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International games only came into being because of a gimmick.

The game seemd to be rather slow to catch on in Scotland so it was decided to send a team of players over the border to play the Scots and try to get the spectators more interested in the game. Played at Hamilton Crescent in November 1872 the game ended 0 – 0 but appeared to have had the desired effect as a return was arranged for March the following year. This ended in a 4 – 2 win for England.  It was then decided to hold these games annually with the playing venue being "home and away" in successive years. Scotland quickly established themselves as "Top Dogs", winning four and drawing one of the next five games.

Wales were the next national team to appear on the horizon playing England at the Kennington Oval and losing 2 – 1 (1879).

The Irish F.A. was founded in 1880. Their first International match being two years later when they were heavily defeated, 13 – 0 at Bloomfield Road, Belfast. At this point in history players for the Irish team were drawn from those born and based on the island. "Foreign" based players were not considered for selection for around ten years. It was 1920 before thoughts of division, in a football and a political sense, came to the fore. The Republic played their first ever International match  in the 1924 Olympic Games beating Bulgaria 1 – 0.

In 1883 the Home Championship was inaugurated. Scotland were the first champions wiininng thier three games with record of 10 goals for and just 1 against.

In 1884, the Scottish F.A. complained that James Forrest, included in the English team was a professional. He was being paid ONE POUND A WEEK by Blackburn Rovers. He was eventually allowed to play but had to wear a jersey to distinguish him from the other players.

In 1890, Blackburn born Jack Reynolds played for Ireland. The following year he scored Irelands only goal against England in a 1 – 9 defeat. The following year he made his debut for England. (E.E.Evans also had the distinction of playing for two of the home countries.) Reynolds is also in the history books as the only player to score both for and against England, barring own goals, of course. There were many outstanding players in this era. Especially, G.O.Smith of Corinthians and Steve Bloomer, of Derby County. Both were prolific scorers for both club and country. Smith scored 11 goals in 20 games for England whilst Bloomer notched 28 goals in 23 games. Also, at that time, he was the only player to score 4 goals on two occasions for his country.

England and Scotland virtually annexed the home Championship between them. There was a a three-way tie in 1902/3 and Wales won their first Championship in 06/07 and Ireland won their second in 1913/14. The Welsh Championship winning side was captained by Leigh Roose and included "Welsh Wizard" Billy Meredith. This was quite an accomplishment for Wales as they were never certain which of their chosen squad would turn-up. Teams were loathe to let their players turn-out for the National Side, (Things haven’t changed down the ages, then).

1904 saw the formation of Federation Internationale de Football Association or as we know it, F.I.F.A. It was founded in Paris and it’s first President was Robert Guerin. He made quite a mess of it’s first international competition in 1906. Taking this and other factors into consideration, he was replaced by an Englishman, Daniel Burley Woolfall. The association was formed by seven countries. France, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The three home nations were early "sign-ups" to the association.

Football in general was making strides through the 1900’s until the  Great War took centre stage.