Internet Football Association
Encyclopedia
The Internet Football Association (also known as the IFA) is an organisation which runs football
competitions for supporters' teams across the United Kingdom
. Its flagship competition is the IFA League, and the highlight of the IFA calendar is WorldNET. The motto of the IFA is "Internet football is not about winning, it's about building bridges between rival groups of football supporters."
, kept in touch with other fans via email
. Those people tended to mainly be in technical or academic professions where email was widely available. The first ever internet organised football match was held in Nottingham
on 30 July 1995 between Leeds Lards and Internet Hotspurs. Leeds won the match 6-3.
, which has hosted the tournament since 2000. WorldNET attracts teams from all over Europe and some from even further afield, with previous entrants including supporters of Inter Milan, RC Lens
, St. Pauli
and even an Arsenal
supporters' team from Nigeria
.
WorldNET has been supported by The Football Supporters' Federation
since 2009, and they have provided a free programme for all participants and spectators for the last two editions of the tournament.
The ideal of the IFA is that two supporters teams will get together and play each other on a Saturday morning, before attending the match between their two "big teams" in the afternoon. IFA fixtures are often arranged so as to coincide with meetings of the teams they support, however it does not always work out this way.
The main IFA league consists of around eighty teams, and is not split into separate divisions. However, there is a Scottish league. Scottish teams tend to compete in both leagues, with their fixtures counting towards both competitions. Scottish teams regularly do well in matches against their English counterparts, with Celtic having won WorldNET twice, and Hibs having won the IFA Cup three times, and in 2011 Motherwell became the first Scottish team ever to win the IFA league.
Every year, each team is invited to vote for the Team of the Year award. This is for the team that has played the game in the best spirit, closest to the ethos of the IFA.
Below is a table of past winners of the IFA league, along with the Scottish League Champions and the Team of the Year.
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
competitions for supporters' teams across the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Its flagship competition is the IFA League, and the highlight of the IFA calendar is WorldNET. The motto of the IFA is "Internet football is not about winning, it's about building bridges between rival groups of football supporters."
Origins of the IFA
In the early nineties many supporters, particularly ex-patsExpatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
, kept in touch with other fans via email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
. Those people tended to mainly be in technical or academic professions where email was widely available. The first ever internet organised football match was held in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
on 30 July 1995 between Leeds Lards and Internet Hotspurs. Leeds won the match 6-3.
History
The IFA's annual tournament, WorldNET, traces its roots back to 1996. In the build up to UEFA Euro 96, there had been concerns over whether English football fans would be able to behave themselves. Dave "Voice of Football" Walmsley wanted to show that football fans could come together in the spirit of the game, play football and build bridges between their respective teams. Through the use of email discussion groups, Dave organised a sixteen-team tournament to be held on June 9, 1996 in Nottingham, and EuroNET 96 was born. From that point it grew to represent the teams of message boards and email discussion groups across the UK. Dave Walmsley stood down after EuroNET 96 and the organisation was taken on by John Boocock and Roger Goodair. In 1999 it was renamed WorldNET to better represent the world-wide interest the tournament now had.WorldNET Today
In the time since then, WorldNET has become even bigger. 2008 saw the introduction of a Veterans' tournament. With 64 teams in the main tournament and 16 in the veterans, there were a record 80 teams competing at WorldNET 2009. WorldNET is now regularly held at the University of LeedsUniversity of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
, which has hosted the tournament since 2000. WorldNET attracts teams from all over Europe and some from even further afield, with previous entrants including supporters of Inter Milan, RC Lens
RC Lens
Racing Club de Lens is a French association football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, sang et or , comes from its traditional colours of red and gold. Their primary rivals are their northern neighbors Lille OSC, whom they contest the Derby du...
, St. Pauli
St. Pauli
St. Pauli , located in the Hamburg-Mitte borough, is one of the 105 quarters of the city of Hamburg, Germany. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the Landungsbrücken are a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. Pauli contains a world famous red light district around the street Reeperbahn...
and even an Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
supporters' team from Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
.
WorldNET has been supported by The Football Supporters' Federation
Football Supporters' Federation
The Football Supporters' Federation is an organisation representing football fans in England and Wales. It campaigns across a range of issues and supports fan representation on clubs' boards, lower ticket prices, and the reintroduction of safe standing areas at grounds in the top two tiers of...
since 2009, and they have provided a free programme for all participants and spectators for the last two editions of the tournament.
Past Winners
| Year | WorldNET Winners | WorldNET Runners Up | Plate Winners | Plate Runners Up | Veterans Winners | Veterans Runners Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Middlesbrough | QPR | ||||
| 1997 | Bradford City | |||||
| 1998 | QPR | |||||
| 1999 | Arsenal | |||||
| 2000 | Middlesbrough | Arsenal | ||||
| 2001 | Middlesbrough | Dumbarton | Arsenal | |||
| 2002 | Charlton Athletic | Aberdeen | Motherwell | |||
| 2003 | Celtic | Inter Milan | Portsmouth | Brentford | ||
| 2004 | Dumbarton | Stockport | Stockport | Inter Milan | ||
| 2005 | Rotherham United | QPR | Scunthorpe | Inter Milan | ||
| 2006 | Celtic | Dumbarton | QPR | Doncaster | ||
| 2007 | RC Lens | Leicester | Darlington | |||
| 2008 | Preston North End | Watford A | QPR | Arsenal Nigeria | Arsenal Nigeria | Birmingham |
| 2009 | West Bromwich Albion | Bradford City | Welling United | York City | Bury | Leicester City |
| 2010 | Bradford City | RC Lens | QPR | Leicester City | AFC Halifax | Arsenal Nigeria |
The IFA League
The IFA league has an unusual structure, where instead of a set fixture list with teams playing each other a set number of times, it is up to the teams themselves to organise fixtures. This means that some teams play more games than others, but each team is limited to playing a maximum of twenty games. Even when they lose, teams are rewarded for making the effort to turn up and play fixtures, with one league point being awarded for a defeat, two points for a draw and three for a win.The ideal of the IFA is that two supporters teams will get together and play each other on a Saturday morning, before attending the match between their two "big teams" in the afternoon. IFA fixtures are often arranged so as to coincide with meetings of the teams they support, however it does not always work out this way.
The main IFA league consists of around eighty teams, and is not split into separate divisions. However, there is a Scottish league. Scottish teams tend to compete in both leagues, with their fixtures counting towards both competitions. Scottish teams regularly do well in matches against their English counterparts, with Celtic having won WorldNET twice, and Hibs having won the IFA Cup three times, and in 2011 Motherwell became the first Scottish team ever to win the IFA league.
Every year, each team is invited to vote for the Team of the Year award. This is for the team that has played the game in the best spirit, closest to the ethos of the IFA.
Below is a table of past winners of the IFA league, along with the Scottish League Champions and the Team of the Year.
| Year | IFA League Champions | Scottish League Champions | Team of the Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | QPR | Watford | |
| 1999 | QPR | Watford | |
| 2000 | Arsenal | Huddersfield Town | |
| 2001 | QPR | Brentford | |
| 2002 | QPR | Hibs | Hull City |
| 2003 | Millwall | Hearts | Grimsby Town |
| 2004 | Fulham | Ayr United | Tranmere Rovers |
| 2005 | Millwall | Aberdeen | Watford |
| 2006 | Rotherham United | Hearts | Preston North End |
| 2007 | Preston North End | Falkirk | Preston North End |
| 2008 | Rochdale | Stirling Albion | Watford |
| 2009 | Preston North End | Ayr United | West Ham United |
| 2010 | Preston North End | Ayr United | |
| 2011 | Motherwell | Motherwell |
The IFA Cup
Every year, the IFA Challenge Cup is contested by IFA member teams from across the UK. The final of this competition is played on the Friday evening of WorldNET. Below is a list of past Winners of this competition.| Year | Winners | Runners Up |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Celtic | |
| 2001 | Hibs | |
| 2002 | QPR | Watford |
| 2003 | Hibs | |
| 2004 | Ayr United | Millwall |
| 2005 | Fulham | Ayr United |
| 2006 | Preston North End | Nottingham Forest |
| 2007 | Hibs | Bury |
| 2008 | Bury A | Rochdale |
| 2009 | Preston North End | West Bromwich Albion |
| 2010 | Preston North End | West Bromwich Albion |