Official England Supporters Site

England National Team History
The England national football team is the oldest 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. Over the next forty years, England played exclusively with the other three Home nations - Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The games were made competitive with the British Home Championship from 1883 to 1984.
Before the Wembley Stadium was opened, England had had no permanent home ground. England joined FIFA in 1906, playing its first ever game outside the British Isles in 1908. However, the relationship between the two were strained, resulting in the British nations' departure from FIFA in 1928, before rejoining in 1946. As a result, England did not compete in a World Cup until 1950, in which they were humiliated in a 1-0 defeat against the United States, failing to get 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.
Although Walter Winterbottom was appointed as the first ever full time manager in 1946, the team was still picked by acommittee until Alf Ramsey took over in 1963. Under Ramsey, England experienced its 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 was also held in England. After this victory, the fortunes of England declined and it was unsuccessful in the 1970s, qualifying for no tournaments at all. In 1982, England under Ron Greenwood qualified for 1982 World Cup in Spain after a 12-year absence and were eliminated from the second round without losing a match. The team under Bobby Robson fared better as England reached the quarter finals of the 1986 World Cup and finished fourth in the tournament four years later, which was the best performance in the World Cup since 1966.
Graham Taylor's short reign as Robson's successor ended after his England failed to 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 has 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. Under Eriksson England made the Quarter Finals of World Cup 2002 & 2006 and Euro 2004
In 2006 Steve McClaren, the former Middelsbrough Manager, was appointed England Manager. Under McClaren England failed to qualify for Euro 2008, the first tournament England have failed to reach since World Cup USA 94. McClaren was sacked and replaced with the Italian Fabio Capello.
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