Quickies
Did you know …
• in the 1930s the fascist party of Italy, under Mussolini, so despised British soccer that they invented an alternative sport for the masses, called volata, which was a hybrid of soccer and rugby? The new game never caught on.
Who drew up the first set of soccer rules?
During the eighteenth century, the game of mob football evolved into a codified sport at England’s public schools like Eton, Westminster, Rugby, Charterhouse, and Harrow. The first-ever set of formal soccer rules were written at Eton College in 1815, though each school tended to have their own set of rules.
What is the world’s oldest soccer club?
The Sheffield Football Club was founded in 1857 in Sheffield by Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest, and is now recognized as the world’s oldest club. The club initially played its own code of football: the Sheffield rules. Players were allowed to push or hit the ball with their hands, and there was no offside rule at all, so that players known as “kick throughs” could be permanently positioned near the opponents’ goal.
Quickies
Did you know …
• records at Cambridge University show that a sixteenth-century soccer match between “town and gown” (locals and students) ended in a brawl which caused the school’s vice-chancellor to forbid students from playing “footeball” outside of college grounds?
What are the Cambridge Rules?
In 1848, representatives from Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester, and Shrewsbury schools gathered at Trinity College, at Cambridge University, for a meeting to codify the rules of soccer. These were the first set of rules to be used collectively by multiple school teams. When the country’s leading clubs and schools got together to form the Football Association in 1863, they used the Cambridge Rules as the basis for a new set of FA rules.
The Cambridge Rules as of November 1863
Rule 1: The length of the ground shall be not more than 150 yards (137 metres). The ground shall be marked out by posts, and two posts shall be placed on each side line, at a distance of 25 yards (23 metres) from each goal line.
Rule 2: The goals shall consist of two upright poles at a distance of 15 feet (4.5 metres) from each other.
Rule 3: The choice of goals and kickoff shall be determined by tossing, and the ball shall be kicked off from the middle of the ground.
Rule 4: In a match when half the time agreed upon has elapsed, the sides shall change goals when the ball is next out of play. After a change or a goal is obtained, the kickoff shall be from the middle of the ground in the same direction as before. The time during which the match shall last and the numbers on each side are to be settled by the heads of the sides.
Rule 5: When a player has kicked the ball, anyone of the same side who is nearer to the opponent’s goal line is out of play, and may not touch the ball himself, nor may in any way whatsoever prevent any other player from doing so.
Rule 6: When the ball goes out of the ground by crossing the sidelines, it is out of play, and shall be kicked straight into the ground again from the point it is first stopped.
Rule 7: When a player has kicked the ball beyond the opponent’s goal line; whoever first touches the ball (touchdown) when it is on the ground with his hands may have a free kick, bringing the ball 25 yards (23 metres) straight out from the goal line.
Rule 8: No player may touch the ball behind his opponent’s goal line; who is behind it when the ball is kicked there.
Rule 9: If the ball is touched down behind the goal line and beyond the line of the side posts, the free kick shall be from the 25-yard (22.8-metre) post.
Rule 10: When a player has a free kick, no one of his own side may be between him and his opponent’s goal line, and no one of the opposite side may stand within 10 yards (9.15 metres) of him.
Rule 11: A free kick may be taken in any manner the player chooses.
Rule 12: A goal is obtained when the ball goes out of the ground by passing between the posts had they been of sufficient height.
Rule 13: The ball when in play may be stopped by any part of the body, but may not be held or hit by the hands, arms, or shoulders.
Rule 14: All charging is fair; but holding, pushing with the hands, tripping up, and shinning are forbidden.
Where is Parker’s Piece?
Parker’s Piece is in the city of Cambridge, England. The 10-hectare (25-acre) park, which is a roughly square and completely flat plot of grass, has long been used as a playing pitch for soccer and cricket. In the 1800s it was owned by Trinity College and it was on the trees bordering this common that the Cambridge Rules of football were first posted.
Who was Richard Mulcaster?
Richard Mulcaster, who lived from 1531 to 1611, was headmaster of the Merchant Taylors’ School and St. Paul’s School in London. Not only was he a prominent educator of his time, he was also one of the greatest sixteenth-century advocates of soccer. In his 1581 publication titled “Positions Wherein Those Primitive Circumstances Be Examined, Which Are Necessarie for the Training up of Children,” he argued that “Footeball” was beneficial “both to health and strength” of students, and he advocated for, organized, and refereed matches to counteract the craze of mob football.
Quickies
Did you know …
• Parker’s Piece is named after Edward Parker, a cook, who held the original lease on the land and used it as a pasture?
Who was John Charles Thring?
In 1862, a the teacher at Uppingham School, in Rutland, England, named John Charles Thring, who was part of the group that had established the Cambridge Rules 1848, published an alternate set of soccer rules titled “The Simplest Game.” Known as Uppingham Rules, they emphasized a non-violent approach to the game that was popular with other schools.
Who was Ebenezer Cobb Morley?
In 1863, Ebenezer Cobb Morley, the founder and captain of Barnes Football Club, wrote a letter to Bell’s Life newspaper proposing a governing body for football. This letter resulted in a meeting of 12 soccer clubs taking place at the Freeman’s Tavern in London in October 1863. England’s Football Association was established at this meeting, with the aim of establishing a single unifying code for football. Ebenezer Cobb Morley was elected as the secretary of the Football Association and was later president.
When did soccer and rugby become separate sports?
When England’s Football Association was established in 1863, they published the first set of rules, which expressly forbade carrying, passing, or otherwise handling the ball. Prior to this, the various codes of soccer used by clubs allowed players to use their hands to move the ball, often in a manner that resembled today’s rugby. It is felt that the establishment of the first FA rules marked the break between soccer and rugby.
When did the FA Cup begin?