PUBLISHED
20:21 25th October 2013
The Seagulls will be supporting The Football Association’s 150th birthday celebrations this weekend by wearing special FA150 T-shirts during the pre-match warm-up against Watford on Monday night.
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The anniversary comes after a packed programme of events across the year including a nationwide Sir Bobby Robson National Football Day in August and a celebration of 150 grassroots heroes at Buckingham Palace earlier this month.
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The FA has used its 150th anniversary to shine a light on the national game. The seven million players of all ages, 400,000 volunteers, 300,000 coaches and 27,000 qualified referees who all help The FA keep the grassroots going. At the elite level, The FA runs 25 England teams, across men’s, women’s, youth and disability football, utilising the world-class facilities of Wembley Stadium and St. George’s Park.
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Birthday celebrations began on Monday with a ceremony at Wembley Stadium to mark the successful search for living descendants of the eight Founding Fathers of Football without whom football as we know, love and play it today, would not exist. Relatives travelled from as far afield as New Zealand and the United States to take part in a ceremony honouring their ancestors.
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Then, on Friday, a plaque unveiling was held at the Grand Connaught Rooms, site of The FA’s founding in 1863. FA chairman Greg Dyke and general secretary Alex Horne took part in the ceremony, which means there is finally a permanent record of the birthplace of the world’s most popular sport.On Saturday night, in central London, a Gala Dinner will be held at the Grand Connaught Rooms – the location of the Freemasons’ Tavern that staged the very first FA meeting on 26th October 1863, with HRH The Duke of Cambridge, The FA President, the chief guest.
Original article