * Tony Woodcock 1978-1986
    * Chris Woods 1985-1993
    * Vivian Woodward 1903-1911
    * Billy Wright 1946-1959
    * Ian Wright 1991-1998
    * Mark Wright 1984-1996
    * Tommy Wright 1968-1970

In 2002, England featured seven times in UK broadcaster Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments:

    * The 5-1 win over Germany in the 2001 qualifier for World Cup 2002 was ranked 2nd.
    * The 4-2 World Cup Final win over West Germany in 1966 was ranked 3rd.
    * Michael Owen's goal for England against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup was ranked 14th.
    * The 4-1 win over the Netherlands in Euro 96 was ranked 25th.
    * Paul Gascoigne's winning goal for England against Scotland in Euro '96 was ranked 35th.
    * Gordon Banks' save against Pele at the 1970 World Cup was ranked 41st.
    * John Barnes' goal for England against Brazil in 1984 was ranked 75th.