County football association

The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player registration as well as promoting development amongst those bodies and referees.

There are currently 50 county FAs. Most county FAs align roughly along historic county boundaries, although some cover more than one county, and some of the major cities, particularly those with a strong football tradition, have their own FAs.[1] The Sheffield FA was the first to be created, in 1867. Additionally, the three branches of the British Armed Forces, as well as the Amateur Football Alliance, which has a strong presence in the south-east of England, are listed as having their own County FAs not corresponding to geography.[2][3]

County football associations host 'county cups' – knockout cup competitions held at a sub-regional level, which are open to affiliated members of the county FA. Typically, county FAs will host cup competitions at the following levels: senior, intermediate, junior, women's, veterans, senior Sunday football, intermediate Sunday football and junior Sunday football.

  1. ^ "Memorandum on Areas and Overlapping of Associations". The FA. 12 January 1951. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  2. ^ The Football Association. "County FAs". www.thefa.com. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  3. ^ "The FA Handbook 2022/2023". thefa.com. 7 May 2023. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.