The English Football Archive - Blogs

During the years we've spent gathering and analysing the data behind this website, we've uncovered countless fascinating insights — some expected, many surprising. From debunking long-held football myths to revealing how the Football League has evolved over the decades, these stories emerge directly from the numbers. Take a look, enjoy the journey through the data, and let us know what you think.

JJ Bentley

link to JJ Bentley blog

Few football supporters have heard of J.J. Bentley, yet his influence on the development of the game was immense. A visit to Chapeltown reveals both his final resting place and one of football's most fascinating historic grounds.

The FA Cup 1871-72

Old FA Cup

In 1871, Charles W. Alcock proposed a simple idea: a knockout competition open to all member clubs of the Football Association. That idea would change the course of football history and give birth to the game's oldest surviving national cup competition.

The Decline of the FA Cup

FA Cup

Once the most prestigious and best-supported competition in English football, the FA Cup could draw bigger crowds than league matches and transform a club's fortunes overnight. Using attendance records, this article examines how and why that golden age gradually came to an end.

Denis Law's Back Heel

Dennis law

Everyone knows Denis Law's famous backheel supposedly sent Manchester United down in 1974—but the real story is far more complicated. Discover how one of England's biggest clubs slid from European champions to relegation candidates, and why Law was not really the villain of the piece.

WW1 Football

WW1 football Blog

The outbreak of war in 1914 left English football facing an impossible choice: carry on playing or close its doors for the duration. What followed was four years of arguments, improvisation, controversy and survival that altered the course of the game forever.

WW2 Football

WW2 Football

The Second World War threatened to bring organised football to a complete standstill. Instead, it produced one of the most remarkable and little-known chapters in the game's history, as clubs, players and supporters kept football alive amid air raids, rationing and national uncertainty.

The history of football over Christmas

Christmas blog

Long before the Premier League era, Christmas was football's busiest and most celebrated time of the year, with crowds regularly exceeding a million spectators over the festive period. Discover how Boxing Day became English football's greatest annual tradition and why Christmas Day fixtures eventually disappeared.

No Fans, no home advantage?

link to Home advantage blog

Does home advantage really exist, or is it simply a footballing myth? The empty stadiums of the Covid-19 pandemic created a unique natural experiment that may finally reveal just how important supporters are to their team's success.

The Competitiveness of the Premier League

Was the old First Division really more competitive than today's Premier League, or is that just nostalgia talking? Using decades of league data and European comparisons, this article investigates whether football's balance of power has fundamentally changed.

The 80,000 Club

For generations, the largest home attendances in English football belonged to a bygone age of vast terraces and packed cup ties. Tottenham Hotspur's temporary move to Wembley unexpectedly rewrote that history, producing crowds on a scale unseen for more than eighty years.

Derbies classics and rivalries

Derbys and classics

Which is English football's greatest rivalry: the Merseyside Derby, the North London Derby, the Manchester Derby, or something less obvious? By analysing league attendances since 1888, we can move beyond opinion and examine what the numbers reveal.

Understanding the leagues

The league division names have changed over time. The information below outlines these changes in detail.

1888

1892

1921

1958

1992

2004

Present

D1

Football League

First Division

Premier League

D2

Second Division

First Division

Championship

D3

Third Division

Third Division

Second Division

League One

D3N

Third Division North

D3S

Third Division South

D4

Fourth Division

Third Division

League Two