Football in its Early Stages
E.G. Dunning finds that traditional football was a game with few rules, played riotously through the streets and across country. The nineteenth century saw its evolution on the playing fields of the public schools into the two main forms we know today.
Football has been widely played in England since at least the twelfth century. Prior to about 1840, however, matches were loosely organized and rough: serious injury and even death were their frequent accompaniments. It was not until the middle of the nineteenth century in the public schools that football of a more highly organized and civilized kind emerged. This fact is well known to historians of the game, but so far none has tried to account for it. Accordingly, this article will trace the history of football between the twelfth century and the 1840s and attempt to account for what one might call the “civilizing process” that took place in the game in the early Victorian public schools.
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