The First Football Rules

Organized football was first played in English private schools in the early 1800s. ‘Houses’ or teams competed against each other, with players often wearing top hats. To tell teams apart, different coloured shirts were introduced in the 1840s.

Many of the football playing 1857, and its own rules. These were similar to the school boys went on to the two Cambridge rules. English universities, Oxford and Pushing with the hands was allowed, but not Cambridge. Football was very kicking or tripping. popular at Cambridge, but the Running with the ball in the hands was not young men from the different allowed. schools played with different The ball could be caught if it had not touched rules. the ground. Cambridge Rules The ball could also be pushed on with the In 1848 a set of Cambridge Rules were established hand. for everyone to play under. There were no offside rules. Players known as "'kick-throughs'" were positioned Some of these rules now seem a little strange. permanently in the opponents' half. After every goal the teams changed ends. There was no limit on the number of players, or the size and shape of ball. A player could also catch the ball if it came directly from another player's foot. There were no referees and the two captains settled any dispute. A player could not touch the ball coming The Sheffield Rules were like a cross between from the direction of his own goal until an soccer and rugby. opponent touched it. Perhaps the strangest rule to a modern player The Cambridge Rules did establish two was that each player had to wear a cap. One side of the most important laws of football. wore red caps and the other wore blue. It is very The first was the idea of the ‘foul’ and difficult to head the ball if you are wearing a hat! ‘foul play’. The other was that the ball Changes needed was only ‘in play’ on the pitch itself. By the 1860s football was beginning to look like Sheffield Rules the game we know today. But there were still differences in the the rules used at different In the late 1850s the first football clubs were schools.At Eton, for example, passing was not started. The Sheffield club was the first club that permitted as it was in university football. was not a school or a university. It was formed in Increasingly there was a need for a universal set of rules to apply wherever the was played.

Football Stories Football Rules

At first football was a completely amateur game for ‘gentlemen’. No money was charged to watch matches. Most ‘stadiums’ were just pieces of open ground and tape was used instead of crossbars. Until 1875, teams changed ends after the scoring of each goal. In 1863 a Football Association was formed in London. The new FA set about establishing one set of rules for everyone playing the game in England. The new rules established: the length of the pitch (about twice the length of today) the size of the goals (three times as big and without a bar or tape on top of the posts) players could still catch the ball, though not pick it up or run with it. boots with iron toes or soles were banned (very good news in the days before shin-pads!) These rules evolved rapidly. By 1925 the rules we have today were largely established.. For more football history go here

Football Stories