William McGregor (1846–1911) was an association football administrator in the Victorian era, who is regarded as the founder of the Football League, the first organised football league in the world. After moving from Perthshire to Birmingham to set up business as a draper, McGregor became involved with local football club Aston Villa, which he helped to establish as one of the leading teams in England. He served the club for over twenty years in various capacities, including president, director and chairman. In 1888, frustrated by the regular cancellation of Villa's matches, McGregor organised a meeting of representatives of England's leading clubs, which led to the formation of the Football League, giving member clubs a guaranteed fixture list each season. This was instrumental in the transition of football from an amateur pastime to a professional business. McGregor served as both chairman and president of the Football League and was also chairman of the Football Association (the FA). He was recognised by the FA for his service to the game shortly before his death in 1911, and was posthumously honoured by the local football authorities and Aston Villa.
Read the rest of this article: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McGregor> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1138: A massive earthquake, one of the deadliest in recorded history, struck Aleppo, Syria. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1138_Aleppo_earthquake> 1852: The University of Sydney, Australia's oldest university, was inaugurated in Sydney two years after the New South Wales Legislative Council established it with the passage of the University of Sydney Act. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Sydney> 1865: The Morant Bay rebellion, led by Paul Bogle and George William Gordon, began in Jamaica, but eventually it was brutally suppressed by Governor Edward John Eyre. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morant_Bay_rebellion> 1962: Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council, the first Roman Catholic ecumenical council in 92 years. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Vatican_Council> 1968: Apollo 7 , the first manned mission of NASA's Apollo program, and the first three-man American space mission, launched from Complex 34 in present-day Cape Canaveral, Florida. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_7> 1987: Sri Lankan Civil War: The Indian Peace Keeping Force began Operation Pawan to take control of Jaffna from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in order to enforce their disarmament as a part of the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Pawan> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: histrionics (n): Exaggerated, overemotional behaviour, especially when calculated to elicit a response; melodramatics <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/histrionics> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. --Eleanor Roosevelt <http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eleanor_Roosevelt> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/daily-article-l Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
