The oldest national football league in the world is the English Football League, which was officially founded back in eighteen eighty-eight by William McGregor, a director of Aston Villa. Established to organize a structured calendar of regular competitive fixtures for professional clubs across England, the EFL served as the foundational model for domestic league structures globally. It operated as the pinnacle of English football for over a century until the top division broke away to form the Premier League, while the EFL continues to manage the vital championship, league one, and league two tiers below the top flight.