The Football Association, the organisation that gave birth to the modern game, finds itself at a crossroads on the occasion of its 150th anniversary.

After prestige England friendlies against Brazil and old rivals Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as an unprecedented game at Buckingham Palace, the FA will celebrate the milestone with a gala dinner in central London on Saturday.

The event will mark 150 years to the day since a group of men representing a dozen London and suburban clubs met at a London tavern to draw up the rules of a sport that went on to become the most popular in the world.

But while football's global reach appears to know no limits, the game's motherland is in the throes of an identity crisis.

Amid continued shortcomings at international level and a dwindling stock of England-eligible players in the Premier League, new FA chairman Greg Dyke has set up a commission to improve the state of the national game.

The 10-man line-up includes both England manager Roy Hodgson and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, but Dyke has been criticised over its composition.

The new British sports minister, Helen Grant, has asked why there are no women on board, while the outgoing chairman of players' union the Professional Footballers' Association, Clarke Carlisle, has bemoaned the lack of grassroots representation.

"These are all guys that we know," Carlisle told the BBC.

"These are all guys that have been doing it for 20 years. Where's the new ideas? Where's the new blood? And where's the representation for sectors of the industry that aren't elite?"

The all-powerful Premier League has also turned down an invitation to take up a position on the panel, but FA general secretary Alex Horne insists that it is "not a shambles".

"This will be one of the most inclusive consultations we have ever undertaken," he said.

"We will be seeking input from all aspects of football and not only in England but overseas, and from other sports."

At the root of the debate is the lingering fear that England has relinquished its status as the sport's guiding light.

Speaking earlier this year, Ferdinand said English players no longer knew what sort of football they were expected to play.

"What is our identity?" asked the 34-year-old centre-back, who retired from international football in May.

"We started to see something when Glenn Hoddle was in charge (1996-1999); a bit of an identity then, free-flowing football, and you would say we were starting to get an idea of the pattern of what he wanted to implement in the team.

"Since then I don't think we've actually really seen an identity, where you could say, 'That's an England team', where you look at the under-21s and go, 'That's an England team.'"

It is 60 years since Ferenc Puskas's Hungary humiliated England 6-3 at Wembley Stadium, but the national team's shortcomings at technical level remain apparent, despite a successful World Cup qualifying campaign.

They were outclassed by a technically superior Germany team in the last 16 of the last World Cup in 2010 and the tactics on display against Ireland in May prompted former captain Gary Lineker to opine that Hodgson's side were slipping back towards "the dark ages".

Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was the latest figure to lament England's failings, writing in his newly released autobiography that the country's representative youth teams remain too reliant on primitive long-ball tactics.

"Because they don't have enough technical and coaching ability, the years from nine to 16 are thrown away," he wrote in 'My Autobiography', which went on sale on Thursday.

"So how do they compensate? The boys compete, physically. Great attitude, they have. Sleeves up. But they don't produce a player. They are never going to win a World Cup with that system, that mentality."

Dyke, who has set England the target of winning the World Cup in 2022, can only hope that his much-maligned commission will illuminate a pathway out of the gloom that is sure to descend once the candles have been blown out.