Theme : Football About the Football History of football Football in England

19th century developments[edit]

The 19th century saw the codification of the rules of football at several public schools, with those of Rugby School (first published 1845) and Eton College (first published 1847) being particularly influential, in addition to those of Harrow, Winchester and Shrewsbury.^[5] The need for alumni of different public schools to be able to play against each other resulted in several sets of "compromise laws", often known as Cambridge rules, being drawn up at the University of Cambridge between the 1830s and the 1860s.^[5]

In the second half of the century, a culture of independent "football clubs" began to thrive, particularly in London and Sheffield, with Sheffield Football Club, founded in 1857, today being recognised as the world's oldest surviving independent football club.^[6] The example of Sheffield F.C., which published its first set of laws in 1859, soon led to a proliferation of clubs in and around the city playing "Sheffield rules".^[6] Sheffield hosted the world's first multi-team football tournament, the Youdan Cup, in 1867.

In general, each football club, school or university tended to have its own rules, which might differ on such fundamental questions as whether to follow the example of Rugby School by allowing the ball to be carried, with players carrying the ball being allowed to be "hacked" (kicked in the shins) by their opponents. The desire of football clubs for a common code was the impetus behind the foundation of the Football Association (FA) in 1863. Within the FA, there was an acrimonious debate between the "hacking" and "non-hacking" clubs. When the first meetings were held to discuss the FA's laws of football, the "hackers" were in the ascendancy, but the publication of the 1863 set of Cambridge rules (which forbade hacking) enabled the "non-hackers" to prevail and the FA's first Laws of the Game, published in December 1863, banned hacking and carrying the ball.^[7] The FA, initially dominated by London-based clubs, saw its influence gradually spread over the country by the success of FA Cup, first contested in the 1871–72 season.

Harrow School team of 1867The Royal Engineers AFC (1872): the first passing sideBetween 1863 and 1877, the FA and Sheffield rules co-existed, with each code at times influencing the other. Several games were played between Sheffield and London teams, using both sets of rules. After several disputes, the two codes were unified in 1877 when the Sheffield Football Association voted to adopt the FA laws, following the adoption of a compromise throw-in law by the FA.