From the Privileged to the Professionals - The Early Years of the Fa Cup

This book is concerned with the early years of the Football Association Challenge Cup - more commonly known as the FA Cup - examining events from its inception in 1871-2 to the beginning of the Football League in 1888-9. The work is underpinned by the figurational sociology of Norbert Elias, employing his ideas around the European 'civilising process', power and lengthening chains of human interdependency.

Most of all, the majority of the text has been compiled using primary source material, such as newspaper reports and the minutes of the Football Association, which encourages original and unique additions to the body of knowledge. There exist no comparable offerings on the time period involved, with the book providing a distinct perspective for scholars and non-specialists alike. The initial years of the competition were dominated by teams consisting mainly of upper-middle-class southern amateurs. However, by the early 1880s, they were supplanted by men who were initially covert- and eventually overt - professionals, many of whom hailed from Scotland, but mainly represented clubs from Lancashire and the West Midlands.

The FA Cup, despite losing some of its allure when compared to competitions such as the UEFA Champions League, still retains a magic of its own in the English football calendar.

List of contents

Introduction. 1. The 'making' of the FA Cup 2. The inaugural FA Cup 3. The beginnings of change 4. The rise of East Lancashire 5. Importations and the coming of professionalism 6. West Midlands supremacy and the advent of the Football League. Conclusion.

About the author

Graham Curry was Head of Physical Education at Tuxford Academy, UK, for 30 years, gaining his PhD at Leicester University in 2001. He has written extensively on the sociology of association football, producing with Eric Dunning, Association Football: A Study in Figurational Sociology in 2015.

Summary

This book is concerned with the early years of the Football Association Challenge Cup, examining events from its inception in 1871-2 to the beginning of the Football League in 1888-9.

Product details

• Authors: Graham Curry, Graham (University of Leicester Curry, Curry Graham
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 07.07.2023
• EAN: 9781032258997
• ISBN: 978-1-0-3225899-7
• No. of pages: 156
• Series: Routledge Soccer Histories
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, SPORTS & RECREATION / Soccer, SPORTS & RECREATION / Business Aspects, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, SPORTS & RECREATION / History, c 1800 to c 1900, history of sport, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Social and cultural history, Football (Soccer, Association football), Association football (Soccer), Sporting events and management, Sporting events & management, c 1870 to c 1879, c 1880 to c 1889