Formations, or systems of play, have not always been with football. In 1863, when the London FA was set up, football players dribbled with the ball on their own. Only backward or lateral passes were allowed. As they were thought to slow the game down, they were rarely, if ever, used. In 1866, the rules changed. Forward passing was now allowed. But the English, the originators of the game, stuck to heads-down dribbling. Games were played with only one fullback and the other eight up in attack.
It was the Scottish that came up with the idea of passing the ball. In 1872, in the first international match, between Scotland and England, the Scots surprised the English. Why? It was due to two reasons. Firstly, the Scottish team, instead of running with the ball, was using short passes along the ground to advance the ball. Secondly, the Scottish team played using two fullbacks instead of one, cutting the number of attackers down to seven. Despite the extravagance in attack, the final score was 0-0. However, this left the English determined to come up with their own systems.
Blackburn Olympic, a club side from the north of England, won the FA Cup in 1883 with their secret weapon: wing-to-wing long passing. Their opponents, Old Etonians, from the south of England, were surprised at the use of this new technique.
The change in style of play meant that players had to be fitter, had to run around a lot more, than in the past. Also, this meant that a counterattack could develop quickly, so that the offense and defense had to be leveled out. This was done, naturally, by cutting down the number of forwards, and dropping back players into midfield.
The first formation came about in 1900. Proceed to the formations page