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Prepare to read this text. When you click "Start", a timer begins ticking and when you get to the bottom of the text, you need to click the "Stop" button. Read the text at your normal speed, being prepared to answer questions on the text afterwards. A Game of Two Halves Football has the status of being the United Kingdom’s national sport, although in terms of participation angling would probably count as the most popular in terms of the numbers of people taking part every weekend. The game has undergone something of a renaissance during the 1990s following a massive influx of television and sponsorship money. During the 1970s and 80s football had begun to decline in popularity. Rising levels of unemployment affecting traditional working class support had led to a drop in attendance figures for spectators watching the games. Furthermore, hooliganism had been a particular problem during the 70s when violence and thuggery became commonplace both inside and outside the grounds. Today, British football is organized into two league structures - one covering England and Wales, the other north of the border in Scotland. Most of the major clubs were formed in the latter half of the 19th Century and were concentrated in the large industrial cities of the Midlands and North. These cities had sprung up as a direct result of the industrial revolution. A league system was first introduced in 1888. Football has, however, a much longer history than the inauguration of the football league. Historical evidence suggests that as far back as the Elizabethan era, teams from rival villages numbering hundreds of individuals would oppose each other. The object of the ‘game’ was quite simply to drag, punch, kick or throw the ball ( usually a pig’s bladder) into the opponents’ goal. Goals could be separated from one another by several kilometres. During the 19th Century, the game of rugby developed at the famous public school of the same name when William Webb Ellis, one of the boarders, had a sudden impulse to pick up a ball and run with it. In England and Wales, the most prestigious competitions have been the League and the FA Cup. The League Cup was introduced in the early 1960s. These competitions carry with them the added incentive of European football qualification. The FA Cup Final is perhaps the greatest occasion of the British sporting calendar, with the famous old stadium of Wembley packed to its capacity of 76,000 spectators. Tickets for these occasions are particularly hard to come by. At the first ever Wembley cup final in 1926, it was estimated that nearly 200,000 spectators watched the match, with 125,000 actually paying for the privilege. In 1992 the old First Division gave way to the Premiership or Premier League as it is also called. This is partly a reflection of the increasing financial clout of the top teams and there is now a huge gap in terms of resources between the rich premier league sides and the lower divisions. The flood of TV sponsorship money has resulted in rocketing salary demands and transfer fees. Successful premiership players can demand salaries in excess of £30,000 pounds per week excluding fringe earnings through sponsorship deals. Footballers have quite literally been catapulted into superstar status. With the huge amounts of money now circulating, the leading clubs have been able to compete for the signatures of top international stars, which has lead to an influx of players from the Continent and to a lesser extent South America. One particular watershed in recent English football history was the disaster at the Hillsborough stadium in 1989. Due mainly to a disastrous string of policing errors, over 100 Liverpool supporters become trapped on one of the terraces behind the goal. The pressure of the waves of standing supporters filling the ground crushed to death many fans at the front of the enclosure. These supporters had been unable to escape due to the high fences which had been erected to prevent hooligans from invading the pitch. The disaster put the spotlight on the decrepit state of many stadiums around the country. Run-down grounds and hooliganism had driven many families away from the game. The publication of the Taylor Report soon afterwards resulted in a major rebuilding program for British football grounds. Almost all Premiership clubs have made major alterations to their grounds which are now all-seater and far cries from the rain-lashed cattle enclosures of the immediate post war years. Some clubs such as Sunderland and Derby County took the opportunity to leave their historic homes completely and move into state-of-the-art all-seater stadiums. Today football supporters can watch their favourite teams in relative comfort although one negative consequence of this has been the steep rise in ticket prices. All the major clubs have extremely well developed corporate entertainment and commercial operations which generate a significant extra income. Many clubs are equipped with private boxes which cater for companies looking to entertain business clients in considerable comfort. Retail outlets at the grounds sell a huge range of merchandise. Several clubs have come in for criticism that they are exploiting their loyal fans especially with regard to the frequency with which teams change their playing strip. Nevertheless it cannot be denied that several clubs are extremely successful financial operations- a number of teams have established themselves on the Stock Exchange. The game would appear to be in a good state of health, with reduced hooliganism in grounds and a steady flow of funding from satellite TV companies. However many now believe that football has now reached its financial peak. Please click | Results | in the menu above for more information.