Sport has played a great role in England. The most popular of them, football was first codified in 1863 in London. The impetus for this was to unify English public school and university football games. There is evidence for refereed, team football games being played in English schools since at least 1581. An account of a kicking football game from Nottingham-shire in the fifteenth century has striking similarity to football. The two main cup competitions in England are the FA Cup, which is open to every men's football team in England, and the League Cup, which is for the 92 professional clubs in the four main professional divisions only.
Another popular sport in England is Cricket.
