per chi legge in maniera scorrevole l'inglese, beato lui, un altro testo interessante.
Le prime pagine.
http://www.soccer.mistral.co.uk/books/fas-1.pdfA SOURCE BOOK
This is a fact book for students of the game of association football. It shows the changes to the
laws of the game each season from 1863 to 1883 and provides lists of clubs who were members of
the Football Association. Fourteen complete sets of laws of the game are included, so that the
reader should find it possible to compare any match report with the laws that were in use at the
time. The lists of members should help identify which set of laws governed any particular match,
something that is not always easy to determine in the early years of the Association.
The book includes commentary and speculation by your author, but remains true to the
original minute book of the Football Association and press reports of the time. Such contents
could lead to a rather ‘dry’ and unreadable book. I have included match reports and other snippets
that will hopefully lend some colour to the account. When the F.A. Challenge Cup was introduced
in 1871-72 I have also included the entries for the competition.
The source of much of the material to 1873 is the first Minute Book of the Football
Association. It contains handwritten minutes and newspaper reports that have been pasted into the
book. It is necessary to rely on newspapers and periodicals from 1874 to 1883 since no minute
books have survived from this period.
Most of the text is “as reported at the time”, including spelling, grammar and punctuation,
with only minor editorial changes on my part. Comments in square brackets […] are mine, and are
used when it is necessary to distinguish them from the original account.
Tony Brown
Nottingham
November 2011
PREAMBLE
The laws of association football never stand still, so that even today the body responsible for them,
the International Football Association Board, is kept busy discussing changes proposed by the
member associations of F.I.F.A. However, decisions in recent times can all be described as “fine
tuning”, even if some of them (for example, stopping the pass-back to a goalkeeper) can have a
significant effect on the way the game is played.
Matters were not so straightforward in the early years. The (English) Football Association,
formed in 1863, attempted to establish a common set of rules for a sport that, by and large, had not
needed them. Other worthy books have described the many forms of the sport we can define
loosely as “moving a ball about with hand or foot, with the aim of achieving a goal”. It was a
sport where there were often no guidelines as to the number of players, the size of the ball, where
it was played, and how long it lasted.
So, it is not surprising that the members of the Football Association took some time to
agree the framework for playing the game we know today. It is my view that the development
phase was over by 1882, when the International Committee was formed. Of course, many
significant and important changes to the laws continued to be made afterwards, but I am content to
limit this book to the period from 1863 to 1883.
Hand in hand with the development of the laws is the question “did anyone care?” It
looked for a while in the 1860s as if the answer was firmly negative. Those who preferred a
handing or more-physical game resigned their membership of the Association. For many
provincial clubs, the Football Association became labelled as the “London” Association. This was
not due just to a not in my backyard attitude; the game in Sheffield was well-established prior to
1863 and there was no obvious reason at the time for them to change their rules.
Many authors have concluded that the introduction of a national tournament, for the
Football Association’s Challenge Cup, was the significant milestone. This book reveals a slow
growth in membership until the Cup found its feet in the late 1870s. 1883 is again a useful place
to end this study, since entries for the competition increased rapidly after this date, so that by 1888
a qualifying competition became necessary.
EARLY DAYS
November 1856. Football at Westminster. Handsome v. Ugly. This match was
played at Fields, on Wednesday the 29th ult, and, after a fine game, ended in the
Ugly gaining three games to two. The sides were – Ugly: T. Waters, R. Armistead,
F. Comyn, W. Henty, A. Balfour. G.C. Robinson, A. Walker, S. Stanhope, T. Betham,
A.S. Harington, T. Thorpe. – Handsome: S.G. Freeman, E.O. Berens, R.A. Eden,
H.L. Thompson, H.G.Green, H.M. Marshall, A. Hamersley, W.V. Vaughan Williams,
W.F. Spencer, S. French. Luckily for the Ugly, this match was played in the fog.
(Bell’s Life, November 16, 1856)
It would be a mistake to assume organized football started in England in 1863. There were many
inter-village games before then, which served two purposes: a little bit of condoned violence and
the opportunity to place a few wagers on the outcome. Much of this went unreported; the papers
concentrated on school matches at Charterhouse, Eton, Westminster and Rugby, where rules had
developed independently, often taking physical constraints of the playing area into account (the
wall at Eton, the cloisters at Charterhouse).
Although not exactly a set of rules, an early description of the village game can be found in
Francis Willughby’s “Book of Games” published in the late 1660s:
They blow a strong bladder and tie the neck of it as fast as they can, and then put it into the
skin of a bull’s cod and sew it fast in. They play in a long street, or a close that has a gate at either
end. The gates are called Goals. The ball is thrown up in the middle between the goals, the players
being equally divided according to their strength and nimbleness. Players must kick the ball
towards their opponents’ goal. They that can strike the ball through their opponents’ goal first
win. They usually leave some of their best players to guard the goal while the rest follow the ball.
They often break one another's shins when two meet and strike both together against the ball, and
therefore there is a law that they must not strike higher than the ball. “Tripping up of heels” is
when one follows one of his opponents and (to prevent him from striking the ball) strikes that foot
as he runs, that is from the ground, which – catching against the other foot – makes him fall. The
trick is to hit that foot that is moving and just taken from the ground, and then a little touch makes
him fall. The harder the ball is blown, the better it flies. They used to put quicksilver into it
sometimes to keep it from lying still. The players must first all stand at their goals, the ball lying
just in the middle between them, and they that can run best get the first kick.
The momentum to develop a common set of rules started in the 1850s. In 1859 Fred
Lillywhite wrote to the editor of Bell’s Life: Mr Editor: It is my intention to publish, in the next
edition of the Guide to Cricketers, the laws and rules of all the sports of athletic games which are
enjoyed in this country. Among them, of course, will be football: therefore, if Eton and Rugby, as
well as other colleges and schools, would form themselves into a committee and arrange that one
code of laws could be acknowledged throughout the world, it would be a great benefit to all, as is
the case with cricket. Yours, etc, Fred Lillywhite. 2 New Coventry Street, Leicester Square.
It is around this time that we begin to see football played by sporting clubs such as
Sheffield, Richmond and Barnes, each of whom would look outside of their own membership for
matches, when tired of playing “Short v. Tall”, “Married v. Unmarried”, and other unlikely
groupings of members. Here is a report from a Sheffield game of 1860:
Sheffield v 58th Regiment. This match, which had been delayed for some time,
owing to the unfavourable state of the weather, was played on Monday last at the
barrack ground at Hillsborough. Considerable interest was caused by the fact that
the regiment has amongst its officers several gentlemen who were formerly noted
players at the public schools, and it was thought the townsmen had at last met with
their match. The game was throughout conducted in a thoroughly good-tempered
and friendly manner, and the pluck and stamina exhibited on both sides was
undoubted. For some time the garrison had a slight advantage, but after an exciting
struggle of more than two hours, the civilians scored a hard-won victory, the result
being as follows: Sheffield one goal and 10 rouges, 58th Regiment one goal and five
rouges.
(Bell’s Life, December 23, 1860)
[A set of rules for games played by the Sheffield club was first published in 1858. Rouges were
similar to touchdowns in today’s rugby code.]
The interest in London in establishing a common set of rules began to gather pace. In November
1861 an anonymous correspondent wrote to Bell’s Life:
Mr Editor: will you give me a small space in your valuable paper to say a few words
about football. The various public schools play this game according to their
respective rules. These differ so much as to render it impossible for many of the
schools to play matches with each other. Why should not football, like cricket, have
one code of laws, which all should be bound to observe? This might be settled by a
meeting of captains of the football elevens of the several schools: previous to which
perhaps they would communicate, through your columns, the rules observed by their
schools on those points in their game on which the greatest difference exists, such as
holding and running with the ball, hitting the ball with the fist, etc.
Yours, etc, A Westminster.
The letter produced a swift and informative reply from “D.D”:
Mr Editor: Although almost every game of skill is played according to fixed and
definite rules, football is so far an exception that its rules are as various as the
number of places where it is played. Thus, at Eton a player is not allowed to touch a
ball with his hands, and the goal must be kicked. At Harrow, a player catching a
ball before it reaches the ground is entitled to a fair kick and, under certain
circumstances, the goal may be thrown. At Westminster, the ball may be caught
under any circumstances, but the catcher takes his chance of a kick. At Rugby, the
game is an indescribable medley, approximating closely to fives, wrestling, racing,
and football, but not fairly entitled to lay claim to any game in particular. In some
places the ball must be kicked over the goal, and in others under. In provincial
towns no rules are observed usually, and each player acts as seems to him best. The
consequence of all this diversity is, that when two clubs play a match, the first thing
to be determined is what rules shall be observed, and the discussion usually ends in
each side giving up some peculiar characteristics of its own, and the game is played
according to an amalgamated set of rules of the two clubs. At the match, however,
each side inadvertently makes mistakes, through playing with unusual rules, and the
result is that much ill-feeling is created. Now, sir, all difficulty would be obviated if
fixed rules were agreed upon by, say, three or more of the public schools, which
could be altered from time to time, as might be thought requisite. In anticipation of
such an occurrence, I will state what I think ought to be the principles of such rules,
and my only apology for thus obtruding my opinions must be, that I have played
football from my youth up, that for years I have constantly played matches, and that
I have always, with others, found great inconvenience from the absence of certain
and definite rules.
First, then, football is essentially a game for the feet: hands, therefore, ought
to be used no more than is strictly necessary.
2. The game is of itself dangerous enough, and all such practices as tripping
up, pushing with the hands, “hacking”, and wild and indiscriminate kicking, ought
to be carefully avoided.
3. When a ball is kicked out of bounds it ought to be returned, so as to alter
the state of the game as little as possible. It ought, therefore, to be kicked back from
the point at which it left the ground, and in a direction perpendicular to that side of
the ground.
4. All sneaking and standing off one’s side ought to be strictly prohibited.
I think, sir, that the above fundamental principles are quite sufficient to base a
proper set of rules upon, for it follows from No. 1 that the ball must never be
stopped by the hand when it can be stopped in any other way; that the ball must
never be picked up, struck, carried, or guided by the hand; and that when the ball is
so high that it cannot be stopped in any other way, it may be stopped with one hand
or two, but ought to be dropped at once to the ground. Moreover, the goal must be
kicked under, and not over, the string, as there would be otherwise no chance of
kicking a goal at all. Nos. 2 and 3 speak for themselves. No. 4 may be enforced by
requiring a certain number of players of the opposite side to be between a kicker
and the goal which he is endeavouring to reach, or by not allowing a man to kick a
ball which has last been kicked by one of his own side, unless either he was standing
behind the kicker at the time the kick was made, or someone of the opposite side first
touches the ball. Football is becoming so popular in England, and is so thoroughly
manly, and, therefore, English, that every facility and every encouragement ought to
be given to the practice of the game; and I think that the movement ought to be taken
up by the public schools, they are the nurseries of the game, and, in fact, the only
places excepting the Universities where the game is regularly and systematically
played. I have no doubt that any set of rules agreed upon by the public schools
would be at once adapted by all clubs, and it would be easy for the captains of the
elevens to communicate with each other and make the necessary arrangements.
Yours, etc, D.D.
(Bell’s Life, December 8, 1861)
Needless to say, there was a quick response from “An Old Rugbean” in the following edition,
taking strong objection to D.D.’s description of football at Rugby school as an “indescribable
medley”.
So, with the preliminary skirmishes out of the way, we can turn our attention to the events
of November and December 1863. The first stage was a “captains meeting”, just as suggested by
D.D. two years before. The F.A. Minute Book contains only brief handwritten accounts of the
decisions taken at the first meeting, but includes a newspaper report on which the following
paragraphs are based.
8
MEETING ONE, OCTOBER 26, 1863
On Monday evening a meeting of captains and other representatives of several of the metropolitan
and suburban football clubs was held at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Great Queen Street, Lincoln’s
Inn Fields, for the purpose of forming an association with the object of establishing a definitive
code of rules for the regulation of this game of football. The meeting was numerous and
influential, lacking, however, it will be observed, the presence of “The Schools,” with the
exception of the Charterhouse. That school was represented by Mr BF Hartshorne, captain, and the
other clubs and their officers present were: Perceval House, Blackheath, Mr G Shillingford,
secretary; Kensington School, Mr W Mackintosh, captain; Crystal Palace, Mr F Day, secretary;
Barnes, Mr EC Morley, captain, and Mr PD Gregory, secretary; Blackheath, Mr FH Moore,
captain, and Mr FW Campbell, secretary; Blackheath Proprietary School, Mr WH Gordon,
captain; the Crusaders (old public schools men); Forest, Leytonstone, JF Alcock, captain, and Mr
AW Mackenzie, secretary; N.N. Kilburn, Mr A Pember, captain; W.O., War Office, Mr GT
Wawn; and Charterhouse School, Mr BF Hartshorne, captain. There were several other gentlemen
present interested in the subject, who, although players, did not definitively represent any club.
Mr Pember (N.N., Kilburn) was requested to take the chair, and in doing so said that it
had been felt to be desirable to form some set of rules which the metropolitan clubs should adopt
among themselves, as there were so many different ways of playing, in order that, when they met
in friendly rivalry on other grounds the existing exceeding difficulty of “getting a goal” would be
more easily overcome. It had been proposed to form an association, which should meet once a year
and correct anything that was wrong if it should be necessary to do so.
Mr EC Morley (Barnes) had hoped to have seen some of the schools represented, but
their absence was attributable in all probability to the want of publicity of the fact that the meeting
would take place. They were, however, sufficiently strong as football players to carry out the
objects in view. He, therefore, proposed “That it advisable that a football association should be
formed for the purpose of settling a code of rules for the regulation of the game of football.”
Mr AW Mackenzie (Forest, Leytonstone) seconded the resolution, and hoped that the
gentlemen present would form themselves into a committee to affect the purpose of the
association.
Mr BF Hartshorne (Charterhouse) could not consent at present to put his name down as a
member of the association, as he thought it desirable that the public schools should be adequately
represented, and take a prominent part in the movement. It was certainly most desirable that some
definite set of rules for football should be generally adopted, yet, as a representative of the
Charterhouse School, the only public school represented, he could not pledge himself to any
course of action until he saw more clearly what the other schools did in the matter. Speaking on
behalf of the Charterhouse School, he would be willing to coalesce if the other public schools
would do the same, and probably at a more advanced stage of the association the opinion of the
generality of the other great schools would be obtained. It certainly would be advisable, if
possible, to obtain the cooperation of Rugby, Harrow, Winchester, Eton, Marlborough,
Cheltenham, and other public schools.
The Chairman thought their silence probably arose from no one in particular liking to take
the initiative, and put himself prominently forward. The object of the meeting was to form an
association to adopt and carry out a set of rules, in doing which of course the aid of the opinion
and counsel of the public schools would materially benefit them. The resolution was then put and
carried.
