Football

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying

degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal.
Unqualified, the word football is understood to refer to
whichever form of football is the most popular in the regional
context in which the word appears. Sports commonly called
'football' in certain places include: association football (known
as soccer in some countries); gridiron football (specifically
American football or Canadian football); Australian rules
football; rugby football (either rugby league or rugby union);
and Gaelic football.[1][2] These different variations of football
are known as football codes.
Various forms of football can be identified in history, often as
popular peasant games. Contemporary codes of football can be
traced back to the codification of these games at English public
schools during the nineteenth century.[3][4] The expanse of the
British Empire allowed these rules of football to spread to
areas of British influence outside of the directly controlled
Empire.[5] By the end of the nineteenth century, distinct
regional codes were already developing: Gaelic football, for
example, deliberately incorporated the rules of local traditional

Several codes of football. Images, from top

down, left to right: association football,
Australian rules football, international rules
football, a rugby union scrum, rugby league,
and American football.

football games in order to maintain their heritage.[6] In 1888,

The Football League was founded in England, becoming the
first of many professional football competitions. During the twentieth century, several of the various kinds of
football grew to become some of the most popular team sports in the world.[7]

Contents
1 Common elements
2 Etymology
3 Early history
3.1 Ancient games
3.2 Medieval and early modern Europe
3.3 Calcio Fiorentino
3.4 Official disapproval and attempts to ban football
4 Establishment of modern codes

4.1 English public schools

4.2 Firsts
4.3 Cambridge rules
4.4 Sheffield rules
4.5 Australian rules
4.6 Football Association
4.7 Rugby football
4.8 North American football codes
4.9 Gaelic football
4.10 Schism in Rugby football
4.11 Globalisation of association football
4.12 Further divergence of the two rugby codes
5 Use of the word "football"
6 Popularity
7 Football codes board
7.1 Football codes development tree
8 Present day codes and families
8.1 Association football and descendants
8.2 Rugby school football and descendants
8.3 Irish and Australian varieties
8.4 Surviving medieval ball games
8.5 Surviving UK school games
8.6 Recent inventions and hybrid games
8.7 Tabletop games, video games and other recreations
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References

Common elements
The various codes of football share certain common elements. Players in American football, Canadian
football, rugby union and rugby league take up positions in a limited area of the field at the start of the
game.[8] They tend to use throwing and running as the main ways of moving the ball, and only kick on
certain limited occasions. Body tackling is a major skill, and games typically involve short passages of play
of 590 seconds.[8]
Association football, Australian rules football and Gaelic football tend to use kicking to move the ball
around the pitch, with handling more limited. Body tackles are less central to the game, and players are freer
to move around the field (offside laws are typically less strict).[8]
Common rules among the sports include:[9]
Two teams of usually between 11 and 18 players; some variations that have fewer players (five or
more per team) are also popular.
A clearly defined area in which to play the game.
Scoring goals or points, by moving the ball to an opposing team's end of the field and either into a
goal area, or over a line.
Goals or points resulting from players putting the ball between two goalposts.
The goal or line being defended by the opposing team.
Players being required to move the balldepending on the codeby kicking, carrying, or handpassing the ball.
Players using only their body to move the ball.
In all codes, common skills include passing, tackling, evasion of tackles, catching and kicking.[8] In most
codes, there are rules restricting the movement of players offside, and players scoring a goal must put the
ball either under or over a crossbar between the goalposts.

Etymology
There are conflicting explanations of the origin of the word "football". It is widely assumed that the word
"football" (or the phrase "foot ball") refers to the action of the foot kicking a ball.[10] There is an alternative
explanation, which is that football originally referred to a variety of games in medieval Europe, which were
played on foot. There is no conclusive evidence for either explanation.

Early history
Ancient games
The Ancient Greeks and Romans are known to have played many ball games, some of which involved the
use of the feet. The Roman game harpastum is believed to have been adapted from a Greek team game
known as "" (Episkyros)[11][12] or "" (phaininda),[13] which is mentioned by a Greek
playwright, Antiphanes (388311 BC) and later referred to by the Christian theologian Clement of
Alexandria (c. 150 c. 215 AD). These games appear to have resembled rugby football.[14][15][16][17][18]

The Roman politician Cicero (10643 BC) describes the case of a man who was killed whilst having a shave
when a ball was kicked into a barber's shop. Roman ball games already knew the air-filled ball, the
follis.[19][20] Episkyros is recognised as an early form of football by FIFA.[21]
A Chinese game called Tsu' Chu, Cuju or Zuqiu has been recognised by FIFA as the first version of the game
with regular rules.[22] It existed during the Han Dynasty, the second and third centuries BC. The Japanese
version of cuju is kemari (), and was developed during the Asuka period.[23] This is known to have
been played within the Japanese imperial court in Kyoto from about 600 AD. In kemari several people stand
in a circle and kick a ball to each other, trying not to let the ball drop to the ground (much like keepie uppie).
The game appears to have died out sometime before the mid-19th century. It was revived in 1903 and is now
played at a number of festivals.
There are a number of references to traditional, ancient, or prehistoric ball games, played by indigenous
peoples in many different parts of the world. For example, in 1586, men from a ship commanded by an
English explorer named John Davis, went ashore to play a form of football with Inuit (Eskimo) people in
Greenland.[24] There are later accounts of an Inuit game played on ice, called Aqsaqtuk. Each match began
with two teams facing each other in parallel lines, before attempting to kick the ball through each other
team's line and then at a goal. In 1610, William Strachey, a colonist at Jamestown, Virginia recorded a game
played by Native Americans, called Pahsaheman. On the Australian continent several tribes of indigenous
people played kicking and catching games with stuffed balls which have been generalised by historians as
Marn Grook (Djab Wurrung for "game ball"). The earliest historical account is an anecdote from the 1878
book by Robert Brough-Smyth, The Aborigines of Victoria, in which a man called Richard Thomas is quoted
as saying, in about 1841 in Victoria, Australia, that he had witnessed Aboriginal people playing the game:
"Mr Thomas describes how the foremost player will drop kick a ball made from the skin of a possum and
how other players leap into the air in order to catch it." Some historians have theorised that Marn Grook was
one of the origins of Australian rules football.
The Mori in New Zealand played a game called Ki-o-rahi consisting of teams of seven players play on a
circular field divided into zones, and score points by touching the 'pou' (boundary markers) and hitting a
central 'tupu' or target.
Games played in Mesoamerica with rubber balls by indigenous peoples are also well-documented as existing
since before this time, but these had more similarities to basketball or volleyball, and since their influence on
modern football games is minimal, most do not class them as football.Northeastern American Indians,
especially the Iroquois Confederation, played a game which made use of net racquets to throw and catch a
small ball; however, although it is a ball-goal foot game, lacrosse (as its modern descendant is called) is
likewise not usually classed as a form of "football."
These games and others may well go far back into antiquity. However, the main sources of modern football
codes appear to lie in western Europe, especially England.

Ancient Greek football player balancing A Song Dynasty painting by Su

the ball. Depiction on an Attic Lekythos. Hanchen, depicting Chinese children
playing cuju.

Paint of a Mesoamerican ballgame

player of the Tepantitla murals in
Teotihuacan.

A revived version of kemari being

played at the Tanzan Shrine, Japan.

An illustration from the 1850s of

Australian Aboriginal hunter gatherers.
File:Children in the background are
playing a football game, possibly

A group of aborigines playing football in

Guiana.

Woggabaliri.[25]

Medieval and early modern Europe

The Middle Ages saw a huge rise in popularity of annual Shrovetide football matches throughout Europe,
particularly in England. An early reference to a ball game played in Britain comes from the 9th century
Historia Brittonum, which describes "a party of boys ... playing at ball".[26] References to a ball game
played in northern France known as La Soule or Choule, in which the ball was propelled by hands, feet, and
sticks,[27] date from the 12th century.[28]
The early forms of football played in England, sometimes referred to
as "mob football", would be played between neighbouring towns and
villages, involving an unlimited number of players on opposing
teams who would clash en masse,[29] struggling to move an item,
such as inflated animal's bladder[30] to particular geographical points,
such as their opponents' church, with play taking place in the open
space between neighbouring parishes.[31] The game was played
primarily during significant religious festivals, such as Shrovetide,
Christmas, or Easter,[30] and Shrovetide games have survived into
the modern era in a number of English towns (see below).
The first detailed description of what was almost certainly football in
England was given by William FitzStephen in about 11741183. He
described the activities of London youths during the annual festival
of Shrove Tuesday:

An illustration of so-called "mob

football"

After lunch all the youth of the city go out into the fields to take part in a ball game. The
students of each school have their own ball; the workers from each city craft are also carrying
their balls. Older citizens, fathers, and wealthy citizens come on horseback to watch their
juniors competing, and to relive their own youth vicariously: you can see their inner passions
aroused as they watch the action and get caught up in the fun being had by the carefree
adolescents.[32]
Most of the very early references to the game speak simply of "ball play" or "playing at ball". This
reinforces the idea that the games played at the time did not necessarily involve a ball being kicked.
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".[33] Football was played in Ireland in 1308,
with a documented reference to John McCrocan, a spectator at a "football game" at Newcastle, County
Down being charged with accidentally stabbing a player named William Bernard.[34] Another reference to a
football game comes in 1321 at Shouldham, Norfolk, England: "[d]uring the game at ball as he kicked the
ball, a lay friend of his... ran against him and wounded himself".[33]
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 at the time. A translation reads: "[f]orasmuch as there is great noise
in the city caused by hustling over large foot balls [rageries de grosses pelotes de pee][35] in the fields of the
public from which many evils might arise which God forbid: we command and forbid on behalf of the king,
on pain of imprisonment, such game to be used in the city in the future." This is the earliest reference to
football.

In 1363, King Edward III of England issued a proclamation banning "...handball, football, or hockey;
coursing and cock-fighting, or other such idle games",[36] showing that "football" whatever its exact form
in this case was being differentiated from games involving other parts of the body, such as handball.
A game known as "football" was played in Scotland as early as the 15th century: it was prohibited by the
Football Act 1424 and although the law fell into disuse it was not repealed until 1906. There is evidence for
schoolboys playing a "football" ball game in Aberdeen in 1633 (some references cite 1636) which is notable
as an early allusion to what some have considered to be passing the ball. The word "pass" in the most recent
translation is derived from "huc percute" (strike it here) and later "repercute pilam" (strike the ball again) in
the original Latin. It is not certain that the ball was being struck between members of the same team. The
original word translated as "goal" is "metum", literally meaning the "pillar at each end of the circus course"
in a Roman chariot race. There is a reference to "get hold of the ball before [another player] does" (Praeripe
illi pilam si possis agere) suggesting that handling of the ball was allowed. One sentence states in the
original 1930 translation "Throw yourself against him" (Age, objice te illi).
King Henry IV of England also presented one of the earliest
documented uses of the English word "football", in 1409, when he
issued a proclamation forbidding the levying of money for
"foteball".[33][37]
There is also an account in Latin from the end of the 15th century of
football being played at Cawston, Nottinghamshire. This is the first
description of a "kicking game" and the first description of dribbling:
"[t]he game at which they had met for common recreation is called
by some the foot-ball game. It is one in which young men, in country
sport, propel a huge ball not by throwing it into the air but by striking
France circa 1750
it and rolling it along the ground, and that not with their hands but
with their feet... kicking in opposite directions" The chronicler gives
the earliest reference to a football pitch, stating that: "[t]he boundaries have been marked and the game had
started.[33]
Other firsts in the medival and early modern eras:
"a football", in the sense of a ball rather than a game, was first mentioned in 1486.[37] This reference is
in Dame Juliana Berners' Book of St Albans. It states: "a certain rounde instrument to play with ...it is
an instrument for the foote and then it is calde in Latyn 'pila pedalis', a fotebal."[33]
a pair of football boots was ordered by King Henry VIII of England in 1526.[38]
women playing a form of football was first described in 1580 by Sir Philip Sidney in one of his
poems: "[a] tyme there is for all, my mother often sayes, When she, with skirts tuckt very hy, with
girles at football playes."[39]
the first references to goals are in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. In 1584 and 1602
respectively, John Norden and Richard Carew referred to "goals" in Cornish hurling. Carew described
how goals were made: "they pitch two bushes in the ground, some eight or ten foote asunder; and
directly against them, ten or twelue [twelve] score off, other twayne in like distance, which they terme
their Goales".[40] He is also the first to describe goalkeepers and passing of the ball between players.
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): "I'll play a gole at camp-ball" (an extremely violent variety of
football, which was popular in East Anglia). Similarly in a poem in 1613, Michael Drayton refers to
"when the Ball to throw, And drive it to the Gole, in squadrons forth they goe".

Calcio Fiorentino
In the 16th century, the city of Florence celebrated the period
between Epiphany and Lent by playing a game which today is
known as "calcio storico" ("historic kickball") in the Piazza Santa
Croce. The young aristocrats of the city would dress up in fine silk
costumes and embroil themselves in a violent form of football. For
example, calcio players could punch, shoulder charge, and kick
opponents. Blows below the belt were allowed. The game is said to
have originated as a military training exercise. In 1580, Count
Giovanni de' Bardi di Vernio wrote Discorso sopra 'l giuoco del
Calcio Fiorentino. This is sometimes said to be the earliest code of
rules for any football game. The game was not played after January
1739 (until it was revived in May 1930).

An illustration of the Calcio

Fiorentino field and starting positions,
from a 1688 book by Pietro di
Lorenzo Bini.

Official disapproval and attempts to ban football

There have been many attempts to ban football, from the middle ages through to the modern day. The first
such law was passed in England in 1314; it was followed by more than 30 in England alone between 1314
and 1667.[41]:6 Football faced armed opposition in the 18th Century when used as a cover for violent protest
against the enclosure act. Women were banned from playing at English and Scottish Football League
grounds in 1921, a ban that was only lifted in the 1970s. Female footballers still face similar problems in
some parts of the world.

Establishment of modern codes

English public schools
While football continued to be played in various forms throughout Britain, its public schools (known as
private schools in other countries) are widely credited with four key achievements in the creation of modern
football codes. First of all, the evidence suggests that they were important in taking football away from its
"mob" form and turning it into an organised team sport. Second, many early descriptions of football and
references to it were recorded by people who had studied at these schools. Third, it was teachers, students
and former students from these schools who first codified football games, to enable matches to be played
between schools. Finally, it was at English public schools that the division between "kicking" and "running"
(or "carrying") games first became clear.
The earliest evidence that games resembling football were being played at English public schools mainly
attended by boys from the upper, upper-middle and professional classes comes from the Vulgaria by
William Herman in 1519. Herman had been headmaster at Eton and Winchester colleges and his Latin
textbook includes a translation exercise with the phrase "We wyll playe with a ball full of wynde".[42]
Richard Mulcaster, a student at Eton College in the early 16th century and later headmaster at other English
schools, has been described as "the greatest sixteenth Century advocate of football".[43] Among his
contributions are the earliest evidence of organised team football. Mulcaster's writings refer to teams
("sides" and "parties"), positions ("standings"), a referee ("judge over the parties") and a coach "(trayning
maister)". Mulcaster's "footeball" had evolved from the disordered and violent forms of traditional football:

[s]ome smaller number with such overlooking, sorted into sides and standings, not meeting with
their bodies so boisterously to trie their strength: nor shouldring or shuffing one an other so
barbarously ... may use footeball for as much good to the body, by the chiefe use of the
legges.[44]
In 1633, David Wedderburn, a teacher from Aberdeen, mentioned elements of modern football games in a
short Latin textbook called Vocabula. Wedderburn refers to what has been translated into modern English as
"keeping goal" and makes an allusion to passing the ball ("strike it here"). There is a reference to "get hold
of the ball", suggesting that some handling was allowed. It is clear that the tackles allowed included the
charging and holding of opposing players ("drive that man back").
A more detailed description of football is given in Francis Willughby's Book of Games, written in about
1660.[45] Willughby, who had studied at Bishop Vesey's Grammar School, Sutton Coldfield, is the first to
describe goals and a distinct playing field: "a close that has a gate at either end. The gates are called Goals."
His book includes a diagram illustrating a football field. He also mentions tactics ("leaving some of their
best players to guard the goal"); scoring ("they that can strike the ball through their opponents' goal first
win") and the way teams were selected ("the players being equally divided according to their strength and
nimbleness"). He is the first to describe a "law" of football: "they must not strike [an opponent's leg] higher
than the ball".
English public schools were the first to codify football games. In particular, they devised the first offside
rules, during the late 18th century.[46] In the earliest manifestations of these rules, players were "off their
side" if they simply stood between the ball and the goal which was their objective. Players were not allowed
to pass the ball forward, either by foot or by hand. They could only dribble with their feet, or advance the
ball in a scrum or similar formation. However, offside laws began to diverge and develop differently at each
school, as is shown by the rules of football from Winchester, Rugby, Harrow and Cheltenham, during
between 1810 and 1850.[46] The first known codes in the sense of a set of rules were those of Eton in
1815 [47] and Aldenham in 1825.[47])
During the early 19th century, most working class people in Britain had to work six days a week, often for
over twelve hours a day. They had neither the time nor the inclination to engage in sport for recreation and,
at the time, many children were part of the labour force. Feast day football played on the streets was in
decline. Public school boys, who enjoyed some freedom from work, became the inventors of organised
football games with formal codes of rules.
Football was adopted by a number of public schools as a way of encouraging competitiveness and keeping
youths fit. Each school drafted its own rules, which varied widely between different schools and were
changed over time with each new intake of pupils. Two schools of thought developed regarding rules. Some
schools favoured a game in which the ball could be carried (as at Rugby, Marlborough and Cheltenham),
while others preferred a game where kicking and dribbling the ball was promoted (as at Eton, Harrow,
Westminster and Charterhouse). The division into these two camps was partly the result of circumstances in
which the games were played. For example, Charterhouse and Westminster at the time had restricted playing
areas; the boys were confined to playing their ball game within the school cloisters, making it difficult for
them to adopt rough and tumble running games.
William Webb Ellis, a pupil at Rugby School, is said to have "with a fine disregard for the rules of football,
as played in his time [emphasis added], first took the ball in his arms and ran with it, thus creating the
distinctive feature of the rugby game." in 1823. This act is usually said to be the beginning of Rugby
football, but there is little evidence that it occurred, and most sports historians believe the story to be

apocryphal. The act of 'taking the ball in his arms' is often misinterpreted as 'picking the ball up' as it is
widely believed that Webb Ellis' 'crime' was handling the ball, as in modern soccer, however handling the
ball at the time was often permitted and in some cases compulsory,[48] the rule for which Webb Ellis showed
disregard was running forward with it as the rules of his time only
allowed a player to retreat backwards or kick forwards.

Rugby School

The boom in rail transport in Britain during the 1840s meant that
people were able to travel further and with less inconvenience than
they ever had before. Inter-school sporting competitions became
possible. However, it was difficult for schools to play each other at
football, as each school played by its own rules. The solution to this
problem was usually that the match be divided into two halves, one
half played by the rules of the host "home" school, and the other half
by the visiting "away" school.

The modern rules of many football codes were formulated during the mid- or late- 19th century. This also
applies to other sports such as lawn bowls, lawn tennis, etc. The major impetus for this was the patenting of
the world's first lawnmower in 1830. This allowed for the preparation of modern ovals, playing fields,
pitches, grass courts, etc.[49]
Apart from Rugby football, the public school codes have barely been played beyond the confines of each
school's playing fields. However, many of them are still played at the schools which created them (see
Surviving UK school games below).
Public schools' dominance of sports in the UK began to wane after the Factory Act of 1850, which
significantly increased the recreation time available to working class children. Before 1850, many British
children had to work six days a week, for more than twelve hours a day. From 1850, they could not work
before 6 a.m. (7 a.m. in winter) or after 6 p.m. on weekdays (7 p.m. in winter); on Saturdays they had to
cease work at 2 p.m. These changes mean that working class children had more time for games, including
various forms of football.

Firsts
Clubs
Sports clubs dedicated to playing football began in the 18th century, for example London's Gymnastic
Society which was founded in the mid-18th century and ceased playing matches in 1796.[50][51]
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 182441.[52][53] The club forbade
tripping but allowed pushing and holding and the picking up of the ball.[53]
In 1845, three boys at Rugby school were tasked with codifying the rules then being used at the school.
These were the first set of written rules (or code) for any form of football.[54] This further assisted the spread
of the Rugby game.
Competitions

One of the longest running football fixture is the Cordner-Eggleston Cup, contested between Melbourne
Grammar School and Scotch College, Melbourne every year since 1858. It is believed by many to also be
the first match of Australian rules football, although it was played under experimental rules in its first year.
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.[55] The oldest football league is a rugby
football competition, the United Hospitals Challenge Cup (1874), while the oldest rugby trophy is the
Yorkshire Cup, contested since 1878. The South Australian Football Association (30 April 1877) is the
oldest surviving Australian rules football competition. The oldest surviving soccer trophy is the Youdan Cup
(1867) and the oldest national soccer competition is the English FA Cup (1871). The Football League (1888)
is recognised as the longest running Association Football league. The first ever international football match
took place between sides representing England and Scotland on March 5, 1870 at the Oval under the
authority of the FA. The first Rugby international took place in 1871.
Modern balls
In Europe, early footballs were made out of animal bladders, more
specifically pig's bladders, which were inflated. Later leather coverings were
introduced to allow the balls to keep their shape.[56] However, in 1851,
Richard Lindon and William Gilbert, both shoemakers from the town of
Rugby (near the school), exhibited both round and oval-shaped balls at the
Great Exhibition in London. Richard Lindon's wife is said to have died of
lung disease caused by blowing up pig's bladders.[57] Lindon also won
medals for the invention of the "Rubber inflatable Bladder" and the "Brass
Hand Pump".
In 1855, the U.S. inventor Charles Goodyear who had patented vulcanized
rubber exhibited a spherical football, with an exterior of vulcanized rubber
panels, at the Paris Exhibition Universelle. The ball was to prove popular in
early forms of football in the U.S.A.[58]
The iconic ball with a regular pattern of hexagons and pentagons (see
truncated icosahedron) did not become popular until the 1960s, and was first
used in the World Cup in 1970.

Richard Lindon (seen in

1880) is believed to have
invented the first footballs
with rubber bladders.

Modern ball passing tactics

The earliest reference to a game of football involving players passing the ball and attempting to score past a
goalkeeper was written in 1633 by David Wedderburn, a poet and teacher in Aberdeen, Scotland.[59]
Nevertheless, the original text does not state whether the allusion to passing as 'kick the ball back'
('Repercute pilam') was in a forward or backward direction or between members of the same opposing teams
(as was usual at this time)[60]
"Scientific" football is first recorded in 1839 from Lancashire[61] and in the modern game in Rugby football
from 1862[62] and from Sheffield FC as early as 1865.[63][64] The first side to play a passing combination
game was the Royal Engineers AFC in 1869/70[65][66] By 1869 they were "work[ing] well together",
"backing up" and benefiting from "cooperation".[67] By 1870 the Engineers were passing the ball: "Lieut.
Creswell, who having brought the ball up the side then kicked it into the middle to another of his side, who
kicked it through the posts the minute before time was called"[68] Passing was a regular feature of their

style[69] By early 1872 the Engineers were the first football team renowned for "play[ing] beautifully
together"[70] A double pass is first reported from Derby school against Nottingham Forest in March 1872,
the first of which is irrefutably a short pass: "Mr Absey dribbling the ball half the length of the field
delivered it to Wallis, who kicking it cleverly in front of the goal, sent it to the captain who drove it at once
between the Nottingham posts"[71] The first side to have perfected the modern formation was Cambridge
University AFC[72][73][74] and introduced the 235 "pyramid" formation.[75][76]

Cambridge rules
In 1848, at Cambridge University, Mr. H. de Winton and Mr. J.C. Thring, who were both formerly at
Shrewsbury School, called a meeting at Trinity College, Cambridge with 12 other representatives from Eton,
Harrow, Rugby, Winchester and Shrewsbury. An eight-hour meeting produced what amounted to the first set
of modern rules, known as the Cambridge rules. No copy of these rules now exists, but a revised version
from circa 1856 is held in the library of Shrewsbury School.[77] The rules clearly favour the kicking game.
Handling was only allowed when a player catches the ball directly from the foot entitling them to a free kick
and there was a primitive offside rule, disallowing players from "loitering" around the opponents' goal. The
Cambridge rules were not widely adopted outside English public schools and universities (but it was
arguably the most significant influence on the Football Association committee members responsible for
formulating the rules of Association football).

Sheffield rules
By the late 1850s, many football clubs had been formed throughout the English-speaking world, to play
various codes of football. Sheffield Football Club, founded in 1857 in the English city of Sheffield by
Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest, was later recognised as the world's oldest club playing association
football.[78] However, the club initially played its own code of football: the Sheffield rules. The code was
largely independent of the public school rules, the most significant difference being the lack of an offside
rule.
The code was responsible for many innovations that later spread to association football. These included free
kicks, corner kicks, handball, throw-ins and the crossbar.[79] By the 1870s they became the dominant code in
the north and midlands of England. At this time a series of rule changes by both the London and Sheffield
FAs gradually eroded the differences between the two games until the adoption of a common code in 1877.

Australian rules
There is archival evidence of "foot-ball" games being played in various parts of Australia throughout the
first half of the 19th century. The origins of an organised game of football known today as Australian rules
football can be traced back to 1858 in Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria.
In July 1858, Tom Wills, an Australian-born cricketer educated at Rugby School in England, wrote a letter to
Bell's Life in Victoria & Sporting Chronicle, calling for a "foot-ball club" with a "code of laws" to keep
cricketers fit during winter.[80] This is considered by historians to be a defining moment in the creation of
Australian rules football. Through publicity and personal contacts Wills was able to co-ordinate football
matches in Melbourne that experimented with various rules,[81] the first of which was played on July 31,
1858. One week later, Wills umpired a schoolboys match between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch
College. Following these matches, organised football in Melbourne rapidly increased in popularity.

Tom Wills, widely regarded

as the father of Australian
football

Wills and others involved in these

early matches formed the Melbourne
Football Club (the oldest surviving
Australian football club) on May 14,
1859. Club members Wills, William
Hammersley, J. B. Thompson and
Thomas H. Smith met with the
intention of forming a set of rules
that would be widely adopted by
other clubs. The committee debated
Wood engraving of an Australian
rules used in English public school
rules football match at the Richmond
games; Wills pushed for various
Paddock, Melbourne, 1866
rugby football rules he learnt during
his schooling. The first rules share
similarities with these games, and were shaped to suit to Australian
conditions. H. C. A. Harrison, a seminal figure in Australian football,

recalled that his cousin Wills wanted "a game of our own".[82] The code was
distinctive in the prevalence of the mark, free kick, tackling, lack of an offside rule and that players were
specifically penalised for throwing the ball.
The Melbourne football rules were widely distributed and gradually adopted by the other Victorian clubs.
The rules were updated several times during the 1860s to accommodate the rules of other influential
Victorian football clubs. A significant redraft in 1866 by H. C. A. Harrison's committee accommodated the
Geelong Football Club's rules, making the game then known as "Victorian Rules" increasingly distinct from
other codes. It soon adopted cricket fields and an oval ball, used specialised goal and behind posts, and
featured bouncing the ball while running and spectacular high marking. The game spread quickly to other
Australian colonies. Outside of its heartland in southern Australia the code experienced a significant period
of decline following World War I but has since grown throughout Australia and in other parts of the world,
and the Australian Football League emerged as the dominant professional competition.

Football Association
During
the early
1860s,
there
were

The first football international, Scotland versus England. Once kept by the Rugby Football Union as an
early example of rugby football.

increasing attempts in England to unify and reconcile the various public school games. In 1862, J. C. Thring,
who had been one of the driving forces behind the original Cambridge Rules, was a master at Uppingham
School and he issued his own rules of what he called "The Simplest Game" (these are also known as the
Uppingham Rules). In early October 1863 another new revised version of the Cambridge Rules was drawn
up by a seven member committee representing former pupils from Harrow, Shrewsbury, Eton, Rugby,
Marlborough and Westminster.

At the Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen Street, London on the evening of October 26, 1863, representatives
of several football clubs in the London Metropolitan area met for the inaugural meeting of The Football
Association (FA). The aim of the Association was to establish a single unifying code and regulate the
playing of the game among its members. Following the first meeting, the public schools were invited to join
the association. All of them declined, except Charterhouse and Uppingham. In total, six meetings of the FA
were held between October and December 1863. After the third meeting, a draft set of rules were published.
However, at the beginning of the fourth meeting, attention was drawn to the recently published Cambridge
Rules of 1863. The Cambridge rules differed from the draft FA rules in two significant areas; namely
running with (carrying) the ball and hacking (kicking opposing players in the shins). The two contentious FA
rules were as follows:
IX. A player shall be entitled to run with the ball towards his adversaries' goal if he makes a fair
catch, or catches the ball on the first bound; but in case of a fair catch, if he makes his mark he
shall not run.
X. If any player shall run with the ball towards his adversaries' goal, any player on the opposite
side shall be at liberty to charge, hold, trip or hack him, or to wrest the ball from him, but no
player shall be held and hacked at the same time.[83]
At the fifth meeting it was proposed that these two rules be removed. Most of the delegates supported this,
but F. M. Campbell, the representative from Blackheath and the first FA treasurer, objected. He said:
"hacking is the true football". However, the motion to ban running with the ball in hand and hacking was
carried and Blackheath withdrew from the FA. After the final meeting on 8 December, the FA published the
"Laws of Football", the first comprehensive set of rules for the game later known as Association Football.
The term "soccer", in use since the late 19th century, derives from an Oxford University abbreviation of
"Association".[84]
The first FA rules still contained elements that are no longer part of association football, but which are still
recognisable in other games (such as Australian football and rugby football): for instance, a player could
make a fair catch and claim a mark, which entitled him to a free kick; and if a player touched the ball behind
the opponents' goal line, his side was entitled to a free kick at goal, from 15 yards (13.5 metres) in front of
the goal line.

Rugby football
In Britain, by 1870, there were about 75 clubs playing variations of
the Rugby school game. There were also "rugby" clubs in Ireland,
Australia, Canada and New Zealand. However, there was no
generally accepted set of rules for rugby until 1871, when 21 clubs
from London came together to form the Rugby Football Union
(RFU). The first official RFU rules were adopted in June 1871. These
rules allowed passing the ball. They also included the try, where
touching the ball over the line allowed an attempt at goal, though
drop-goals from marks and general play, and penalty conversions
were still the main form of contest.

North American football codes

A rugby scrum in 1871

As was the case in Britain, by the early 19th century, North American schools and universities played their
own local games, between sides made up of students. For example, students at Dartmouth College in New
Hampshire played a game called Old division football, a variant of the association football codes, as early as
the 1820s.[85] They remained largely "mob football" style games, with huge numbers of players attempting
to advance the ball into a goal area, often by any means necessary. Rules were simple, violence and injury
were common.[86] The violence of these mob-style games led to widespread protests and a decision to
abandon them. Yale University, under pressure from the city of New Haven, banned the play of all forms of
football in 1860, while Harvard University followed suit in 1861.[86] In its place, two general types of
football evolved: "kicking" games and "running" (or "carrying") games. A hybrid of the two, known as the
"Boston game", was played by a group known as the Oneida Football Club. The club, considered by some
historians as the first formal football club in the United States, was formed in 1862 by schoolboys who
played the "Boston game" on Boston Common.[86][87] The game began to return to American college
campuses by the late 1860s. The universities of Yale, Princeton (then known as the College of New Jersey),
Rutgers, and Brown all began playing "kicking" games during this time. In 1867, Princeton used rules based
on those of the English Football Association.[86]
In Canada, the first documented football match was a practice game
played on November 9, 1861, at University College, University of
Toronto (approximately 400 yards west of Queen's Park). One of the
participants in the game involving University of Toronto students
was (Sir) William Mulock, later Chancellor of the school.[89] In
1864, at Trinity College, Toronto, F. Barlow Cumberland, Frederick
A. Bethune, and Christopher Gwynn, one of the founders of Milton,
Massachusetts, devised rules based on rugby football.[89] A "running
game", resembling rugby football, was then taken up by the Montreal

On November 6, 1869, Rutgers faced Princeton in a game that was

played with a round ball and, like all early games, used improvised
rules. It is usually regarded as the first game of American

The "Tigers" of Hamilton, Ontario,

circa 1906. Founded 1869 as the
Hamilton Foot Ball Club, they
eventually merged with the Hamilton
Flying Wildcats to form the Hamilton
Tiger-Cats, a team still active in the

intercollegiate football.[86][91]

Canadian Football League.[88]

Football Club in Canada in 1868.[90]

Modern North American football grew out of a match between

McGill University of Montreal, and Harvard University in 1874. During the game, the two teams alternated
between the rugby-based rules used by McGill and the Boston Game rules used by Harvard.[92][93][94]
Within a few years, Harvard had both adopted McGill's rules and had persuaded other U.S. university teams
to do the same. On November 23, 1876, representatives from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia met at
the Massasoit Convention in Springfield, Massachusetts, agreeing to adopt most of the Rugby Football
Union rules, with some variations.[95]
In 1880, Yale coach Walter Camp, who had become a fixture at the Massasoit House conventions where the
rules were debated and changed, devised a number of major innovations. Camp's two most important rule
changes that diverged the American game from rugby was replacing the scrummage with the line of
scrimmage and the establishment of the down-and-distance rules.[95] American football still however
remained a violent sport where collisions often led to serious injuries and sometimes even death.[96] This led
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt to hold a meeting with football representatives from Harvard, Yale, and
Princeton on October 9, 1905, urging them to make drastic changes.[97] One rule change introduced in 1906,

devised to open up the game and reduce injury, was the introduction
of the legal forward pass. Though it was underutilized for years, this
proved to be one of the most important rule changes in the
establishment of the modern game.[98]

Rutgers College Football Team, 1882

Over the years, Canada absorbed some of the developments in

American football in an effort to distinguish it from a more rugbyoriented game. In 1903, the Ontario Rugby Football Union adopted
the Burnside rules, which implemented the line of scrimmage and
down-and-distance system from American football, among
others.[99] Canadian football then implemented the legal forward

pass in 1929.[100] American and Canadian football remain different codes, stemming from rule changes that
the American side of the border adopted but the Canadian side has not.

Gaelic football
In the mid-19th century, various traditional football
games, referred to collectively as caid, remained popular
in Ireland, especially in County Kerry. One observer,
Father W. Ferris, described two main forms of caid
during this period: the "field game" in which the object
was to put the ball through arch-like goals, formed from
the boughs of two trees; and the epic "cross-country
The All-Ireland Football Final in Croke Park, 2004.
game" which took up most of the daylight hours of a
Sunday on which it was played, and was won by one
team taking the ball across a parish boundary. "Wrestling", "holding" opposing players, and carrying the ball
were all allowed.
By the 1870s, Rugby and Association football had started to become popular in Ireland. Trinity College,
Dublin was an early stronghold of Rugby (see the Developments in the 1850s section, above). The rules of
the English FA were being distributed widely. Traditional forms of caid had begun to give way to a "roughand-tumble game" which allowed tripping.
There was no serious attempt to unify and codify Irish varieties of football, until the establishment of the
Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in 1884. The GAA sought to promote traditional Irish sports, such as
hurling and to reject imported games like Rugby and Association football. The first Gaelic football rules
were drawn up by Maurice Davin and published in the United Ireland magazine on February 7, 1887.
Davin's rules showed the influence of games such as hurling and a desire to formalise a distinctly Irish code
of football. The prime example of this differentiation was the lack of an offside rule (an attribute which, for
many years, was shared only by other Irish games like hurling, and by Australian rules football).

Schism in Rugby football

The International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) was founded in 1886, but rifts were beginning to emerge in
the code. Professionalism was beginning to creep into the various codes of football.
In England, by the 1890s, a long-standing Rugby Football Union ban on professional players was causing
regional tensions within rugby football, as many players in northern England were working class and could
not afford to take time off to train, travel, play and recover from injuries. This was not very different from
what had occurred ten years earlier in soccer in Northern England but the authorities reacted very differently

in the RFU, attempting to alienate the working class support in Northern England. In 1895, following a
dispute about a player being paid broken time payments, which replaced wages lost as a result of playing
rugby, representatives of the northern clubs met in Huddersfield to form the Northern Rugby Football Union
(NRFU). The new body initially permitted only various types of player wage replacements. However, within
two years, NRFU players could be paid, but they were required to have a job outside sport.
The demands of a professional league dictated that rugby had to become a better "spectator" sport. Within a
few years the NRFU rules had started to diverge from the RFU, most
notably with the abolition of the line-out. This was followed by the
replacement of the ruck with the "play-the-ball ruck", which allowed
a two-player ruck contest between the tackler at marker and the
player tackled. Mauls were stopped once the ball carrier was held,
being replaced by a play-the ball-ruck. The separate Lancashire and
Yorkshire competitions of the NRFU merged in 1901, forming the
Northern Rugby League, the first time the name rugby league was
used officially in England.
Over time, the RFU form of rugby, played by clubs which remained
members of national federations affiliated to the IRFB, became
known as rugby union.

Globalisation of association football

The need for a single body to oversee association football had
become apparent by the beginning of the 20th century, with the
increasing popularity of international fixtures. The English Football
Association had chaired many discussions on setting up an
international body, but was perceived as making no progress. It fell
to associations from seven other European countries: France,
Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, to
form an international association. The Fdration Internationale de
Football Association (FIFA) was founded in Paris on May 21, 1904.
Its first president was Robert Gurin. The French name and acronym
has remained, even outside French-speaking countries.

Further divergence of the two rugby codes

An English cartoon from the 1890s

lampooning the divide in rugby
football which led to the formation of
rugby league. The caricatures are of
Rev. Frank Marshall, an archopponent of player payments, and
James Miller, a long-time opponent of
Marshall. The caption reads:
Marshall: "Oh, fie, go away naughty
boy, I don't play with boys who cant
afford to take a holiday for football
any day they like!" Miller: "Yes, that's
just you to a T; youd make it so that
no lad whose father wasnt a
millionaire could play at all in a really
good team. For my part I see no
reason why the men who make the
money shouldnt have a share in the
spending of it."

Rugby league rules diverged significantly from rugby union in 1906,

with the reduction of the team from 15 to 13 players. In 1907, a New
Zealand professional rugby team toured Australia and Britain,
receiving an enthusiastic response, and professional rugby leagues
were launched in Australia the following year. However, the rules of
professional games varied from one country to another, and
negotiations between various national bodies were required to fix the exact rules for each international
match. This situation endured until 1948, when at the instigation of the French league, the Rugby League
International Federation (RLIF) was formed at a meeting in Bordeaux.

During the second half of 20th century, the rules changed further. In 1966, rugby league officials borrowed
the American football concept of downs: a team was allowed to retain possession of the ball for four tackles
(rugby union retains the original rule that a player who is tackled and brought to the ground must release the

ball immediately). The maximum number of tackles was later increased to six (in 1971), and in rugby league
this became known as the six tackle rule.
With the advent of full-time professionals in the early 1990s, and the consequent speeding up of the game,
the five metre off-side distance between the two teams became 10 metres, and the replacement rule was
superseded by various interchange rules, among other changes.
The laws of rugby union also changed during the 20th century, although less significantly than those of
rugby league. In particular, goals from marks were abolished, kicks directly into touch from outside the 22
metre line were penalised, new laws were put in place to determine who had possession following an
inconclusive ruck or maul, and the lifting of players in line-outs was legalised.
In 1995, rugby union became an "open" game, that is one which allowed professional players. Although the
original dispute between the two codes has now disappeared and despite the fact that officials from both
forms of rugby football have sometimes mentioned the possibility of re-unification the rules of both codes
and their culture have diverged to such an extent that such an event is unlikely in the foreseeable future.

Use of the word "football"

The word "football ", when used in reference to a specific game can
mean any one of those described above. Because of this, much
friendly controversy has occurred over the term football, primarily
because it is used in different ways in different parts of the Englishspeaking world. Most often, the word "football" is used to refer to
the code of football that is considered dominant within a particular
region. So, effectively, what the word "football" means usually
depends on where one says it.
In each of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, one
football code is known solely as "football", while the others
generally require a qualifier. In New Zealand, "football" historically
referred to rugby union, but more recently may be used unqualified
to refer to association football. The sport meant by the word
"football" in Australia is either Australian rules football or rugby
league, depending on popularity (which largely conforms to what has
been called the Barassi Line). In francophone Quebec, where
Canadian football is more popular, the Canadian code is known as
football while American football is known as Football amricain and
association football is known as le soccer.[101] Of the 45 national
FIFA (Fdration Internationale de Football Association) affiliates in
which English is an official or primary language, most currently use
Football in their organizations' official names; the FIFA affiliates in
Canada and the United States use Soccer in their names. A few FIFA
affiliates have recently "normalized" to using "Football", including:

A player takes a free kick, while the

opposition form a "wall", in
Association football

Players assemble at the line of

scrimmage in an American football
game.

Australia's association football governing body changed its name in 2005 from using "soccer" to
"football"[102]
New Zealand's governing body also changed in 2007, saying "the international game is called
football."[103]
Samoa changed from "Samoa Football (Soccer) Federation" to "Football Federation Samoa" in
2009.[104][105]

Popularity
Several of the football codes are the most popular team sports in the world.[7] Globally, association football
is played by over 250 million players in over 200 nations,[106] and has the highest television audience in
sport,[107] making it the most popular in the world,[108] American football is the most popular sport in the
United States,[109] with the annual Super Bowl game accounting for seven of the top eight of the most
watched broadcasts in U.S. television history.[110] Australian rules football has the highest spectator
attendance of all sports in Australia.[111][112] Similarly, Gaelic football is the most popular sport in Ireland in
terms of match attendance,[113] and the All-Ireland Football Final is the most watched event of that nation's
sporting year.[114]

Football codes board

Indoor
Cambridge rules (18481863)

Sheffield rules (18571877)

Beach (1992-)
Association
Football
(1863-)

Futsal (1930-)
Paralympic
Street
Rugby Union with American
football
minor
modifications
(1869[115]-)

Flag football[117]

Canadian football (1861-)

Football

Flag football,
Arena football
(1987-)

Rugby sevens (1883-)

Rugby rules[116]

Nines
Rugby union (1871-)

Rugby league Rugby league

(1895-)
sevens
Touch football

Rugby rules and other

English public school
games[118]

Australian rules (1859-)

International
rules (1967-)

Gaelic (1887-)

Football codes development tree

Present day codes and families

Association football and descendants
These codes have in common the prohibition of the use of hands (by all players except the goalkeeper),
unlike other codes where carrying or handling the ball is allowed
Association football, also known as football, soccer, footy and footie

Indoor/basketball court variants:

Five-a-side football played throughout the world under various rules including:
Futebol de Salo
Futsal the FIFA-approved five-a-side indoor game
Minivoetbal the five-a-side indoor game played
in East and West Flanders where it is extremely
popular
Papi fut the five-a-side game played in outdoor
basketball courts (built with goals) in Central
America.
Indoor soccer the six-a-side indoor game, the Latin
American variant (ftbol rpido, "fast football") is often
played in open-air venues
Masters Football six-a-side played in Europe by
mature professionals (35 years and older)
An indoor soccer game at an open-air
Paralympic football modified game for athletes with a
venue in Mexico. The referee has just
[119]
disability.
Includes:
awarded the red team a free kick.
Football 5-a-side for visually impaired athletes
Football 7-a-side for athletes with cerebral palsy
Amputee football for athletes with amputations
Deaf football for athletes with hearing impairments
Powerchair football for athletes in electric wheelchairs
Beach soccer, beach football or sand soccer variant modified
for play on sand
Street football encompasses a number of informal variants
Rush goalie a variation in which the role of the goalkeeper is
more flexible than normal
Headers and Volleys where the aim is to score goals against a
Street football, Venice (1960)
goalkeeper using only headers and volleys
Crab football players stand on their hands and feet and move
around on their backs whilst playing
Swamp soccer the game as played on a swamp or bog field
Jorkyball
Rushball
There are also motorsport variations of the game.

Rugby school football and descendants

These codes have in common the ability of players to carry the ball with their hands, and to throw it to
teammates, unlike association football where the use of hands is prohibited by anyone except the goal
keeper. They also feature various methods of scoring based upon whether the ball is carried into the goal
area, or kicked through a target.
Rugby football
Rugby union
Mini rugby a variety for children.
Rugby sevens and Rugby tens variants for teams of reduced size.
Rugby league often referred to simply as "league", and usually known simply as "football" or
"footy" in the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland.
Rugby league sevens and Rugby league nines variant for teams of reduced size.
Beach rugby rugby played on sand
Touch rugby generic name for forms of rugby football which do not feature tackles, one

variant has been formalized

Tag Rugby non-contact variant in which a flag attached to a player is removed to indicate a
tackle.
Gridiron football
American football called "football" in the United States and Canada, and "gridiron" in
Australia and New Zealand.
Nine-man football, eight-man football, six-man
football variants played primarily by smaller
high schools that lack enough players to field full
teams.
Street football/backyard football played without
equipment or official fields and with simplified
rules
Touch football non-tackle variants
Canadian football called simply "football" in Canada;
"football" in Canada can mean either Canadian or
Rugby sevens; Fiji v Wales at the
American football depending on context. All of the
2006 Commonwealth Games in
variants listed for American football are also attested for
Melbourne
Canadian football.
Flag football non-contact variant in which a flag
attached to a player is removed to indicate a tackle.
Indoor football, arena football indoor variants

Irish and Australian varieties

These codes have in common the absence of an offside rule, the
prohibition of continuous carrying of the ball (requiring a periodic
bounce or solo (toe-kick), depending on the code) while running,
handpassing by punching or tapping the ball rather than throwing it,
and other traditions.
Australian rules football officially known as "Australian
football", and informally as "football", "footy" or "Aussie rules".
In some areas it is referred to as "AFL", the name of the main
organising body and competition
International rules football test
Auskick a version of Australian rules designed by the
match from the 2005 International
AFL for young children
Rules Series between Australia
Metro footy (or Metro rules footy) a modified version
and Ireland at Telstra Dome,
invented by the USAFL, for use on gridiron fields in North
Melbourne, Australia.
American cities (which often lack grounds large enough for
conventional Australian rules matches)
Kick-to-kick informal versions of the game
9-a-side footy a more open, running variety of Australian rules, requiring 18 players in total
and a proportionally smaller playing area (includes contact and non-contact varieties)
Rec footy "Recreational Football", a modified non-contact variation of Australian rules,
created by the AFL, which replaces tackles with tags
Touch Aussie Rules a non-tackle variation of Australian Rules played only in the United
Kingdom
Samoa rules localised version adapted to Samoan conditions, such as the use of rugby football
fields
Masters Australian football (a.k.a. Superules) reduced contact version introduced for
competitions limited to players over 30 years of age
Women's Australian rules football women's competition played with a smaller ball and

(sometimes) reduced contact

Gaelic football Played predominantly in Ireland. Commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic"
Ladies Gaelic football
International rules football a compromise code used for games between Gaelic and Australian Rules
players

Surviving medieval ball games

Inside the UK
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
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
In Scotland the Ba game ("Ball Game") is still popular around Christmas and Hogmanay at:
Duns, Berwickshire
Scone, Perthshire
Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands
Outside the UK
Calcio Fiorentino a modern revival of Renaissance football from 16th century Florence.
la Soule a modern revival of French medieval football
lelo burti a Georgian traditional football game

Surviving UK school games

Games still played at UK public (independent) schools:
Eton field game
Eton wall game
Harrow football
Winchester College football

Recent inventions and hybrid games

Keepie uppie (keep up) the art of juggling with a football
Harrow football players after a game
using the feet, knees, chest, shoulders, and head.
at Harrow School (circa 2005).
Footbag several variations using a small bean bag or
sand bag as a ball, the trade marked term hacky sack is
sometimes used as a generic synonym.
Freestyle football participants are graded for their entertainment value and expression of skill.
Based on FA rules
Three sided football
Triskelion

Based on rugby
Force em backs a.k.a. forcing back, forcemanback
Hybrid games
Austus a compromise between Australian rules and American football, invented in Melbourne
during World War II.
Bossaball mixes Association football and volleyball and gymnastics; played on inflatables and
trampolines.
Cycle ball a sport similar to association football played on bicycles
Footvolley mixes Association football and beach volleyball; played on sand
Football tennis mixes Association football and tennis
Kickball a hybrid of Association football and baseball, invented in the United States in about 1942.
Speedball a combination of American football, soccer, and basketball, devised in the United States
in 1912.
Universal football a hybrid of Australian rules and rugby league, trialled in Sydney in 1933.[120]
Volata a game resembling Association football and European handball, devised by Italian fascist
leader, Augusto Turati, in the 1920s.
Wheelchair rugby also known as Murderball, invented in Canada in 1977. Based on ice hockey and
basketball rather than rugby.
Note: although similar to football and volleyball in some aspects, Sepak takraw has ancient origins and
cannot be considered a hybrid game.

Tabletop games, video games and other recreations

Based on Association football
Subbuteo
Blow football
Table football also known as foosball, table soccer, babyfoot, bar football or gettone
Fantasy football (soccer)
Button football also known as Futebol de Mesa, Jogo de Botes
Penny football
FIFA Video Games Series
Pro Evolution Soccer
Mario Strikers
Lego Football
Based on American football
Paper football
Blood Bowl
Fantasy football (American)
Madden NFL
Based on Australian football
AFL video game series
List of AFL video games

Based on Rugby League football

Sidhe's Rugby League series
Rugby League 3
Australian Rugby League

See also
Football field (unit of length)
List of types of football
List of players who have converted from one football code to another
Names for association football
1601 to 1725 in sports: Football
Footgolf
Underwater football

Notes
1. Reilly, Thomas; Gilbourne, D. (2003). "Science and football: a review of applied research in the football code".
Journal of Sports Science. 21: 693705. doi:10.1080/0264041031000102105.
2. "Editorial: Soccer or should we say football must change". 12 June 2014. "New Zealanders on the way to their
local rugby grounds should still be talking of "going to the football""
3. "History of Rugby in Australia". Rugby Football History. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
4. Bailey, Steven (1995). "Living Sports History: Football at Winchester, Eton and Harrow". The Sports Historian. 15
(1): 3453. doi:10.1080/17460269508551675.
5. Perkin, Harold (1989). "Teaching the nations how to play: sport and society in the British empire and
commonwealth". The International Journal of the History of Sport. 6 (2): 145155.
doi:10.1080/09523368908713685.
6. Reilly, Thomas; Doran, D. (2001). "Science and Gaelic football: A revie". Journal of Sports Sciences. 19 (3): 181
193. doi:10.1080/026404101750095330.
7. Bale, J. (2002). Sports Geography. Taylor & Francis. p. 43. ISBN 0-419-25230-4.
8. Douge, Brian (2011). "Football: the common threads between the games". Science and Football (Second ed.).
Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 319. ISBN 978-0-415-50911-4.
9. Association, The Football. "Law 1: The Field of Play - Football Rules & Governance | The FA". www.thefa.com.
Retrieved 2015-09-27.
10. "Football". Etymology Online. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
11. (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3De%29p
i%2Fskuros), Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
12. The New Encyclopdia Britannica, 2007 Edition: "In ancient Greece a game with elements of football, episkuros, or
harpaston, was played, and it had migrated to Rome as harpastum by the 2nd century BC".
13. (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dfaini%2
Fnda^), Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
14. Nigel Wilson, Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece, Routledge, 2005, p. 310
15. Nigel M. Kennell, The Gymnasium of Virtue: Education and Culture in Ancient Sparta (Studies in the History of
Greece and Rome), The University of North Carolina Press, 1995, on Google Books (http://books.google.com/books
?id=u_eAP7wN5XUC&pg=PA61&dq=episkuros+rugby&cd=16#v=onepage&q=episkuros%20rugby&f=false)
16. Steve Craig, Sports and Games of the Ancients: (Sports and Games Through History), Greenwood, 2002, on Google
Books (http://books.google.com/books?id=KKlSSRq-P2QC&pg=PA104&dq=phaininda+rugby&cd=2#v=onepage&
q=phaininda%20rugby&f=false)
17. Don Nardo, Greek and Roman Sport, Greenhaven Press, 1999, p. 83
18. Sally E. D. Wilkins, Sports and games of medieval cultures, Greenwood, 2002, on Google books (http://books.googl
e.com/books?id=IyFHvy-SCIYC&pg=PA214&dq=episkuros+rugby&cd=2#v=onepage&q=episkuros%20rugby&f=f
alse)
19. E. Norman Gardiner: "Athletics in the Ancient World", Courier Dover Publications, 2002, ISBN 0-486-42486-3,

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A gripping Greek derby - FIFA.com (http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/clubs/rivalries/newsid=2026693/index.html
)
FIFA History of Football (http://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/who-we-are/the-game/index.html)
Allen Guttmann, Lee Austin Thompson (2001). Japanese sports: a history. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 2627.
ISBN 9780824824648. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
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west/chapter8.html), University of Adelaide, December 29, 2003
From William Blandowski's Australien in 142 File:Photographischen Abbildungen, 1857, (Haddon Library, Faculty
of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge)
Historia Brittonum (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/nennius-full.asp) at the Medieval Sourcebook.
Ruff, Julius (2001). Violence in Early Modern Europe 15001800. Cambridge University Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0521-59894-1.
Jusserand, Jean-Jules. (1901). Le sport et les jeux d'exercice dans l'ancienne France. Retrieved January 11, 2008,
from http://agora.qc.ca/reftext.nsf/Documents/Football-Le_sport_et_les_jeux_dexercice_dans_lancienne_France__La_soule_par_Jean-Jules_Jusserand (French)
Dunning, Eric (1999). Sport Matters: Sociological Studies of Sport, Violence and Civilisation. Routledge. p. 89.
ISBN 978-0-415-09378-1.
Dunning, Eric (1999). Sport Matters: Sociological Studies of Sport, Violence and Civilisation. Routledge. p. 88.
ISBN 978-0-415-09378-1.
Baker, William (1988). Sports in the Western World. University of Illinois Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-252-06042-7.
Stephen Alsford, FitzStephen's Description of London (http://www.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/florilegium/introductio
n/intro01.html#p25), Florilegium Urbanum, April 5, 2006
Francis Peabody Magoun, 1929, "Football in Medieval England and Middle-English literature" (The American
Historical Review, v. 35, No. 1).
"Irish inventions: fact and fiction". Carlow-nationalist.ie. Retrieved 2012-04-16.
Derek Birley (Sport and The Making of Britain). 1993. Manchester University Press. p. 32. 978-0719037597
Derek Baker (England in the Later Middle Ages). 1995. Boydell & Brewer. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-85115-648-4
"Online Etymology Dictionary (no date), "football" ". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
Vivek Chaudhary, "Who's the fat bloke in the number eight shirt?" (http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1150460,
00.html) (The Guardian, February 18, 2004.)
Anniina Jokinen, Sir Philip Sidney. "A Dialogue Between Two Shepherds" (http://www.luminarium.org/editions/sidn
eydialogue.htm) (Luminarium.org, July 2006)
Richard, Carew. "EBook of The Survey of Cornwall". Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
Magee, Jonathan; Caudwell, Jayne; Liston, Kate; Scraton, Sheila, eds. (2007). Women, Football and Europe:
Histories, Equity and Experience. International Football Institute Series. 1. Meyer & Meyer Sport.
ISBN 9781841262253.
A history of Winchester College. by Arthur F Leach. Duckworth, 1899 ISBN 1-4446-5884-0
"2003, "Richard Mulcaster" ". Footballnetwork.org. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
Francis Peabody Magoun. (1938) History of football from the beginnings to 1871. p.27. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
Francis Willughby, 166072, ''Book of Games''. Books.google.co.uk. 2003. ISBN 978-1-85928-460-5. Retrieved
2010-06-19.
Julian Carosi, 2006, "The History of Offside" (http://www.kenaston.org/download/KenAstonRefereeSociety/offside_
history-JulianCarosi.pdf)
Cox, Richard William; Russell, Dave; Vamplew, Wray (2002). Encyclopedia of British Football. Routledge. p. 243.
ISBN 978-0-7146-5249-8.
example of ball handling in early football from English writer William Hone, writing in 1825 or 1826, quotes the
social commentator Sir Frederick Morton Eden, regarding "Foot-Ball", as played at Scone, Scotland:
The game was this: he who at any time got the ball into his hands, run [sic] with it till overtaken by one of the
opposite part; and then, if he could shake himself loose from those on the opposite side who seized him, he
run on; if not, he threw the ball from him, unless it was wrested from him by the other party, but no person
was allowed to kick it. (William Hone, 182526, The Every-Day Book, "February 15." (http://www.uab.edu/e
nglish/hone/etexts/edb/day-pages/046-february15.html) Access date: March 15, 2007.)

49. ABC Radio National Ockham's Razor, first broadcast 6 June 2010.
50. THE SURREY CLUB Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle (London, England), Sunday, October 07, 1849;
pg. 6. New Readerships

51. Football: The First Hundred Years. The Untold Story. Adrian Harvey. 2005. Routledge, London
52. John Hope, Accounts and papers of the football club kept by John Hope, WS, and some Hope Correspondence 1787
1886 (National Archives of Scotland, GD253/183)
53. "The Foot-Ball Club in Edinburgh, 18241841 The National Archives of Scotland". Nas.gov.uk. 2007-11-13.
Retrieved 2010-06-19.
54. "Rugby chronology". Museum of Rugby. Retrieved April 24, 2006.
55. "History of the Royal Caledonian Society of Melbourne". Electricscotland.com. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
56. Soccer Ball World Early History (http://www.soccerballworld.com/History.htm#Early). Retrieved June 9, 2006.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20060616030554/http://www.soccerballworld.com/History.htm#Early) June
16, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
57. The exact name of Mr Lindon is in dispute, as well as the exact timing of the creation of the inflatable bladder. It is
known that he created this for both association and rugby footballs. However, sites devoted to football indicate he
was known as HJ Lindon (http://www.richardlindon.com), who was actually Richards Lindon's son, and created the
ball in 1862 (ref: Soccer Ball World (http://www.soccerballworld.com/History.htm)), whereas rugby sites refer to
him as Richard Lindon creating the ball in 1870 (ref: Guardian article (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,16
99545,00.html)). Both agree that his wife died when inflating pig's bladders. This information originated from web
sites which may be unreliable, and the answer may only be found in researching books in central libraries.
58. soccerballworld.com, (no date) "Charles Goodyear's Soccer Ball" (http://www.soccerballworld.com/Oldestball.htm)
Downloaded 30/11/06.
59. Scots invented beautiful game (http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-news/edinburgh-east-fife/scots_invented_be
autiful_game_1_1121849) The Scotsman, 14 June 2006
60. Magoun, Francis Peabody (1938). History of football from the beginnings to 1871. Published by H. Pppinghaus
61. Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle (London, England), Sunday, January 13, 1839. New Readerships
62. Blackwood's Magazine, Published by W. Blackwood, 1862, page 563
63. Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle (London, England), Saturday, January 07, 1865; Issue 2,229: "The
Sheffield party, however, eventually took a lead, and through some scientific movements of Mr J Wild, scored a goal
amid great cheering"
64. Bell's life in london, November 26, 1865, issue 2275: "We cannot help recording the really scientific play with which
the Sheffield men backed each other up
65. Wall, Sir Frederick (2005). 50 Years of Football, 18841934. Soccer Books Limited. ISBN 1-86223-116-8.
66. [Cox, Richard (2002) The encyclopaedia of British Football, Routledge, United Kingdom]
67. Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 18 December 1869
68. Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 5 November 1870, issue 2
69. Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 18 November 1871, issue 2, 681
70. Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 17 February 1872, issue 2694
71. The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), Wednesday, March 20, 1872; Issue 8226
72. Murphy, Brendan (2007). From Sheffield with Love. Sports Book Limited. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-899807-56-7.
73. Association Football, chapter by CW Alcock, The English Illustrated Magazine 1891, page 287
74. Harvey, Adrian (2005). Football, the First Hundred Years. Routledge. pp. 273, ref 34119. ISBN 0-415-35019-0.
75. Csanadi Arpad, Hungerian coaching manual "Soccer", Corvina, Budapest 1965
76. Wilson Jonathon, Inverting the pyramid: a History of Football Tactics, Orion, 2008
77. "Football Association tribute to the Cambridge Rules". Retrieved 5 January 2015.
78. Harvey, Adrian (2005). Football, the First Hundred Years. Routledge. pp. 9599. ISBN 0-415-35019-0.
79. Murphy, Brendan (2007). From Sheffield with Love. Sports Book Limited. pp. 4143. ISBN 978-1-899807-56-7.
80. "Letter from Tom Wills". MCG website. Archived from the original on June 25, 2006. Retrieved 2006-07-14.
81. "The Origins of Australian Rules Football". MCG website. Archived from the original on June 11, 2007. Retrieved
2007-06-22.
82. Hibbins, Gillian; Mancini, Anne (1987). Running with the Ball: Football's Foster Father. Lynedoch Publications.
pp. 118119. ISBN 0-7316-0481-4.
83. Peter Shortell. Hacking a history (http://clubs.rfu.com/Clubs/portals/cornwallreferees/ThoughtsforRefs6667.aspx),
Cornwall Referees Society (http://clubs.rfu.com/Clubs/portals/cornwallreferees/CRRSHistory6515.aspx) Archived (
https://web.archive.org/web/20080303044805/http://clubs.rfu.com/Clubs/portals/cornwallreferees/CRRSHistory6515
.aspx) March 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine., 2 October 2006
84. "soccer, n". Oxford English Dictionary. June 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
85. Meacham, Scott (2006). "Old Division Football, The Indigenous Mob Soccer Of Dartmouth College (pdf)" (PDF).
dartmo.com. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
86. "No Christian End!" (PDF). The Journey to Camp: The Origins of American Football to 1889. Professional Football

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Researchers Association. Retrieved 2010-01-26.

Allaway, Roger (2001). "Were the Oneidas playing soccer or not?". The USA Soccer History Archives. Dave Litterer.
Retrieved 2007-05-15.
"Canadian Football Timelines (1860 present)". Football Canada. Archived from the original on February 28, 2007.
Retrieved 2006-12-23.
"Timeline 1860s". Official Site of the Canadian Football League. Canadian Football League. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
"The History of Football". The History of Sports. Saperecom. 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
"1800s". Rutgers Through The Years. Rutgers University. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
"No Christian End! The Beginnings of Football in America" (PDF). The Professional Football Researchers
Association.
"History CFL.ca Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
"gridiron football (sport)". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. britannica.com. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
"Camp and His Followers: American Football 18761889" (PDF). The Journey to Camp: The Origins of American
Football to 1889. Professional Football Researchers Association. Retrieved 2010-01-26.
Bennett, Tom (1976). The Pro Style: The Complete Guide to Understanding National Football League Strategy. Los
Angeles: National Football League Properties, Inc., Creative Services Division. p. 20.
Watterson, John (2001). "Tiny Maxwell and the Crisis of 1905: The Making of a Gridiron Myth" (PDF). College
Football Historical Society. LA 84 Foundation: 5457.
Vancil, Mark (Ed.) (2000). ABC Sports College Football All-Time All-America Team. New York: Hyperion Books.
p. 18. ISBN 0-7868-6710-8.
http://greycup.cfl.ca/page/grey-cup-history-timeline-1900 History of the Grey Cup
CFL.ca History, Timeline, 1920 (http://www.cfl.ca/page/his_timeline_1920)
"The governing body is the "Fdration de soccer du Qubec" ". Federation-soccer.qc.ca. Retrieved 2012-04-16.
Stories Soccer to become football in Australia (http://www.smh.com.au/news/Soccer/Soccer-to-become-football-inAustralia/2004/12/16/1102787198357.html?from=more) (SMH.com.au. December 17, 2004) "ASA chairman Frank
Lowy said the symbolic move would bring Australia into line with the vast majority of other countries which call the
sport football."
"NZ Football The Local Name Of The Global Game". NZFootball.co.nz. April 27, 2006. Archived from the
original on 22 September 2009. "The international game is called football and were part of the international game so
the game in New Zealand should be called football"
"new name & logo for Samoan football". Sportingpulse.com. 2009-11-28. Retrieved 2012-04-16.
"Football progress in Samoa". Samoaobserver.ws. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012.
"FIFA Survey: approximately 250 million footballers worldwide" (PDF). FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on
15 September 2006. Retrieved 15 September 2006.
"2006 FIFA World Cup broadcast wider, longer and farther than ever before". FIFA. 6 February 2007. Retrieved
11 October 2009.
Mueller, Frederick; Cantu, Robert; Van Camp, Steven (1996). "Team Sports". Catastrophic Injuries in High School
and College Sports. Champaign: Human Kinetics. p. 57. ISBN 0-87322-674-7. "Soccer is the most popular sport in
the world and is an industry worth over US$400 billion world wide. 80% of this is generated in Europe, though its
popularity is growing in the United States. It has been estimated that there were 22 million soccer players in the
world in the early 1980s, and that number is increasing. In the United States soccer is now a major sport at both the
high school and college levels"
"As American as Mom, Apple Pie and Football?". Harris Interactive. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
Peralta, Eyder (2 February 2015). "Super Bowl XLIX Was Most Watched Show In TV History". NPR. Retrieved
18 June 2015.
"4174.0 Sports Attendance, Australia, April 1999". Abs.gov.au. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
"4174.0 Sports Attendance, Australia, 200506". Abs.gov.au. Archived from the original on 14 March 2010.
Retrieved 19 February 2010.
"The Social Significance of Sport" (PDF). The Economic and Social Research Institute. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
"Initiative's latest ViewerTrack study shows that in Ireland GAA and soccer still dominate the sporting arena,
while globally the Super Bowl was the most watched sporting event of 2005". Finfacts.com. Retrieved 17 October
2011.
The first game of American football is widely cited as a game played on November 6, 1869, between two college
teams, Rutgers and Princeton. But the game was played under rules based on the association football rules of the
time. During the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby code.
In 1845, the first rules of rugby were written by Rugby School pupils. But various rules of rugby had existed until the
foundation of the Rugby Football Union in 1871.
There are Canadian rules [1] (http://footballcanada.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/FlagRB_secure.pdf)

established by Football Canada. Apart from this, there are also rules [2] (http://ifaf.org/pdf/documents/rules/ifaf_flag
_rules_2015.pdf) established by IFAF.
118. Some historians support the theory that the primary influence was rugby football and other games emanating from
English public schools. On the other hand, there are also historians who support the theory that Australian rules
football and Gaelic Football have some common origins. See Origins of Australian rules football.
119. Summers, Mark. "The Disability Football Directory".
120. Fagan, Sean (2006). "Breaking The Codes". RL1908.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2006.

References
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Perspectives; Special Issue, Historical Social Research 31, no. 1. 312 pages.
Green, Geoffrey (1953); The History of the Football Association; Naldrett Press, London
Mandelbaum, Michael (2004); The Meaning of Sports; Public Affairs, ISBN 1-58648-252-1
Williams, Graham (1994); The Code War; Yore Publications, ISBN 1-874427-65-8
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Football&oldid=733422523"
Categories: Ball games Football Sports originating in England 19th-century introductions
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