During the early modern era students, former students and teachers at English public schools developed many unique codes of football. The early modern period is a term used by historians to refer to the period in Western '''Europe''' and its first colonies which spans the three centuries between The most well-known of these is Rugby football. Rugby football (usually just " rugby " may refer to a number of sports through history descended from a common form of Football developed at Rugby School British public school football also influenced directly the rules of Association football. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered

Private schools ("public schools" in the England and Wales) are widely credited with three key achievements in the creation of modern codes of football. An independent school in the United Kingdom is a school relying upon private sources for all of its funding predominantly in the form of school fees History The Roman occupation of Britain was the first period in which the area of present-day England and Wales was administered as a single unit (with the exception Football is the word given to a number of similar Team sports all of which involve (to varying degrees kicking a Ball with the foot in an attempt to score a First, the evidence suggests that, during the 16th century, they transformed the violent and chaotic, but popular "mob football" into organised team sports that were beneficial to schoolboys. Second, many early references to football in literature were recorded by people who had studied at these schools, showing they were familiar with the game. Finally, in the 19th century, former English public school students were the first to write down formal codes of rules in order to enable matches to be played between different schools. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland These versions of football rules were the basis of both the Cambridge Rules and subsequent rules of association football. The Cambridge Rules were a code of football rules first drawn up at Cambridge University in 1848 by a committee that included H The Laws of the Game are the rules governing a game of Association football.

Contents 1 History 1.1 14th century 1.2 15th and 16th centuries 1.3 17th century 1.4 19th century 2 Rugby football 3 Association football 4 Contributions to the rules 4.1 Offside 4.2 Dribbling and passing 4.3 Kicking off from the centre 4.4 Goal crossbar 4.5 Team size 4.6 The football season 4.7 Games between clubs 4.8 Team colours 5 References 6 See also

History

14th century

That ball games were probably played at English public schools from earliest times is suggested by early references to such games being played by students at University. An independent school in the United Kingdom is a school relying upon private sources for all of its funding predominantly in the form of school fees In later centuries there is no doubt that football games played at school were taken by former students to university. The earliest reference to ball games at English Universities comes from 1303 when "Thomas of Salisbury, a student of Oxford University, found his brother Adam dead, and it was alleged that he was killed by Irish students, whilst playing the ball in the High Street towards Eastgate". Salisbury (ˈsɒlzbri ˈsɔːlzbri ('Solzbry' or ˈzɔːwzbri ('Zawzbry' — moving from RP to local dialect) is a cathedral city in the The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the ^[1] The earliest specific reference to football (pila pedalis) at university comes in 1555 when it was outlawed at St John's College, Oxford. __FORCETOC__ St John's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Oxford is currently bidding for the 2010 Wikimania Conference Oxford () is a city, and the County town of Oxfordshire, Similar decrees followed shortly after at Cambridge University. The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the

15th and 16th centuries

The first direct evidence that games probably 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 Horman in 1519. An independent school in the United Kingdom is a school relying upon private sources for all of its funding predominantly in the form of school fees Horman had been headmaster at Eton (1485/6–1494/5) and Winchester College. Eton College, or just Eton, is a world-famous British Independent school for boys founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. Winchester College is a well-known boys' Independent school, and an example of an English Public school, in the city of Winchester in Hampshire His Latin textbook includes a translation exercise with the phrase "We wyll playe with a ball full of wynde". Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Even as early as 1519, Horman shows us that he was well aware of the value of sports to children's education and the need to temper their enthusiasm in order not to affect their studies: "There muste be a measure in gyuynge of remedies or sportynge to chyldren, leste they be wery of goynge to theyr boke if they haue none, or waxe slacke if they haue to many". ^[2]

This conflict was discussed further by Christopher Johnson who was headmaster at Winchester in the 1560s, but clearly remained a dilemma for public school masters right up to modern times. Christopher Johnson mentions the activities which he enjoyed when a scholar at Winchester himself between 1549 and 1553. He says that he: `cared much more for balls, quoits and tops than he did for books and school". ^[2]

Sir Henry Wotton who was at Winchester in the 1560s under Christopher Johnson makes reference to the English word "football" in one of his poems.

Richard Mulcaster, a former student at Eton College and later headmaster at Merchant Taylors' School (1561) and St Paul's School (1596) has been described as "the greatest sixteenth Century advocate of football". Richard Mulcaster (c 1531 Cumberland &ndash 15 April 1611, Essex) is known best for his headmasterships and pedagogic writings Eton College, or just Eton, is a world-famous British Independent school for boys founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. Merchant Taylors' School ( MTS) is a British boys' independent, Day school, originally located in the City of London, and since St Paul's School is the name of many schools with St Paul's School in London, (founded 1509 being the oldest ^[3] He tells us that towards the end of the sixteenth century football in England had grown to "greatnes. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland . . [and was] much used . . . in all places". Mulcaster's unique contribution is not only referring to "footeball" by its correct English name but also providing the earliest evidence of organised team football. Mulcaster confirms that his was a game closer to modern football by differentiating it from games involving other parts of the body, namely "the hand ball" and "the armeball". He referred to the many benefits of his "footeball" in his personal publication of 1581 in English entitled ‘Positions Wherein Those Primitive Circumstances Be Examined, Which Are Necessarie for the Training up of Children’. ^[4] He states that football had positive educational value and it promoted health and strength. Mulcaster's discussion on the merits of football was the first to refer to teams ("sides" and "parties"), positions ("standings"), the benefits of a referee ("judge over the parties") and a coach "(trayning maister)". Although it is not explicitly mentioned, passing of the ball is strongly implied by the reference to different positions on the field. Mulcaster describes a game for small teams that is organised under the auspices of a referee (and is therefore clear evidence that his game had evolved from disordered and violent "mob" football): "Some 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 another so barbarously . . . may use footeball for as much good to the body, by the chiefe use of the legges". As a result of his enthusiasm for the sport and his accurate description of the modern game Richard Mulcaster is considered the father of early modern football.

In 1591 it is clear that ball games were being played at Lyon's Free Grammar School in Harrow'. He says that ". . . upon Thursday only sometimes when the weather is fine, and upon Saturday, or half-holidays after evening prayer. And their play shall be to drive a top, to toss a handball, to run, or to shoot"^[2]

17th century

There is evidence that team kicking games were being played in schools in other parts of Britain by the mid 17th century. In 1633 (cited in other references as 1636) David Wedderburn, a teacher from Aberdeen, mentioned elements of football games in a short Latin textbook called the "Vocabula". Aberdeen ( pronounced; Aiberdeen Obar Dheathain is Scotland 's third most populous city and one of Scotland's 32 local government council Wedderburn cites phrases that school boys might use during their game. The text below is given in two forms: Francis Peabody Magoun's 1938 original (and more literal) translation and then Marples 1956 version. Francis Peabody Magoun Jr MC ( January 6, 1895 &ndash June 5, 1979) was one of the seminal figures in the study of Medieval It is noteworthy that Magoun does not use the word to "pass".

Let us choose sides//Let’s pick sides.

pick your man first//You have first choice.

Those on our side come here//Those who are on our side, come over here.

How many are against us?/How many are there in the other team?

Kick out the ball so that we may begin the game/Kick off, so that we can begin the match.

Come, kick it here/Pass it here.

You keep the goal/You keep goal.

Snatch the ball from that fellow if you can/Get hold of the ball before he does, if you can manage it.

Come, throw yourself against him/Go on, intercept him.

Run at him/Charge him.

Kick the ball back/Pass the ball back.

Well done. You aren't doing anything/Well done! You’re slacking.

To make a goal/To score a goal.

This is the first goal, this the second, this the third/This is the second, this the third goal.

Drive that man back/Keep him out, otherwise the other side wins.

The opponents are, moreover, coming out on top, If you don't look out, he will make a goal/If you’re not careful, he’ll score in a minute.

Unless we play better, we'll be done for/If we don’t play better, we’re done for.

Ah, victory is in your hands/Hi! You’re the winners.

Ha, hurrah. He is a very skilled ball player/Hurrah! He’s a very good player.

Had it not been for him, we should have brought back the victory/If it has been for him we should have won.

Come, help me. We still have the better chance/Come on, help me. We still have a better side?"

(The original Latin is cited by Magoun (1938): Sortiamur partes; tu primum socium dilige; Qui sunt nostrarum partium huc se recipient; Quot nobis adversantur; Excute pilam ut ineamus certamen; Age, huc percute; Tu tuere metum; Praeripe illi pilam si possis agere; Age objice te illi; Occurre illi; Repercute pilam; Egregie. Nihil agis; Transmittere metum pila; Hic primus est transmissus. Hic secundus, hic tertius est transmissus; Repelle eum, alioqui, adversarii evadunt superiores; Nisi cavesjam occupabit metam; Ni melius a nobis ludatur, de nobis actum est. Eia penes vos victoria est; Io triumphe. Est pilae doctissimus; Asque eo fuisset, reportassimus vicoriam; Age, subservi mihi; Adhuc potiores habemus, scilicet partes)

Wedderburn's Latin book is an early reference to what has been rendered in the second version of the translation as "passing" the ball. The word "passing" is not used explicitly: the original Latin states "huc percute" (strike it here) and "repercute pilam" (strike it back - or again). The original word translated as "goal" is "metum", literally meaning the "pillar at each end of the circus course" in a Roman chariot race. Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC The sentence given as "intercept him" in the second translation above is translated in the original as "Throw yourself against him" (Age, objice te illi). There is a reference to "get hold of the ball before [another player] does" or to "snatch" it (Praeripe illi pilam si possis agere) suggesting that handling of the ball was allowed. It is clear that the tackles allowed included the "charging" and pushing/holding of opposing players ("Keep him out" above, "drive that man back" in the original, "repelle eum" in original Latin). This game is likely to have been similar to rugby football. Contrary to press reports in 2006 there is no reference to game rules, marking players, team formations, or forward passing. This text was described in 2006 as "an amazing new discovery" but has actually been well documented in football history literature since the early twentieth century and available on the internet since at least 2000. It confirms that organised football games in the seventeenth century were not confined to English Schools. (An earlier description of goals, defending goals and passing the ball comes from Carew's account of Cornish Hurling). Hurling or Hurling the Silver Ball (Hyrlîan is an outdoor team Sport of Celtic origin

The next specific mention of football at public schools can be found in a Latin poem by Robert Matthew, a Winchester scholar from 1643 to 1647. Winchester or Winton ( archaic) is a historic city in southern England, with a population of around 40000 within a radius of its centre He describes how ". . . we may play quoits, or hand-ball, or bat-and-ball, or football; these games are innocent and lawful. . . ". That football at winchester was "innocent and lawful" at this time is very noteworthy. ^[5] This is strongly supportive of the fact that by the mid-seventeenth century football and other ball games in English public schools had been tamed. Nugae Etonenses (1766) by T. Frankland also mentions the "Football Fields" at Eton. Eton College, or just Eton, is a world-famous British Independent school for boys founded in 1440 by King Henry VI.

A more detailed description of football is given in Francis Willughby's Book of Sports^[6], written in about 1660. Francis Willughby ( November 22, 1635 – July 3, 1672) was an English ornithologist and ichthyologist. This account is particularly noteworthy as he refers to football by its correct name and is the first to describe the following: goals and a pitch ("a close that has a gate at either end. The gates are called Goals"), 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 often break one another's shins when two meet and strike both together against the ball, and therefore there is a law that they must not strike higher than the ball". His account of the ball itself is also very informative: "They blow a strong bladder and tie the neck of it as fast as they can, and then put it into the skin of a bull's cod and sew it fast in". He adds: "The harder the ball is blown, the better it flies. They used to put quicksilver into it sometimes to keep it from lying still". His book includes the first (basic) diagram illustrating a football pitch. Willughby's link with the public school system was that he had studied at sutton coldfield school, was a student at Cambridge university and frequented the Bodleian library at Oxford university. The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the The Bodleian Library ( the main Research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in England The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the

19th century

By the early 19th century, (before the Factory Act of 1850), most working class people in Britain had to work six days a week, often for over twelve hours a day. The Factory Acts were a series of Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to limit the number of hours worked by women and children first in the textile Working class is a term used in academic Sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe depending on context and speaker those employed in specific fields or types The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 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. In Economics the people in the labor force are the suppliers of labor Feast day football on the public highway was at an end. The Calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organizing a Liturgical year on the level of days by associating each day with one or more Saints Thus the public school boys, who were free from constant toil, became the inventors of organised football games with formal codes of rules. These gradually evolved into the modern soccer and rugby games that we know today.

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. Railway Mania is the term given to the speculative frenzy in Britain in the 1840s Inter-school sporting competitions became possible. While local rules for athletics could be easily understood by visiting schools, it was nearly impossible for schools to play each other at football, as each school played by its own rules.

Rugby football

William Webb Ellis, a pupil at Rugby school, is said to have "showed a fine disregard for the rules of football, as played in his time" by picking up the ball and running to the opponents' goal in 1823. William Webb Ellis (24 November 1806 &ndash 24 January 1872 was a English Anglican Clergyman. Rugby School, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, is a Co-educational Boarding school and one of the oldest public schools This act is popularly said to be the beginnings of Rugby football, but the evidence for this bold act does not stand up to close examination and most sports historians believe the story to be apocryphal. In older forms of football, handling the ball was allowed, or even compulsory; for example, the 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 ( June 3, 1780 &ndash November 6, 1842) was an English writer satirist and bookseller Year 1825 ( MDCCCXXV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Sir Frederick Morton Eden ( June 18, 1766 - November 14, 1809) English writer on poverty and pioneering social investigator ^[7]

In 1845, three boys at Rugby school were tasked with codifying the rules then being used at the school. Year 1845 ( MDCCCXLV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common These were the first set of written rules (or code) for any form of football. ^[8] This further assisted the spread of the Rugby game.

During the early nineteenth century the Rugby school rules appear to have spread at least as far, perhaps further, than the other schools' games. For example, two clubs which claim to be the world's first and/or oldest football club, in the sense of one which is not part of a school or university, are both strongholds of rugby football: the Barnes Club, said to have been founded in 1839, and Guy's Hospital Football Club, reportedly founded in 1843. Barnes Rugby Football Club, formerly known simply as the Barnes Club, is a Rugby union club which is claimed by some sources to be the world's first and oldest Year 1839 ( MDCCCXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common The Guy's Hospital Football Club, founded in 1843 at Guy's Hospital, in Southwark, London, claims to be the world's First football club Year 1843 ( MDCCCXLIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Neither date nor the variety of football played is well-documented, but such claims nevertheless allude to the popularity of rugby before other modern codes emerged.

The first inter-school match was played between Cheltenham College and Rugby school, surprisingly the victors being Cheltenham College, still a prolific rugby school. Cheltenham College is a Co-educational Independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham College is a Co-educational Independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. First played in 1864 the Clifton v Marlborough game lays claim to being the first inter-school Rugby fixture. The fixture continues today and the winning side is presented with the Governor's Cup. The Cup was once a polo trophy of the Governor of Jamaica.

Association football

Football had come to be adopted by a number of public schools as a way of encouraging esprit de corps, competitiveness and keeping youths fit. Each school drafted their own rules to suit the dimensions of their playing field. The rules varied widely between different schools and were changed over time with each new intake of pupils. Soon, a number of schools of thought about how football should be played emerged. Some schools favoured a game in which the ball could be carried (as at Rugby, Marlborough and Cheltenham). Marlborough College is an English independent, Co-educational Boarding school in the county of Wiltshire. Cheltenham College is a Co-educational Independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Others preferred a game where dribbling the ball was promoted (in particular Eton College and Harrow. This kind of dribbling foot ball with a tight off-side rule is still played today as the Eton field game. The Field Game is one of two codes of Football devised and played at Eton College. A third group including Westminster and Charterhouse pursued a game that excludeds handling the ball. The Royal College of St Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain 's leading boys' Independent schools with Charterhouse, originally Sutton's Hospital in Charterhouse, is a prominent boys independent or public school as they're known in Britain between ^[9] There is some evidence that this also became a passing game which importantly allowed the forward pass known as "passing on". The division into these camps was partly the result of circumstances in which the games were played. At Charterhouse and Westminster, both schools at the time played on restricted sites in London, the boys were confined to playing their ball game within the cloisters making the rough and tumble of the handling game difficult. Most of the founding members of The Football Association in 1863 were former schoolboys at these public schools. The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey This led to a conflict in the way that Association Football should be played. Some committee members favoured the rules of Charterhouse and Westminster School and pushed for a passing game, in particular rules that allowed forward passing ("passing on"). Other schools (in particular Eton College and Harrow) favoured a dribbling game with a tight off-side rule (such that all players must remain behind the ball). Eton College, or just Eton, is a world-famous British Independent school for boys founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. By 1867 the Football Association had chosen in favour of the Charterhouse and Westminster game and adopted an off-side rule that permitted forward passing. The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey ^[1] The modern forward-passing soccer game was thus born, as a direct consequence of Charterhouse and Westminster Football.

The first ever inter-school soccer match was between Charterhouse and Westminster in 1863.

Between the Wars a substantial number of independent schools switched codes from soccer to rugby, but this trend did not continue, and at least one,City of London School, switched from rugby to soccer a few years ago. The City of London School ( CLS) is a boys' Independent school on the banks of the River Thames in the City of London. In addition, many independent schools now offer both codes.

Contributions to the rules

Offside

Each of the English public school games had its own offside rule. Many of these completely prevented forward passing. The 1847 rules of Eton College, however, were probably the first to resemble the modern game, stating:

"A player is considered 'sneaking' when only three or less than three of the opposite side are before him and the ball behind him, and in such a case, he may not kick the ball. "

This is noteworthy as it allowed players to receive a forward pass if more than three opponents were between them and the opponents' goal line.

Dribbling and passing

Dribbling and passing of the ball (including forward passing) are all parts of public school games. In addition, the introduction of the FA rules that allowed both dribbling and forward passing of the ball were instigated by former public school boys. These key elements of modern Association Football were taken from the various versions of public school football. Dribbling was a key part of the Eton game and passing, in particular forward passing ("passing on") was argued for by representatives of Charterhouse during the establishment of the Football Association rules in the 1860s^[1]. These features of modern soccer had been integrated into the Football Association rules by 1867 and were the consequence of English public school games. Certain football historians correctly point out that the forward pass is not permitted in rugby football and therefore see the emergence of the forward pass as a critical development in the evolution of Soccer (and for this reason do not acknowledge the role of the public school games) They forget, however, that passing the ball forward by kicking is not only completely legal in Rugby but is a regular tactic employed in most matches particularly in open, running play. For this reason the public school games can claim to be origin of the forward passing game. Passing the ball continues to this day in surviving traditional public school football games. Even in Harrow Football, which is essentially a dribbling game, the ball may be chipped into the hands of a teammate ^[2]

Most notably the "Combination game" (the predecessor of the modern style of football involving a lot of player to player passing) is believed to have been invented by the Royal Engineers A.F.C. in the early 1870s. The Royal Engineers AFC is a football team founded in 1863 under the leadership of Major Marindin of the Corps of Royal Engineers, the Sappers ^[10][11] Nearly all of these players were from English public schools.

Kicking off from the centre

This was a key feature of the football codes of Harrow and Rugby.

Goal crossbar

The cross bar to the football goal was a feature of the Eton game and was noteworthy as the ball had to pass under the bar (instead of over it, as in Rugby football). The Sheffield Rules of 1862 later included both crossbars and half time and free kicks were introduced to their code in 1866 or before. In Harrow football, however, there is no crossbar, quite literally two rugby posts without their crossbar. A base is scored when the ball is hit between the posts.

Team size

Eleven or fifteen players per side was a feature of football at Eton and Winchester

The football season

Evidence for the establishment of the football season at English public schools comes in "Bentley's miscellany" (1844). ^[12] In a chapter entitled "Eton Scenes and Eton Men" the seasonal sports cycle is described thus: "Tamer boys play at cricket in the Summer and Hockey in the Winter; but the manlier youths pull in the boats during the Summer and play at Football in the winter". See also the quotation below which confirms that the football season began in Autumn. This is noteworthy because traditionally football had been played in England during Shrovetide. Shrove Tuesday is the term used in Ireland the United Kingdom Australia and Canada to refer to the day after Shrove Monday (or the more old fashioned Collop Monday

Games between clubs

School football clubs (and other sports) were a central part of life at nineteenth century English public schools. In "Five years at an English University" (1852), American Charles Bristed describes his time at Cambridge University in the 1840s. The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the During a discussion on Eton and Rugby School (drawn upon letters from former students there) he states: "[A boy is] proud of the house he belongs to as a man of his college; though in cricket and football clubs, in regular "long boats" and aquatic sweepstakes, in running and leaping races, he competes with the whole school, yet he belongs to a football club in the autumn, which includes the twenty or thirty boys boarding in his own house and thus matches are made between houses as between colleges". ^[13] Significantly this shows evidence of the first organised competitions between football teams not just within schools but between them. For competitions to take place between colleges it would clearly require some agreement over rules of the game. This necessity, combined with the availability of sufficient time and money to pursue the sport, was the driving force that led to the creation of modern football rules by people who had studied or taught at English public schools and universities. This quotation also points to the establishment in English public schools of the "football season" which to this day begins without fail in Autumn.

Team colours

The tradition of wearing distinctive team strips (i. e. uniforms) was also commenced by public school teams. For example, the original photograph of Winchester football in about 1840 is entitled: "A 'Hot' at Foot Ball. The commoners have red and college boys blue jerseys".

At soccer, Winchester wear dark blue shirts to signify their connection with Oxford University, specifically New College, and Eton light blue, since they are linked to King's College, Cambridge. The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the King's College Cambridge is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.

References

See also

• Eton wall game
• Eton field game
• Winchester College Football
• Harrow Football
• History of rugby union
• History of rugby league

The Eton wall game originated at Eton College. It has similarities to both the modern sports of Rugby union and football. The Field Game is one of two codes of Football devised and played at Eton College. Winchester College Football, also known as Winkies WinCoFo or simply "Our Game" is a code of football played at Winchester College. Harrow football is a code of football played between two teams of eleven players each attempting to win by scoring more goals than their opponent The history of rugby union follows from various football games played long before the 19th century but it was not until the middle of that century that rules were formulated The history of rugby league began with a schism of 1895 in Rugby football.

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