The 2008–09 season was the 129th season of competitive football in England.

1 July 2008: Luiz Felipe Scolari, who managed Brazil to World Cup glory in 2002, is appointed manager of Chelsea.

22 July 2008: Luke McCormick, on bail after being charged with causing death by dangerous driving, has his contract terminated by Plymouth Argyle.

29 July 2008: Liverpool pay £20.3million for 28-year-old Tottenham Hotspur and Ireland striker Robbie Keane.

9 August 2008: The first Football League matches of the season are played.

10 August 2008: The FA Community Shield is won by Manchester United on penalties against Portsmouth after a goalless draw at Wembley Stadium.

16 August 2008: The first Premier League matches of the season are played.

31 August 2008: The first month of the Premier League season ends with Chelsea top of the league under their new manager Luiz Felipe Scolari and West Bromwich Albion being bottom of the table. The race to get into the Premier League is being headed by Wolverhampton Wanderers, Preston North End and Birmingham City who are level on 10 points at the top of the Football League Championship after four games.

Association football is a national sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association football clubs, England has more clubs involved in the code than any other country.

England is home to, amongst others, the world's oldest association football club (Sheffield F.C.), the oldest national governing body (The Football Association), the first national team, the oldest national knockout competition (the FA Cup) and the oldest national league (The Football League). Today England's top domestic league, the Premier League, is one of the most popular and richest sports leagues in the world, and is home to some of the world's most famous football clubs.

The modern global game of association football was first codified in 1863 in London. The impetus for this was to unify English public school and university football games.

Football was played in England as far back as medieval times. The first written evidence of a football match came in about 1170, when William Fitzstephen wrote of his visit to London, "After dinner all the youths of the city goes out into the fields for the very popular game of ball." He also went on to mention that each trade had their own team, "The elders, the fathers, and the men of wealth come on horseback to view the contests of their juniors, and in their fashion sport with the young men; and there seems to be aroused in these elders a stirring of natural heat by viewing so much activity and by participation in the joys of unrestrained youth." Kicking ball games are described in England from 1280.

Larry English (born January 22, 1986) is an American football outside linebacker for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Chargers 16th overall in the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at Northern Illinois.

At Marmion Academy, in Aurora, Illinois, English was named team co-captain, MVP, and First-team All-Suburban Catholic Conference both as a junior and senior. He made 98 tackles and six sacks while playing inside linebacker and as a running back he rushed for 312 yards on 38 carries (8.2 avg). As a junior he had 100 tackles, and added two interceptions and two fumble recoveries during junior campaign. English lettered in football, basketball and track.

English was a medical redshirt in 2004 after playing in the first game of the season and sustaining an injury. The following season, 2005, he played 11 games, starting nine. He had 78 tackles with seven of them being for a loss. The next season, 2006, he was a First-team All-MAC selection. Started all 13 games and tied school record with 12 sacks, while totaling 51 tackles and forcing four fumbles.