Football

Football: A Family of Team Sports

Football is a family of team sports involving kicking a ball to score goals. The term generally refers to the most popular form of football, which includes various codes such as soccer, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, and more. These forms share common origins and are known as ‘football codes.’ Traditional games played in different parts of the world have influenced contemporary codes, with the expansion of the British Empire spreading these rules globally.

The Etymology of Football

Skills such as passing, tackling, evasion, catching, and kicking are common to most codes. The etymology of the word ‘football’ is unclear, with two competing explanations: one referring to foot kicking a ball, and another to medieval games played on foot.

Ancient Origins

Common elements among football codes include carrying and kicking styles, team sizes, game areas, scoring goals or points, and restrictions on player movement. Ancient Chinese games like cuju existed around the Han dynasty, featuring players passing the ball without touching it to ground before kicking through a hole. These early forms of football have shaped the development of contemporary codes.

Medieval and Early Modern Developments

Cuju has been cited by FIFA as the earliest form of football. The Japanese version of cuju is kemari, which was played within the Japanese imperial court from about 600 AD. Cuju was transmitted through the Silk Road to ancient Greece and Rome, where games like harpastum and episkyros were played. Native Americans also played various ball games, including Aqsaqtuk and Pahsaheman, while indigenous peoples in Oceania, such as the Djab Wurrung people of Australia, played a game called Marn Grook involving kicking and catching with stuffed balls.

Medieval Europe

The Turkic people played a game called tepuk, and medieval Europe saw annual Shrovetide football matches throughout England. An early reference to a ball game played in Britain comes from the 9th-century Historia Brittonum, attributed to Nennius, describing ‘a party of boys playing at ball.’

Early Modern Period

References to La Soule or Choule, a ball game played in northern France, date back to the 12th century. The early forms of football played in England, referred to as ‘mob football,’ would be played in towns or between villages, involving an unlimited number of players on opposing teams who would clash en masse.

Public Schools and Modernization

The first detailed description of football in England was given by William FitzStephen in about 1174–1183. An early reference to a ball game that was probably football comes from 1280 at Ulgham, Northumberland, England: ‘Henry… while playing at ball. ran against David.’

English Public Schools and the Birth of Modern Codes

Football was played in Ireland in 1308 and in England in 1321. In 1314, Nicholas de Farndone, Lord Mayor of the City of London issued a decree banning football in the French used by the English upper classes. In 1363, King Edward III of England issued a proclamation banning ‘large foot balls’ in the city.

Rules and Standardization

A game known as ‘football’ was played in Scotland in the 15th century, which was prohibited by the Football Act 1424. The original word translated as ‘goal’ is ‘metum,’ meaning the pillar at each end of a circus course. There is evidence for schoolboys playing a ‘football’ ball game in Aberdeen in 1633.

Modernization and Standardization

King Henry IV of England presented one of the earliest documented uses of the English word ‘football’ in 1409, when he issued a proclamation forbidding money to be levied for the sport. A chronicler described a football pitch with marked boundaries in the late 15th century. The term ‘football’ refers to a ball rather than a game, and was first mentioned in 1486.

Women’s Football

Women playing a form of football were first described in 1580 by Sir Philip Sidney. The first references to goals are from John Norden and Richard Carew in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, describing how goals were made and goalkeepers were used.

Public Schools’ Dominance

The first direct reference to scoring a goal is in John Day’s play The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (performed circa 1600; published 1659). A kicking game was described as being played at Caunton, Nottinghamshire in the late 15th century, where players would propel a huge ball along the ground with their feet. In 16th century Florence, young aristocrats played a violent form of football called ‘calcio storico’ in Piazza Santa Croce.

Rules and Codes

The game was said to have originated as a military training exercise and is believed to be the earliest code of rules for any football game, written by Count Giovanni de’ Bardi di Vernio in 1580. English public schools played a crucial role in creating modern football codes. They helped take football away from its ‘mob’ form and turned it into an organised team sport.

Modernization of Rules

Games resembling football were being played at English public schools as early as 1519. Richard Mulcaster, a student at Eton College in the early 16th century, is credited with writing one of the earliest evidence of organised team football. He advocated for a more structured and less violent form of the game.

Early Rules

In 1580, Count Giovanni de’ Bardi di Vernio wrote Discorso sopra ‘l giuoco del Calcio Fiorentino. The game was not played after January 1739 (until it was revived in May 1930). In 1633, David Wedderburn mentioned elements of modern football games in a Latin textbook called Vocabula. He refers to ‘keeping goal,’ passing the ball (‘strike it here’), and tackling opposing players (‘drive that man back’).

Standardization and Unification

Francis Willughby’s Book of Games (1660) describes goals, playing fields, tactics, scoring, team selection, and rules, including a ‘law’ to not strike an opponent’s leg higher than the ball. English public schools codified football games, devising offside rules in the late 18th century.

Early Clubs

The first known codes were those of Eton (1815) and Aldenham (1825). Most working-class people had no time for sports, while public school boys invented organized football games with formal codes of rules. Two schools of thought developed regarding rules: one favored carrying the ball, while others promoted kicking and dribbling.

Modernization and Standardization

William Webb Ellis is said to have created a new feature of rugby by taking the ball in his arms and running with it. The act that supposedly started Rugby football in 1823 is widely believed to be apocryphal, as there is little evidence of its occurrence.

Rules and Codes

The development of modern rules for various sports during the mid-19th century was influenced by the patenting of the world’s first lawnmower in 1830. This allowed for the creation of standardized playing fields and courts.

Early Matches

Public schools’ dominance of sports in the UK began to wane after the Factory Act 1850, which increased recreation time available to working class children. The earliest known matches between public schools took place on December 9, 1834, with Eton School vs. Harrow School, followed by other matches in the 1840s.

Early Clubs

The first documented club to bear in the title a reference to being a ‘football club’ were called ‘The Foot-Ball Club’ who were located in Edinburgh, Scotland, during the period 1824–41. In 1845, three boys at Rugby school were tasked with codifying the rules then being used at the school.

Modernization and Standardization

The first football trophy tournament was the Caledonian Challenge Cup, donated by the Royal Caledonian Society of Melbourne, played in 1861 under the Melbourne Rules. The oldest football league is a rugby football competition, the United Hospitals Challenge Cup (1874). The oldest surviving Australian rules football competition is the South Australian Football Association (30 April 1877).

Modernization and Standardization

The first international Rugby football match took place between Scotland and England on 27 March 1871 at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh. The first international Association football match officially took place between sides representing England and Scotland on 30 November 1872 at Hamilton Crescent.

Ball Evolution

In Europe, early footballs were made out of animal bladders, later leather coverings were introduced to allow the balls to keep their shape. Richard Lindon exhibited round and oval-shaped balls at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. Lindon won medals for the invention of the ‘Rubber inflatable Bladder’ and the ‘Brass Hand Pump.’

Modernization and Standardization

In 1855, Charles Goodyear exhibited a spherical football with vulcanised rubber panels at the Paris Exhibition Universelle. The iconic ball with hexagons and pentagons became popular in the 1960s and first used in the World Cup in 1970.

Passing and Tackling

Early references to passing in games include: – 1633: David Wedderburn’s poem mentioning passing as ‘kick the ball back’ – 1839: ‘Scientific’ football is recorded in Lancashire – 1862: Rugby football emerges – 1865: Sheffield FC plays rugby football – 1869/70: Royal Engineers AFC develops a passing combination game

Rugby Football Origins

Rugby football originated around 1845 at Rugby School in England, and the first official rules were adopted in June 1871. Cambridge Rules of 1863 influenced the Football Association’s decision to ban Rugby-style carrying of the ball.

Association Football

Sheffield Football Club was founded in 1857 and recognized as the world’s oldest club playing association football. The Sheffield rules, a code of football independent of public school rules, introduced innovations that later influenced association football. The rules were widely adopted in northern and midland England by the 1870s but eventually became unified with London’s FA code in 1877.

Australian Rules Football

Australian rules football originated in Melbourne in 1858, with Tom Wills writing a letter calling for a ‘foot-ball club’ with a set of laws to keep cricketers fit during winter. The first match was played on July 31, 1858, and the Melbourne Football Club was formed in 1859.

Global Spread

The Melbourne football rules spread to other Victorian clubs, with updates made during the 1860s to accommodate other influential clubs. A significant redraft in 1866 was implemented by H.C.A. Harrison, a seminal figure in Australian football. Harrison’s committee accommodated Geelong Football Club’s rules, making ‘Victorian Rules’ distinct from other codes.

Modernization and Standardization

The game spread to Australian colonies and experienced decline after WWI but grew globally. During the early 1860s, England attempted to unify public school games. J.C. Thring issued the Uppingham Rules in 1862. In October 1863, representatives of football clubs met at the Freemasons’ Tavern to form the Football Association (FA).

Standardization

The FA published the ‘Laws of the Game’ after six meetings between October and December 1863. However, two contentious rules were removed: running with the ball in hand and hacking opponents in the shins. The term ‘soccer’ originated from an Oxford University abbreviation of ‘association.’

North American Football

In North America, schools and universities played various forms of football in the early 19th century, including mob-style games that were violent and injury-prone. Rules evolved into ‘kicking’ and ‘running’ games, with the Boston game being a hybrid of both.

Modernization

The first formal football club in the US was formed by schoolboys in 1862. In Canada, the first documented football match was played in 1861, while the first intercollegiate game took place in 1869 between Rutgers and Princeton.

Modernization and Standardization

Modern North American football developed from a 1874 match between McGill University and Harvard University. Walter Camp introduced major innovations to the sport in 1880, including the line of scrimmage and down-and-distance rules, which diverged the American game from rugby.

Rugby Union and Rugby League

This led U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt to meet with football representatives from Harvard, Yale, and Princeton in 1905, urging them to make drastic changes. One rule change introduced in 1906 was the introduction of the legal forward pass.

Global Spread

Canada adopted some American football developments, such as the line of scrimmage and down-and-distance system, but implemented the legal forward pass later. Gaelic football emerged in Ireland, with traditional games giving way to a ‘rough-and-tumble game’ that allowed tripping.

Rugby Codes

The Gaelic Athletic Association was established in 1884 to promote traditional Irish sports and reject imported games like rugby and association football. The GAA drew up rules for Gaelic football, which differed from other forms of football.

Professionalism and Divergence

Professionalism emerged in rugby football, leading to regional tensions and the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895. Rugby had to become a better ‘spectator’ sport due to professional demands. Within a few years of NRFU rules diverging from the RFU, the line-out was abolished and replaced with the ‘play-the-ball ruck.’

Modernization

Mauls were stopped once the ball carrier was held, and mauls became play-the-ball-rucks. The separate Lancashire and Yorkshire competitions merged in 1901 to form the Northern Rugby League. The RFU form of rugby became known as rugby union.

International Bodies

The need for an international body overseeing association football became apparent by the start of the 20th century. Associations from seven European countries formed the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) in 1904.

Rugby Codes

Rugby league rules diverged significantly from rugby union in 1906, with a reduction to 13 players. Professional leagues were launched in Australia in 1908, and negotiations between national bodies continued until the formation of the Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) in 1948.

Modernization

The laws of rugby union changed less significantly than those of rugby league during the 20th century. In 1995, rugby union became an ‘open’ game, allowing professional players. The rules of both codes have diverged to such an extent that re-unification is unlikely.

Controversies and Naming

The word football can refer to any one of the described games, leading to controversy over its use in different parts of the English-speaking world. In francophone Quebec, Canadian football is known as le football while American football is known as le football américain and association football is known as le soccer.

Modernization

Most FIFA affiliates use Football in their organisations’ official names, except for Canada and the United States which use Soccer. Some FIFA affiliates have recently changed to using Football, including Australia, New Zealand, and Samoa.

Popularity and Variants

Several football codes are popular team sports globally, with association football being played by over 250 million players worldwide. American football is popular in the US, with the NFL having the highest average attendance and revenue of any professional sports league.

Modernization

Australian rules football has high spectator attendance in Australia, while Gaelic football is popular in Ireland. The Football codes board categorizes football codes into three main categories: Association and Rugby. Association codes include football (soccer), futsal, indoor soccer, paralympic football, and others.

Modernization

Rugby codes include rugby union, rugby league, touch rugby, tag rugby, gridiron football, and American football. Association football has in common the prohibition of using hands during play except for the goalkeeper, while rugby codes feature players carrying and throwing the ball.

Modernization

Different variants exist within each code, such as five-a-side football, indoor soccer, mini rugby, and beach rugby. Nine-man football, eight-man football, six-man football – variants of American football for smaller schools. Street/Backyard Football – no equipment, simplified rules.

Modernization

Flag/Touch Football – non-contact variants with flag removal or tackling restrictions. Canadian Football – Canadian or American football variant, depending on context. Indoor/Arena Football – indoor version of various forms of football. Wheelchair Football – adapted for athletes with physical disabilities.

Modernization

Irish and Australian: – Australian Rules Football (also known as Aussie Rules) – no offside rule, modified carrying and handpassing. – Auskick – children’s version of Australian Rules. – Metro Footy/Metro Rules Footy – modified version for gridiron fields.

Modernization

– Kick-to-Kick – informal version of the game. – 9-a-Side Footy – more open, running version with reduced contact. – Rec Footy (Recreational Football) – non-contact variation. – Touch Aussie Rules – UK only. – Samoa Rules – localized Samoan adaptation.

Modernization

– Masters Australian Football (Superules) – reduced contact for over 30-year-olds. Recent and Hybrid: – Keepie Uppie (Keep Up) – juggling with a football using various parts of the body. – Footbag/Footie/Ball – bean bag or sand bag variations.

Modernization

– Freestyle Football – grading based on entertainment value and skill expression. Association, Rugby, and Hybrid: – Three Sided Football/Triskelion – triangular formation game. – Forceback (Forcemanback) – rugby variant.

Modernization

Hybrid Sports: – Austus – Australian Rules and American football hybrid. – Speedball – combination of American football, soccer, basketball, devised in 1912. – Universal Football – Australian rules and rugby league hybrid. – Volata – association and European handball hybrid.

Modernization

– Wheelchair Rugby (Murderball) – ice hockey and basketball-based. – Underwater Football – played underwater with ball carrying. – Roller Soccer – association football on skates. Non Goal Sports: – Cycle Ball – association football on bicycles.

Modernization

– Motoball – motorcycle team sport similar to association football. – Bandy – winter game with rules partly based on association football. Footvolley – mixes association football and beach volleyball; played on sand. Sepak takraw has ancient origins and cannot be considered a hybrid game.

Modernization

The Haxey Hood, played on Epiphany in Haxey, Lincolnshire. Shrove Tuesday games. Scoring the Hales in Alnwick, Northumberland. Royal Shrovetide Football in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. The Shrovetide Ball Game in Atherstone, Warwickshire.

Modernization

The Shrove Tuesday Football Ceremony of the Purbeck Marblers in Corfe Castle, Dorset. Hurling the Silver Ball at St Columb Major in Cornwall. The Ball Game in Sedgefield, County Durham. Ba game (‘Ball Game’) still popular around Christmas and Hogmanay in Scotland.

Modernization

Eton field game. Eton wall game. Rugby football. Harrow football. Winchester College football. Blow football. Button football – also known as Futebol de Mesa, Jogo de Botões. Fantasy football. FIFA Video Games Series. Lego Football. Mario Strikers.

Modernization

Penny football. Pro Evolution Soccer. Subbuteo. Table football – also known as foosball, table soccer, babyfoot, bar football or gettone. Blood Bowl. Fantasy football (American). Madden NFL. Paper football.

Modernization

AFL video game series. List of AFL video games.

From ancient ball games to modern variations, the family of football codes has evolved in fascinating ways. Each code carries its unique history and traditions, making it a rich tapestry of human culture and sport. As we continue to explore these diverse forms of football, one thing remains clear: the spirit of competition and camaraderie that binds them all together.