According to FIFA, the world governing body of football, the contemporary history of the game began in 1863 in England, when rugby football and association football "branched off on their different courses" and the English Football Association (the FA) was formed as the sport's first governing body.[1] Until the 19th century, football had been played in various forms using a multiplicity of rules under the general heading of "folk football". From about the 1820s, efforts were made at public schools and at the University of Cambridge to unify the rules. The split into two codes was caused by the issue of handling the ball.The world's oldest football clubs were founded in England from 1857 and, in the 1871–72 season, the FA Cup was founded as the world's first organised competition. The first international match took place in November 1872 when England travelled to Glasgow to play Scotland. The quality of Scottish players was such that northern English clubs began offering them professional terms to move south. At first, the FA was strongly opposed to professionalism and that gave rise to a bitter dispute from 1880 until the FA relented and formally legitimised professionalism in 1885. A shortage of competitive matches led to the formation of the Football League by twelve professional clubs in 1888 and the domestic game has ever since then been based on the foundation of league and cup football.The competitiveness of matches involving professional teams generated widespread interest, especially amongst the working class. Attendances increased significantly through the 1890s and the clubs had to build larger grounds to accommodate them. Typical ground construction was mostly terracing for standing spectators with limited seating provided in a grandstand built centrally alongside one of the pitch touchlines. Through media coverage, football became a main talking point among the population and had overtaken cricket as England's national sport by the early 20th century. The size of the Football League increased from the original twelve clubs in 1888 to 92 in 1950. The clubs were organised by team merit in four divisions with promotion and relegation at the end of each season. Internationally, England hosted and won the 1966 FIFA World Cup but has otherwise been among the also-rans in global terms. English clubs have been a strong presence in European competition with several teams, especially Liverpool and Manchester United, winning the major continental trophies.The sport was beset by hooliganism from the 1960s to the 1980s and this, in conjunction with the impact of rising unemployment, caused a fall in attendances and revenue which plunged several clubs into financial crisis. Following three major stadium disasters in the 1980s, the Taylor Report was commissioned and this resulted in all-seater stadia becoming mandatory for clubs in the top-level divisions. In 1992, the Premier League was founded and its members negotiated a lucrative deal for live