Who invented the game of football?

(17) On February 1, 2012 at 8:56 pm Aawade [0] said:

@ Adrian Roebuck, That is some very full research but i have to pull you up on a little some thing. You say

"Some of the codes and concepts introduced by Rugby and other public schools in England would later be used to create Cambridge Rules football, American Football, Association Football (soccer) and Australian Rules football. Gaelic Football is much older that the aforementioned games and is one of the family of medieval ball game which evolved independently of Rugby although is should be noted is connected from medieval times and contributed to the rules of Australian Rules Football which also draw upon the rules of Association Football."

As far as it is known, there was very little influence from the irish game on australian rules - See the rather excellent "The National Game : The History of Australian Rules football, Hess et al" for details. And furthermore, by the time the Football Association codified its rules in 1863, Australian Rules (or Melbourne or Victorian Rules as it was known then) had been codified for 5 years - albeit in a broadly unrecognisable way.

All of which longwinded wittering brings me to the real reason for this post. I have been reading through the original Football Association rules from 1863, which are as follows :

The Football Association Laws of 1863 as published in Bell's Life in London for approval on 5 December 1863:

* The maximum length of the ground shall be 200 yards (180 m), the maximum breadth shall be 100 yards (91 m), the length and breadth shall be marked off with flags; and the goal shall be defined by two upright posts, eight yards (7 m) apart, without any tape or bar across them.

* A toss for goals shall take place, and the game shall be commenced by a place kick from the centre of the ground by the side losing the toss for goals; the other side shall not approach within 10 yards (9.1 m) of the ball until it is kicked off.

* After a goal is won, the losing side shall be entitled to kick off, and the two sides shall change goals after each goal is won.

* A goal shall be won when the ball passes between the goal-posts or over the space between the goal-posts (at whatever height), not being thrown, knocked on, or carried.

* When the ball is in touch, the first player who touches it shall throw it from the point on the boundary line where it left the ground in a direction at right angles with the boundary line, and the ball shall not be in play until it has touched the ground.

* When a player has kicked the ball, any one of the same side who is nearer to the opponent's goal line is out of play, and may not touch the ball himself, nor in any way whatever prevent any other player from doing so, until he is in play; but no player is out of play when the ball is kicked off from behind the goal line.

* In case the ball goes behind the goal line, if a player on the side to whom the goal belongs first touches the ball, one of his side shall be entitled to a free kick from the goal line at the point opposite the place where the ball shall be touched. If a player of the opposite side first touches the ball, one of his side shall be entitled to a free kick at the goal only from a point 15 yards (14 m) outside the goal line, opposite the place where the ball is touched, the opposing side standing within their goal line until he has had his kick.

* If a player makes a fair catch, he shall be entitled to a free kick, providing he claims it by making a mark with his heel at once; and in order to take such kick he may go back as far as he pleases, and no player on the opposite side shall advance beyond his mark until he has kicked.

* No player shall run with the ball.

* Neither tripping nor hacking shall be allowed, and no player shall use his hands to hold or push his adversary.

* A player shall not be allowed to throw the ball or pass it to another with his hands.

* No player shall be allowed to take the ball from the ground with his hands under any pretence whatever while it is in play.

* No player shall be allowed to wear projecting nails, iron plates, or gutta-percha[2] on the soles or heels of his boots.

It seems to me that the rules here state that you may not throw the ball or hand it over or pick the ball up from the ground, but you may catch it and presumably gather it on the bounce as long as you immediatly kick it on. So - does anyone know when all and any handling of the ball was disallowed in soccer for the outfield players?

(16) On February 17, 2011 at 10:09 am Adrian Roebuck [17] said:

Mob football also known as folk football or Shrovetide football is a ball game which originated in Medieval England. The word 'football' is from the English language and the earliest known record of the written word was by Henry IV in 1409 'foteball'. Strongly associated with Easter, it was one of many similar games played around the same time in the UK and neighbouring countries under different names taken from their cultural languages. Due to the lack of 1st millennium AD records in the UK and neighbouring countries the exact age of these games is as yet unknown. Some historians have theorized that they are a Christian adaptation of pagan ball games associated with fertility rites.

(15) On February 10, 2011 at 7:24 pm Onechicken [1] said:

i'm doing an essay and need to know who invented mob football during 500A.D. to 1500A.D. Can anyone help????

(14) On December 30, 2010 at 5:13 pm Marcia1061 [878] said:

Part of answer restored, wrong part deleted.

(13) On December 29, 2010 at 7:04 pm Marcia1061 [878] said:

Large portions of main page deleted due to plagiarism.

(12) On October 5, 2010 at 12:31 pm Adrian Roebuck [17] said:

Part 2. After this I decided to start researching the origins of medieval ball games played in Europe which are known to have collectively contributed to the evolution of football. I wanted to find out if medieval foot ball games could be connected to the Roman game Harpastum. The games I researched were the ball game played in Northern French known as La Soule “The Ball”, Mob football played in England, Cornish Hurling, Welsh Hurling, Gaelic football, Irish Hurling and Shrovetide football which was played in many European countries in medieval times. All these games have similar rules (if any rules) two teams, two goals (such as they were) and were played within a defined area. All these games have similarities to Harpastum but the one that stands our above the rest is Cornish Hurling.

It is now my belief that the Roman games Harpastum and Cornish Hurling (Hyrlîan in Cornish Celtic) are one and the same game. The game of Hurling is of Celtic origin and the Cornish are decadence of the Romano-Britons who are known to have played Harpastum. The rules of Harpastum are ambiguous but what we do know from the concepts used include a small hard ball, two goals (such as they were), two teams. Cornish Hurling also uses small hard ball, two goals, two teams and virtually no rules which might account for the reason detailed rules of Harpastum have not survived. Harpastum and Cornish Hurling were/are also played on public holidays notably days of Christian importance such as Shrovetide. And it was of course the Romans who converted the Romano-Britons to Christianity which also ties in. I accept that this theory does not provide absolute proof of a connection between Harpastum and Cornish Hurling. Due to very few first millennium AD documents surviving it is unlikely definitive proof exist. However, when you take an overall view on this I have identified decedents of Romano-Britons who live in the right place, who cary on traditions from generation to generation, playing a similar ball game to the Romans, using a similar small hard ball as the Romans, with the same disregard for safety as the Romans and who are celebrating Christian festivals in a way the Romans did. I would liken this to what Douglas Adams once said “If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands”. At the very least there is a tangible theory here which connects Harpastum with modern day forms of football which is more than can be for Cuju. I will leave it there for you to decide for yourself.

We know Cornish Hurling was one of the similar medieval ball games which contributed to the creation of early Rugby games. Some of the codes and concepts introduced by Rugby and other public schools in England would later be used to create Cambridge Rules football, American Football, Association Football (soccer) and Australian Rules football. Gaelic Football is much older that the aforementioned games and is one of the family of medieval ball game which evolved independently of Rugby although is should be noted is connected from medieval times and contributed to the rules of Australian Rules Football which also draw upon the rules of Association Football. So when UEFA placed an image of a Greek Episkyros player taken on the European Cup there were right to do so because all the evidence points to football originating in Ancient Greece 4000 years ago.

Note: Marcia1061 moved this to the answer of "Who invented the game of football?"

(11) On October 5, 2010 at 12:30 pm Adrian Roebuck [17] said:

Part 1. When I first heard FIFA’s claim soccer originated in China I was intrigued by the idea. Like many others I believed what FIFA said must be true. As a football fan I was keen to read the evidence they hand uncovered. I already knew that Association Football, American Football, Rugby Union Football, Rugby League Football, Australian Rules football and Gaelic football all evolved from medieval ball games played Europe, but prior to this I had no idea where football came from.

I decided to read up on this new FIFA discovery. One problem I encountered straight away was that when looking for this proof FIFA claimed to have uncovered I could not find any! I then discovered FIFA had only put together a hypothesis that the British community who lived in China during the 19th centaury had taken Cuju back to England where it was used as a basis for Association Football. FIFA found no evidence to back up this colonialist idea and the more they looked the more they discovered their idea had no basis in fact, yet they still clamed “scientific evidence”.

I decided to take a look at this so called ‘scientific evidence’. What I found was a cleverly worded opinion by a self appointed FIFA authority who implied there was a scientific connection between Cuju and Soccer and who wrote in a way that any casual reader would be seduced into thinking they were reading proof when in fact they were reading theory. Around the same time it became clear FIFA were aggressively pushing the sale of their football product in China. That is when the alarm bells started to ring and I realised there might be an ulterior motive to why FIFA were going to so much trouble. It should be noted that the Football Association in England who are promoting their Premiership product in China were happy to capitulate with FIFA accepting as a gift a Chinese picture of a Cuju player whilst smiling for the cameras. Meanwhile back in the real world despite anything FIFA have said the rules of Association Football remain a reworked version of Cambridge Rules Football which themselves were a hybrid of many games which had been played in English and some Irish public schools for hundreds of years. That is a verifiable and unchanged.

Later on I read an article where the FIFA President clamed Cuju spread from China to the Roman Empire. Clearly being unable to connect Cuju directly to Soccer through British colonialist FIFA had changed their story. I looked for the evidence to support this new claim. The Roman ball in question is called Harpastum. What I discovered is that Harpastum was the Romanised version of an Ancient Greek football game called Phaininda or Episkyros played as early as 2000 BC some 1300 - 1700 years before Cuju is appeared in China. Incredibly it would seem FIFA were trying to change known European history by substituting the Greek game of Episkyros with the Chinese game of Cuju. I conclude FIFA’s claim that football originated in China literally does not add up in time frame or otherwise. I believe this theory has now been abandoned by FIFA although the importance of the Greek and Roman contribution to all forms of modern football is still played down by them. I have looked at Cuju and there in no doubt the game agrees with the definition of a foot ball game. However, short of FIFA providing evidence there is a connection with Cuju and the foot ball games played in medieval Europe, the only possible conclusion is that Cuju developed in south east Asia free of outside influence and as such has to be viewed as a sport in it’s own right which from first principles developed independently.

Note: Marcia1061 moved this to the answer of "Who invented the game of football?"

(10) On June 1, 2010 at 3:46 pm Stewiegriff95 [2] said:

What was their names??????

(9) On April 13, 2010 at 8:16 pm Ksdy-aa [0] said:

what was the guys name that invented SOCCER!?!?!?!?

(8) On November 10, 2009 at 2:24 pm Kasib [0] said:

my name is bad and i'm very bad kasib

(7) On November 10, 2009 at 2:23 pm Kasib [0] said:

my name is kasib

(6) On November 10, 2009 at 12:29 pm Btrevoryoung [646] said:

First of all, because of the category in which this question is placed, it is CLEAR that the the question is about AMERICAN football, not soccer. So all of the soccer answers need to be deleted.

Second, soccer is such a ridiculously uncomplicated and simple-minded game that, even if one particular person could have been said to have "invented" it, such an invention would not have been remarkable at all. I mean, it's so simple, a 5-year-old child could have invented it. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's what happened. After all, who over the age of 5 could possibly think that this was entertaining, either to play or to watch?

Might as well ask who invented running.

(5) On October 11, 2008 at 11:03 am BruceL [308] said:

Note: BruceL changed "Who invented the game of football?" to "Who invented the game of English football?".

See the Discussion for "Who invented the game of English football?"

(4) On October 9, 2008 at 8:10 am BruceL [308] said:

Note: BruceL merged "Who invented soccer?" into "Who invented the game of football?".

See the Discussion for "Who invented soccer?"

(3) On May 21, 2007 at 5:08 pm Padre [30] said:

this is easy to answer. I have been researching rugby for many years and conclusivelely rugby has been developed from the Maori game called Ki-o-Rahi.

You may not know the ins and outs of ki-o-rahi being appropriated from the noble Maori people but there it is, pure and simple.

American football as we know it came from rugby rules, and rugby rules in turn originated from combining the Maori game attributes of passing and running with the ball in hand, swerving and dodging with ball in hand and sleight of hand ball passing with the Public School ball game rules which consisted of grubber kicking the ball and shin kicking and mauls.

(2) On June 6, 2006 at 8:20 pm 71.115.122.154 said:

who invented the very first football

(1) On May 31, 2006 at 3:34 pm 169.241.10.83 said:

What is the name of the person who invented football

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