History Of Football

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Bùi Thúy Huệ 09E3 Football’s past In the early 19th century, football was very popular in the top private schools in England. Initially, each school had its own rules and while the pupils were still at school the fact that they played by these particular rules hardly mattered. When, however, they left for the universities or for business in the provinces, it became clear that if they were to continue playing football they were going to need a universal set of rules, acceptable to all teams. Up until the 1850s, two teams at, say, Oxford University, would only be playing a familiar game if every player had been to the same school. As things turned out, a major game was often preceded by a long correspondence with lengthy arguments about the rules. Was handling to be allowed? How many players on each side? How long should the pitch be? How wide the goals? Would carrying the ball be permitted? (‘yes’, would say all the ex-pupils of Rugby school; ‘No’, would say almost everyone else). And even when the game got under way, confusion and protests would necessitate long midfield conferences between the two captains. In time it became usual for the ex-Rugby students and their small but growing company of followers from other schools to play ‘rugby’ football on their own and for the others to come to some agreement over the rules of the more popular version. Few of these early codes of rules have come down to us completely, but snatches from them five a clear idea of the patterns of the early game, and in particularly how boring it must have been to stand in the cold and watch. The first serious attempts at laying down the rules of football were made at Cambridge University in 1848 and these were adapted and tightened up twice in the 1850s. Then in November 1862 the Cambridge Rules were revised yet again and specified 11-a-side, an umpire from

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