Football to 1900

In England at the beginning of the 19th century, some form of order was beginning to be imposed on what had for centuries been a chaotic pastime played not so much by teams as by mobs. This form of football, known more politely as "folk football", was essentially a public holiday event. Shrove Tuesday was a traditional day for games across the country. It is generally thought that the games were free for alls with no holds barred and extremely violent. As for kicking and handling of the ball, it is certain that both means of moving the ball towards the goals were in use.

Public school variations

It was at this time that the public schools began to devise their own versions of football, rules of which were verbally agreed and handed down over many years. Each school (e.g., Eton, Harrow, Rugby and Winchester) had its own variations.

1823 is the traditional date of the William Webb Ellis legend. He was the Rugby School pupil of whom it is said:

with a fine disregard for the rules of football, (he) took the ball in his hands and ran with it

Even if the tale is true, the game must have been a version of folk football with rules that had been verbally agreed by the Rugby School pupils. Such rules were always open to challenge and it may be that an incident like this did occur with the result that a "dribbling game" became primarily a handling one.

In 1838, another pupil at Rugby School called Jem Mackie was noted for his "running in" ability and this is understood to have been the equivalent of try scoring, which is evidence of a distinct "handling game". The following year, a former Rugby School pupil, Albert Pell, began organising football matches at Cambridge University. Because of the different school variations, a compromise set of rules had to be found. This was the origin of the famous Cambridge Rules created in 1848. Meanwhile, it is claimed that Barnes RFC was founded in 1839 but there is no actual evidence. If the claim is true, Barnes is the world's oldest football club in all codes. Rugby School was definitely playing a handling game by 1841.

A set of written rules is believed to have been in existence at Eton College in 1843. These allowed handling of the ball to control it, but not running with it in the hand and not passing it by hand. The first known 11-a-side games took place at Eton. It was almost certainly because of cricket that they decided to have 11 players in a team. Also in 1843, Guy's Hospital RFC was founded by staff and students of the famous medical school in London. It is today believed to be a constituent of Guy's, Kings and St Thomas' Rugby Football Club which therefore claims to be the world's oldest football club in any code (subject to the 1839 claim by Barnes). This claim is contested due to doubts about the club's continuous existence between 1843 and 1883. Guy's is now a rugby union club, playing at Honor Oak Park in Brockley and currently operates in rugby union's London League.

In 1845, a written version of the Rugby School Football Rules allowed the ball to be carried and passed by hand. These rules are the earliest that are definitely known to have been written and they were a major step in the evolution of the handling game to rugby league and rugby union; and subsequently to Australian rules football, American football, Gaelic football and other codes in which the ball is primarily handled. The Rugby School rules made a clear distinction between the handling and dribbling games.

Dribbling can be defined as running with the ball at one's feet.

Although Eton allowed the ball to be touched and controlled by hand, it did not allow running with the ball in the hand or passing of the ball by hand. So, whereas Rugby School effectively created the first "handling game" rules, Eton probably created the earliest "dribbling game" rules. By 1845, Eton had introduced referees and linesmen, though the latter were at the time called umpires, another legacy of cricket.

In 1847, another set of public school rules was created at Harrow which, like Eton, played the dribbling game.

Written rules and the early clubs

The original Cambridge University Rules were written by students in 1848 who were still confused by different rules operating at the various schools. Besides Rugby, Eton and Harrow there were also rules of a sort in place at Winchester, Shrewsbury and elsewhere. Cambridge was the first attempt at codifying the rules of what became association football (i.e., the dribbling game) as distinct from rugby football. Unfortunately, no copy of the original Cambridge Rules has survived. The essential difference in the two codes was always that association football did not allow a player to run with the ball in his hands or pass it by hand to a colleague. However, the earliest rules did allow players to touch and control the ball by hand.

The period from the mid-1850s to the 1870s saw the foundation of many famous clubs in British and Irish football. The first was Dublin University Football Club, founded by students at Trinity College in 1854. This is a rugby union club which is still based in the college grounds and playing in the All Ireland league. It is the world's oldest football club in all codes in terms of continuous existence.

The foundation of Sheffield FC, the oldest known association football club, currently playing in the Northern Premier League, took place in 1857. In the same year, Liverpool FC, the rugby union club which is now part of Liverpool St Helens RUFC, was founded. This merged with St Helens RUFC in the 1980s but still claims to be the world's oldest "open" rugby football club (i.e, membership open to all).

Blackheath Rugby Club was founded in 1858 and also claims to be the world's oldest open rugby club, given that Liverpool FC is no longer a single entity. Edinburgh Academicals RFC was founded in the same year and is the oldest football club of any kind in Scotland.

An impromptu team formed in Nottingham c.1862 is understood to have been the original Notts County. Although Notts County, then called Notts FC, was formally constituted on 7 December 1864, the club celebrated its centenary in 1962. It is the oldest club in the Football League.

In 1862, the invention of the India rubber bladder enabled the modern ball to be created with the bladder inside a hard outer casing, at first made of leather. During the days of mob football, the ball in an organised game was often an inflated pig's bladder but in fact it could be made of any material (for example, tin can football is still played now); there were no rules about its size either. In certain games that were somewhat less civilised, such as among soldiers after a battle, human skulls are known to have been used.

The FA

In 1863, the Football Association (the FA) was founded in London by local clubs and the first set of Laws was drafted. They were based mainly on the Cambridge University Rules. An attempt at compromise between the dribbling and handling codes was rejected by the dribblers and so rugby football became in time an entirely separate sport.

Apart from their main purpose of introducing standard rules of play and procedure, the Laws sought to differentiate between association football (as it was now called) and rugby football. The essential difference in the two codes was encapsulated in Laws 9 and 11 which stated that no (outfield) player shall run with the ball (in his hands) and that no (outfield) player shall throw the ball or pass it to another with his hands. The Laws were amended later to clarify the situation at throw-ins and during possession by goalkeepers but the FA was emphatic from the start that "hand ball" was illegal during normal play.

These Laws were originally known as the London Rules because they were only adopted by some London clubs and hardly anywhere else. Several clubs existed in Sheffield at the time and they played to the so-called Sheffield Rules. In 1867, the Sheffield FA was formed and it continued to promote its own set of rules. Gradually the FA, led by Charles Alcock, managed to persuade the clubs that a uniform set of rules was desirable and, after many adaptations and compromises, the FA rules eventually became standard.

The rejection of handling caused the rugby rules clubs and colleges to withdraw from the FA and they eventually founded the Rugby Football Union in 1871.

Nottingham Forest, then called Forest FC, was founded in December 1865 by its parent hockey club. Forest is thus the second oldest club in the Football League. Forest and Notts County played each other twice in the 1865–66 season so any Nottingham derby is the oldest fixture among teams currently playing in major leagues worldwide.

In 1867, Queen's Park was founded in Glasgow and is the oldest association football club in Scotland. It was about this time that tactics first became evident in football with the designation of positions to appropriate players. Fullbacks became recognised as distinct from forwards and halfbacks began to emerge in a sort of "midfield role". Forwards, however, still played in a pack to support the man in possession. Dribbling was the key skill but there was no sign of a passing game to use the full width of the field. Queen's Park was the first team to play a passing game a few years later.

Also in 1867, Sheffield Wednesday, then called The Wednesday, was founded by members of the Wednesday Cricket Club in Sheffield. As was so often the case, a football club was founded by cricketers who needed a winter activity to keep fit. The club name acknowledged that Wednesday was the day on which members took an afternoon off work for practice. Sheffield Wednesday originally played at Bramall Lane, then a multi-sports complex that had originally been opened for cricket in 1854.

In 1869, Sydney University formed the first club in Australia, playing rugby football. A year later, the Nelson rugby football club was the first in New Zealand.

The RFU

In 1870, Alcock's Football Annual listed approximately 75 clubs playing Rugby School football rules, but many of these clubs had different interpretations of the laws as played at Rugby School. In November, an anonymous surgeon wrote to The Times complaining that rugby football is dangerous. The letter fuelled agreement in the sport to form a ruling body which would regulate the laws.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) was established in 1871 to regulate the handling game as a different sport to the dribbling game that was increasingly being played under FA auspices. On 26 January, the RFU was founded at the Pall Mall Restaurant situated near Trafalgar Square in 1 Cockspur Street, London. 21 clubs were represented at the meeting: Blackheath, Richmond, Ravenscourt Park, West Kent, Marlborough Nomads, Wimbledon Hornets, Gipsies, Civil Service, Law Club, Wellington College, Guy's Hospital, Flamingoes, Clapham Rovers, Harlequins, King's College, St Paul's School, Queen's House, Lausanne, Addison, Mohicans and Belsize Park. Algernon Rutter of Richmond was elected the first president. A committee was selected to produce a definitive national set of rugby football laws.

Competitive football

On 27 March 1870, the first ever international fixture in any kind of football took place with a rugby football game between Scotland and England. Scotland (i.e., Scottish members of the RFU) defeated England (i.e., English members of the RFU) by 1 goal & 1 try to 1 try at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh. The match was played by teams of 20-a-side and the game lasted for 50 minutes each way.

The FA took a major step forward in 1871 with the inaugural FA Cup competition, which began with four matches played on 11 November. It marks the beginning of major competitive football. All the teams were amateur and mainly from the London area. They were: Barnes, Civil Service, Clapham Rovers, Crystal Palace (old), Donnington School, Hampstead Heathens, Harrow Chequers, Hitchin, Maidenhead, Marlow, Reigate, Priory, Royal Engineers, Upton Park, The Wanderers and Queen's Park (Glasgow).

The first FA Cup Final took place on 16 March 1872 at Kennington Oval in south London. The Wanderers defeated the Royal Engineers 1–0 with a goal scored by Morton Betts.

The FA ruled that the ball must have a circumference of between 68cm and 71cm. It must be spherical and must consist of an India rubber bladder enclosed within a casing made of leather or another approved material. Also, the ball must weigh at least 396 grams but no more than 453 grams. The prescribed weight is interesting because leather balls were notorious for gaining weight when wet. The weight could almost double if the ball got really soaked.

Glasgow Rangers was formed in west Glasgow in 1872 by four friends and originally called Argyle FC. The first pitch was on common land at Flesher's Haugh, Glasgow Green. The name was changed to Rangers later in the year.

On 30 November 1872, Scotland drew 0–0 with England in Glasgow. This the first-ever association football international in that both teams were selected by their home associations, although strictly speaking the Scottish FA was not formally established until a few months later on 13 March 1873. The Scottish RFU was founded in the same year.

The second FA Cup Final took place at Lillie Bridge, London in 1873 and The Wanderers successfully defended the trophy, winning 2–0 against Oxford University. In 1874, Oxford University went one better and defeated the Royal Engineers 2–0 at Kennington Oval, which became the regular venue for the final with this game. All finals until 1892 were played at The Oval.

The rise of professionalism

At this time, football was a strictly amateur sport, even though many of the people involved in its administration, such as Alcock, were also involved in cricket which had been played by professionals for about 200 years. It would not be long before the popularity of football gave rise to professionalism.

In 1874, Aston Villa was founded by the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel near Aston Park in Birmingham; and Bolton Wanderers was founded as a Sunday School team at Christ Church on Blackburn Street in Bolton.