Association of Football Statisticians
The Association of Football Statisticians (AFS) is an organisation which collates the historical and statistical records for domestic and international Association football.
History
The Association of Football Statisticians was founded in the UK in July 1978 by Ray Spiller in Basildon, Essex, publishing its first monthly newsletter in December 1978 under the title of The Football Experts. This soon developed into the AFS quarterly reports which became the leading magazine for both football historians and statisticians. It also published AFS Annuals, covering The Football League since its foundation in 1888, and over 100 publications on football history and statistics.
These include series on the Early Years, Football League Appearances and Goalscorers, War Reports, Classifieds, Who’s Whos, Definitive Club histories, Football Recollections and facsimiles of many of the early works of football history including Men Famous in Football and the Athletics News Football Annual.
The present day
In 2000 a commercial arm was set up combining traditional information services with a strong web-presence. The AFS is now a provider of information to football's governing bodies (including The Football Association, FIFA, the Professional Footballers' Association), the media, the legal profession, academic institutions and gaming industries.
The most recent project that the AFS has embarked upon is the Football Genome Project - the compilation of every football match played in professional football ever. Much of this work has been completed, with UK data going back to the first games in the 1800s through to the present day.
A historical photographic record is also being compiled prior to being put online - since the launch of the Football Genome Project, numerous people have come forward with old family photographs and data of their own. It is envisaged that this will be a collaborative project - possibly via Flickr, combining photographs from The AFS library and photographs belonging to the fans. A small collection (several hundred) of these photos are currently on display on the AFS site.
The Association of Football Statisticians is based in Battersea, London, a stone throw away from the site of the first ever game under Football Association rules in Battersea Park.