Rugby, a British sport
The English have always enjoyed playing games. Many of the popular world wide games were conceived in the British Isles. Football, Golf, Snooker, Rugby and Cricket to name but a few. Even the nation game of Baseball, played in the USA started out as a game called Rounders and was played in England around the year 1500.
Football evolved over a long period and the rules constantly changed until the present days laws of the game came into place. At one time, a player could catch a ball and claim “yards”, an English measurement of length, just shorter than a metre. He was then allowed to kick the ball with all other players ten yards away from him. This is similar to the direct free kick laws of today. However, once having caught the ball, he was not allowed to run with it.
Football was played at Rugby School in England and a young man called William Webb Ellis did not fully understand the rules. When the game was explained to him, the teachers told him that the objective of the game was to get the ball between the two posts at the end of the field. When William Webb Ellis caught the ball, instead of calling for yards, he set off running with the ball in his arms, eventually putting it down between the goal posts. The teachers thought that this was a good idea and developed the game which was called Rugby Football, that is rugby, played to the rules of Rugby School. This happened in 1823.
There were no set rules for football at the time and different areas played with different rules. In 1863, a group of football clubs met in London to agree on the rules of the game. Thus came into being the Football Association and was the world's first official football body.
Many of the public schools did not join this body and they continued to play football as it was played at Rugby School. This has continued to be the trend in England until the present day and Rugby Football is still the preferred game in most of England's top schools.
However, like so many other sports which first started out in England, both games are now played throughout the world and although Football is the most popular, Rugby still has a large following in many countries.
Rugby, a British sport – Comprehension questions
- What football rule was broken by William Webb Ellis?
- What were the consequences of this change?
- What happened to football in 1863?