Origins of Modern Football in England

History and Influence of Football's Commercialization in England

by Christopher Tillotson

Origins of British Football

English Amateur Football National Team London, England 1908

Abstract

The paragraph should give a three to five sentence abstract about your entire London HUA experience including 1) a summary of the aims of your project, 2) your prior experience with humanities and arts courses and disciplines, and 3) your major takeaways from the experience. This can and should be very similar to the paragraph you use to summarize this milestone on your Profile Page. It should contain your main Objective, so be sure to clearly state a one-sentence statement that summarizes your main objective for this milestone such as "a comparison of the text of Medieval English choral music to that of the Baroque" or it may be a question such as "to what extent did religion influence Christopher Wren's sense of design?"

Introduction

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Section 1: History of British Football

Game Origins

In order to provide an accurate chronology for telling the story of British football there needs to be a distinction of when the sport of football actually originated. For the purposes of this milestone the history will be referred to in two separate sections to avoid confusion. The event that I will use separate these two periods of football history is the creation of the British Football Association, commonly known as the FA, in 1863.

Pre-Association Football

Introduction to Pre-Association Football

It is most difficult to determine an origin of when football, the modern game we know today, truly began. The reason for this comes from how we wish to define the game itself. Ball games have been a part of British culture for hundreds of years, but the first recognizable versions of the game we know today have only arrived recently. Britain is similar to other cultures in the way that sports developed as a recreational activity, and football is no exception. The reason it was unrecognizable up until 1863 is that every local area in Britain had it's own version of the game. Some versions had slight similarities but a vast majority included the use of hands, or more closely resembled what would later become rugby.

Football in the Middle Ages

The types of "football" played in this time period only truly share the similarity with modern games in the way that they are played with a ball and are recreational in nature. The term football was coined in 1314 and was played throughout Britain and parts of mainland Europe. Most of what we know about the sport in this time period comes from colloquial writings. It is said for a large part of the middle ages football was disliked by the public because it took many schoolboy's attentions away from archery.

Buildup to the Football Association

There is no one singular reason for the creation of the Football Association in 1863, but rather a culmination of events and circumstances in Britain in the years prior. Over time football became something different to different social classes in Britain. In the 18th century the aristocracy, and landed gentry played the game through public schools. This would be the origin of organized football. During the 18th century common people couldn't yet send their children to school, and for this reason something resembling modern pick-up football became the more popular version of the sport.

The common version of football became a nuisance to British people for a variety of reasons. The first of these reasons is that "common football" was a very violent game and resulted in injury as well as damage to property. Football was also being played in the streets at this time leading to legislation in the Highway Act of 1835 to be passed by parliament making it illegal to play football in the streets. To say that football was only being played by school aged children would not be true. Football became a part of local cultures and riots would often occur as a result.

As Britain became more industrialized with railways communication and travel between local areas became more frequent.ref>Mason, T. (1981). Association football and English society: 1863-1915. Brighton: The Harvester Press. P.P. 9</ref> This would mean that different local versions of football would begin to clash more than ever. Also in the 1840's public schools were made more accessible to the common people beginning to unify the aristocratic, and common versions of the game. The differences in "football" at this time were not a problem at the public school since each institution had their own set of rules. However, one catalyst for common rules for the game came from British universities. When boys got to institutions of higher education the fact that each boy knew a different version of the game became a hindrance to playing "football". Universities, such as Cambridge in 1838, began to draw up common rules for their students to play by. However at this time interscholastic football competition could not be held because of different versions of the game at different institutions.

In 1859 brothers Charles and John Alcock formed the Forest Football Club. This team was comprised of former public school football players who would play against other similar teams in London. Charles would later become the first secretary of the Football Association.

Although "football" had become more standardized than ever it became apparent to a group of men in 1863 that a common set a rules was a necessity.

Association Football

Introduction to Association Football

Encyclopedia Britannica describes football in the following manner "Football, also called association football or soccer, game in which two teams of 11 players, using any part of their bodies except their hands and arms, try to maneuver the ball into the opposing team’s goal. Only the goalkeeper is permitted to handle the ball and may do so only within the penalty area surrounding the goal. The team that scores more goals wins." This modern "football" description varies from the original rules of the game drawn up by the Football Association in 1863. However the creation of the football association would pave the way for modern British football, and it is still the governing football body to this day.

A British Game Solidified in a London Pub

On October 26th, 1863 a number of London clubs sent their captains and representatives to a meeting at Freeman's Tavern in Lincoln Inn's Field. The aim of this meeting was to come up with a common set of rules that would allow inter club competition in London.

Section 2: Deliverable

Additional Image

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Subsection 1

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Subsection 2

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Conclusion

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