In 1863 the FA was founded in London. The annual general meetings of the members ^[1]From 1876 an entrance fee of 5s was due; the annual fee until 1868 was 1 guinea, then another 5s – the latter was about the weekly wage of a worker.
there was a board (chairman, secretary, treasurer) as well as a committee whose size changed in the first twenty years (1863: 4 – 1868: 10 – 1872: 17 – 1880: 16).

The FA members were forbidden to play games against non FA members and to use other rules than the FA Rules. These were valid until 1874, from their decision in September (until 1865) and February (1866-1874) respectively. From 1874 they became valid at the beginning of the coming season in the autumn of the same year.

In contrast to the evaluation of the Sheffield Rules, here I do not proceed chronologically, but (rule) thematically. I hope that this will make it easier for you to read. At this point I would also like to refer to the study by Tony Brown from 2011 ^[2]Cf. Brown, Tony: The Football Association 1863-1883. A Source Book. Nottingham 2011.), which carried out the same investigation as me and also dealt with the internal tensions in the FA of the 1860s and the role of the FA Challenge Cup. There you can also find the newspaper articles and rules that have been published on Wikicommons in the meantime:

The codices – A sourcebook

(For the founding meetings of the FA see the article „The most desirable code or The manly game of football?„.)

These rules were discussed annually at the general meetings held at the Freemasons‘ Tavern in London. After the inaugural meeting it became customary for all member clubs to be able to propose their rule changes until a fixed deadline. These suggestions were then discussed at the meeting and either accepted or rejected by vote. Since 1866 these meetings always took place at the end of February, before towards the end of the year.

Since there was probably no meeting in 1865, the first rule amendment took place in 1866.

As a sourcebook here are the data and the associated, already digitized previews and reports (if available online). Bibliographic information can be found in the respective footnote.

December 1, 1863: report ^[3]NN: Football Association. In: Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 05.12.1863. without page.)

October 28, 1864: report ^[4]NN: The Football Association. In: Sporting Life, 05.11.1864. p. 4.

????, 1865: unknown

February 22,1866: preview ^[5]NN: The Football Association. In: Sporting Life, 07.02.1866. p. 1. | report ^[6]NN: The Football Association. In: Bell’s Life, 24.02.1866. without page.

February 26,1867: preview ^[7]NN: The Football Association. In: Sporting Life, 13.02.1867. p. 1. | report ^[8]NN: Football Association. In: The Sportsman, 28.02.1867. p. 4.

February 26,1868: preview ^[9]NN: Football Association. In: The Sportsman, 01.02.1868. p. 3. | report ^[10]NN: Football Association. In: Sporting Life, 29.02.1868. p. 4.

February 26,1869: preview ^[11]NN: Football Association. In: The Sportman, 03.02.1869. p. 3. | report ^[12]NN: Football Association. In: The Sportsman, 27.02.1869. p. 3.

February 23, 1870: preview ^[13]NN: Fußballverband. In: Der Sportler, 02.02.1870. S. 3.)) report ^[14]NN: Treffen des Fußballverbandes. In: Das sportliche Leben, 26.02.1870. S. 3.

February 27, 1871: report ^[15]NN: The Football Association. In: The Sportsman, 01.03.1871. S. 3.)

February 27, 1872: preview ^[16]NN: Football Association. In: The Sportsman, 03.02.1872. S. 6.)) report ^[17]NN: Fußballverband. In: Der Sportler, 02.03.1872. S. 6.))

February 26, 1873: report ^[18]NN: The Football Association. In: The Sportsman, 27.02.1873. S. 3.)

February 26, 1874: preview ^[19]NN: The Football Association. In: Bell’s Life, 07.02.1874. S. 9.) report ^[20]NN: The Football Association. In: The Sportsman, 03.03.1874. o.S.))

February 24,1875: report ^[21]NN: Die London Football Association. In: Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 25.02.1875.))

February 23,1876: preview ^[22]NN: Der Fußballverband. In: Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 05.02.1876. S. 6. report ^[23]NN: The Football Association. In: Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 24.02.1876.))

February 28, 1877: preview ^[24]NN: The Football Association. In: Bells Life, 10.02.1877. S. 5.) report ^[25]NN: Der Fußballverband. In: Der Nottinghamshire Guardian, 03.02.1877. S. 7.

April 17, 1877, extra-ordinary meeting: The cause was a letter to the editor ^[26]NN: The Football Association Meeting. In: The Sportsman, 03.02.1877. S. 4.) report ^[27]NN: Der Fußballverband. In: Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 18.04.1877. o.S.))

February 28,1878: preview ^[28]NN: Der Fußballverband. In: Der Sportler, 12.02.1878. S. 3.)) report ^[29]NN: Der Fußballverband. In: The Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 01.03.1878. S. 4.

February 27, 1879: preview ^[30]NN: The Football Association. In: Sporting Life, 08.02.1879. S. 3.)) href=“https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Football_Association_(Bell%27s_Life_in_London)_1879-03-01.png“ target=“_blank“ rel=“noopener“>Nachbericht ^[31]NN: The Football Association. In: Bell’s Life in London, 01.03.1879. S. 5.)

February 27,1880: preview ^[32]NN: The Football Association. In: The Sportsman, 03.02.1880. p. 4. | report ^[33]NN: The Football Association. In: The Athletic News 03.03.1880. P. 7.

February 25,1881: preview ^[34]NN: The Football Association. In: Bell’s Life in London, 05.02.1881. p. 10. | report ^[35]NN: February General Meeting of the Football Association. In: The Sporting Life, 26.02.1881. P. 3.

February 23,1882: preview ^[36]NN: The Football Association. In: Sheffield and Rotherham Independent, 04.02.1882. p. 7. | report ^[37]NN: The Football Association. In: The Sporting Life, 01.03.1882. p. 3.

According to the newspaper previews and reports, after 1863 there were only rarely discussions about proposals for rule changes. In 1864 there were still discussions about running and hacking and the criticism that some clubs still play it; linked with the appeal to give up their „manly game“ in favour of uniformity. Also 1866, 1870 and 1871 were discussions about the allowed and forbidden handling game – in 1870 the proposal for the allowed handling of the goalkeeper was still rejected.

Also in 1866, there was a long discussion about a complete abolition of the offside, for it pleaded not only the Sheffield FC, which had no offside regulation yet, but also others, i.e. Barnes FC. Because this suggestion was made during the meeting and was therefore not submitted on time, it was not accepted. From Sheffield, however, proposals came again and again for the change into a less strict offside rule – as well as the kick-in from the touch.

Aside from the complaints of clubs playing rugby before about the loss of running and hacking in favour of uniformity, board and committee seem to were very satisfied with the practicability of the rules („satisfactory“).

Fotocredits

John Nixon: Freemasons‘ Tavern, ca. 1800. CC-BY SA. Wikimedia Commons, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Freemasons%27_Tavern.jpg.