1. History of Football
The History of English football is a long and detailed one, as it was Great Britain who
developed and codified the game. Great Britain is native land to the oldest football clubs in the
world the world's oldest competition and the first football league . For these reasons Great
Britain is considered the home of football.
The first description of a football match in England was written by William FitzStephen in about
1170. He records that while visiting London he noticed that "after dinner all the youths of the
city goes out into the fields for the very popular game of ball." He points out that every trade had
their own football team.
In 1314Edward II complained about "certain tumults arising from great footballs in the fields of
the public, from which many evils may arise." At the time he was trying to raise an army to fight
the Scots and was worried about the impact that football was having on the skills of his archers.
Finally, Edward II came to the conclusion that young people were more interested in playing
football than practicing archery. His answer to this problem was to ban the playing of the game.
His father, Edward III, reintroduced the ban in 1331 in preparation for an invasion of Scotland.
Henry IV was the next monarch who tried to stop England's young men from playing football
when he issued a new ban in 1388. This was ineffective and in 1410 his government imposed a
fine and six days' imprisonment on those caught playing football. In 1414, his son, Henry V,
introduced a further proclamation ordering men to practise archery rather than football. The
following year Henry's archers played an important role in the defeat of the French.
Edward IV was another strong opponent of football. In 1477 he passed a law that stipulated that
"no person shall practise any unlawful games such as dice, quoits, football and such games, but
that every strong and able-bodied person shall practise with bow for the reason that the national
defence depends upon such bowmen." Henry VII outlawed football in 1496 and his son, Henry
VIII, introduced a series of laws against the playing of the game in public places.
Whereas the monarchy objected for military reasons, church leaders were more concerned about
the game being played on a Sunday. In 1531 the Puritan preacher, Thomas Eliot, argued that
football caused "beastly fury and extreme violence". In 1572 the Bishop of Rochester demanded
a new campaign to suppress this "evil game". In his book, Anatomy of Abuses (1583) Philip
Stubbs concerned about the injuries that were taking place: "sometimes their necks are broken,
sometimes their backs, sometimes their legs, sometimes their arms, sometimes one part is thrust
out of joint, sometimes the noses gush out with blood... Football encourages envy and hatred...
sometimes fighting, murder and a great loss of blood."
The records show that young men refused to accept the banning of football. In 1589, Hugh Case
and William Shurlock were fined for playing football in St. Werburgh's cemetery during the
vicar's sermon. Ten years later a group of men in a village in Essex were fined for playing
football on a Sunday. Other prosecutions took place in Richmond, Bedford, Thirsk and
Guisborough.
Local councils also banned the playing of football. However, young men continued to ignore
local by-laws. In 1576 it was recorded in Ruislip that around a hundred people "assembled
themselves unlawfully and played a certain unlawful game, called football". In Manchester in
1608 "a company of lewd and disordered persons... broke many men's windows" during an
"unlawful" game of football. It was such a major problem that in 1618 the local council
appointed special "football officers" to police these laws.

2. After the execution of Charles I in 1649 the new ruler, Oliver Cromwell, instructed his Major-
Generals to enforce laws against football.Cromwell was more successful than previous rulers in
stopping young men from playing football. However, after his death in 1660 the game gradually
re-emerged in Britain.
The ball used in football was made from an inflated animal bladder. Two teams, made up of
large numbers of young men, attempted to get the ball into the opposition goal. In towns the
game was mainly played by craft apprentices.
In the 18th century football was played by most of Britain's leading public schools. Each school
had its own set of rules and style of game.
According to one student at Westminster, the football played at his school was very rough and
involved a great deal of physical violence: "When running... the enemy tripped, shinned, charged
with the shoulder, got down and sat upon you... in fact did anything short of murder to get the
ball from you."
Football games often led to social disorder. As Dave Russell pointed out in Football and the
English (1997), football had a "habit of bringing the younger element of the lower orders into
public spaces in large numbers were increasingly seen as inappropriate and, indeed, positively
dangerous in an age of mass political radicalism and subsequent fear for public order."
Action was taken to stop men playing football in the street. The 1835 Highways Act provided for
a fine of 40s for playing "football or any other game on any part of the said highways, to the
annoyance of any passenger."
Although the government disapproved of the working-classes playing football, it continued to be
a popular sport in public schools.
Sometimes public schools played football against boys from the local town. Although these
games often ended in fights, it did help to spread knowledge of Cambridge Rules football.
Former public school boys also played football at university. Many continued to play after
finishing their education.
Football was a very popular sport in Sheffield and in 1857 a group of men established the
Sheffield Football Club at Bramall Lane. It is believed to be the first football club in the world.
On 29th December, 1862, Sheffield played Hallam in a football charity game. It was one of the
first-ever football games to be recorded in a newspaper.
In 1862 a set of rules were established at Cambridge University. These specified 11-a-side, an
umpire from each side plus a neutral referee, goals 12ft across and up to 20ft high. An offside
rule was added. A man could play a ball passed to him from behind, so long as there were three
opponents between him and the goal. It was also decided that each game should only last one
hour and a quarter. The first game under these rules took place between the Old Etonians and
Old Harrovians in November, 1862.
Some members objected to these rules as they considered them to be "uncivilised". Others
believed that charging, hacking and tripping were important ingredients of the game. One
supporter of hacking argued that without it "you will do away with the courage and pluck of the
game, and it will be bound to bring over a lot of Frenchmen who would beat you with a week's
practice." The main defender of hacking was F. W. Campbell, the representative from

3. Blackheath, who considered this aspect of the game was vital in developing "masculine
toughness". Campbell added that "hacking is the true football" and he resigned from the FA
when the vote went against him (13-4). He later helped to form the rival Rugby Football Union.
On 8th December, 1863, the FA published the Laws of Football.
The first season of the Football League began in September, 1888. Preston North End won the
first championship that year without losing a single match and acquired the name the
"Invincibles".
In the 1880s football was introduced into most state schools. It could be played on any hard
surface and that was especially attractive to those schools that did not have access to playing
fields. As the most of the children were physically underdeveloped and undernourished, soccer
was considered to be more suitable than rugby.
A report published by The Lancet on 24th March 1894 pointed out the dangers of playing
football. The doctor who wrote the article warned about the practice of charging a man trying to
head a football.
On 23rd November 1896, Joseph Powell of Arsenal went to kick a high ball during a game
against Kettering Town. His foot caught on the shoulder of an opponent and Powell fell and
broke his arm. Infection set in and, despite amputation above the elbow, Powell died a few days
later when just twenty-six years of age.
The Lancet continued to record details of these incidents and in an article published on 22nd
April 1899 that over the last eight years around 96 men had died while playing football and
rugby.
Men also had the problem of traveling very far to see a game. Even a local game caused
considerable problems. It was only the railways that eventually provided cheap and fast travel for
football supporters.
The railways had a considerable impact on the attendances of international matches. Only 1,000
people from Scotland travelled to watch the game against England at Crystal Palace in 1897.
However, for the match at Wembley in 1936, 22,000 Scots came to London in 41 trains provided
by the London Midland and Scottish Railway.
British football culture is extremely rich. People love the game, but they also love what goes
with the game. They love the history, the tradition, the singing at the stadium. They love what it
means to people. People are generally more passionate about football, than they are about others
kinds of sport.