What does “to have a little form” mean?

Question

In the article, "Not nein...but TEN reasons why we should love Germany", the following phrase is being used:

LET’S face it, Britain and Germany have a little form over the past century.

Obviously being some kind of typical British humour (I suppose), what does "to have a little form" mean exactly, where does it come from and is it also used in the US?

Answer 1

ODO on form

The relevant entry is 7c; none of the others really fit the context:

7 [mass noun] the state of a sports player or team with regard to their current standard of play:
they are one of the best teams around on current form

• details of previous performances by a racehorse or greyhound:
  an interested bystander studying the form
• a person’s mood and state of health:
  she seemed to be on good form
• British informal a criminal record:
  they both had form

In OED it’s moved down to 16c:

c. slang. (Without preceding article.) A ‘police record’; a criminal conviction.

In this case it doesn't actually mean “a criminal record”; it means “a history of criminality” or “a history of conflict against each other”.