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FOOTBALL
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FOOTBALL , a See also:game between two opposing sides played with a large inflated See also:ball, which is propelled either by the feet alone or by both feet and hands.
Pastimes of the See also:kind were known to many nations of antiquity, and their existence among See also:savage tribes, such as the Maoris, Faroe Islanders, Philippine Islanders, Polynesians and Eskimos, points to' their See also:primitive nature. In See also:Greece the Eaivxupot seems to have See also:borne a resemblance to the See also:modern game. Of this we read in See also: It was forbidden by See also:Edward II. (1314) in consequence of " the great See also:noise in the city caused by hustling over large balls (rageries de grosses pelotes)." A clear reference is made " ad pilam . . . pedinam " in the Rotuli Clausarum, 39 Edward III. (1365), memb. 23, as one of the pastimes to be prohibited on See also:account of the decadence of See also:archery, and the same thing occurs in 12 See also:Richard II. c. 6 (1388). Both See also: So rough did the game become that See also: To begin with, men who had played the game as schoolboys formed clubs to enable them to continue playing their favourite school game, and others were induced to join them; while in other cases, clubs were formed by men who had not had the experience of playing the game at school, but who had the See also:energy and the will to follow the example of those who had had this experience. In this way football was established as a regular game, no longer confined to schoolboys. When football was thus first started, the game was little developed or organized. Rules were very few, and often there was great doubt as to what the rules were. But, almost from the first, clubs were formed to play football according to Rugby rules—that is, according to the rules of the game as played at Rugby school. But even the Rugby rules of that date were few and vague, and indeed almost unintelligible to those who had not been at Rugby school. Still, the fact that play was according to Rugby rules produced a certain uniformity; but it was not till the See also:establishment of the English Union, and the commencement of See also:international matches, that a really definite code of rules was See also:drawn up. It is an interesting question to ask why it was that the game of Rugby school became so popular in preference to the games of other schools, such as See also:Eton, See also:Winchester or See also:Harrow. It was probably very largely due to the reputation and success of Rugby school under Dr See also:Arnold, and this also led most probably to its See also:adoption by other schools; for in r86o many schools besides Rugby played football according to Rugby rules. The rapidity with which the game spread after the middle of the 19th century was remarkable. The See also:Blackheath See also:club, the See also:senior club of the London See also:district, was established in 186o, and See also:Richmond, its great See also:rival, shortly afterwards. Before 187o, football clubs had been started in See also:Lancashire and See also:Yorkshire; indeed the See also:Sheffield foot-ball club See also:dates back to 1855. Likewise, in the See also:universities of See also:Oxford and Cambridge, Rugby football clubs had been formed before 1870, and by that date the game had been implanted both in Ireland and See also:South See also:Wales; while in See also:Scotland, before 186o, football had taken a hold. Thus by 187o the game had been established throughout the See also:United See also:Kingdom, and in many districts had been regularly played for a number of years. Rapid as, in some ways, had been the spread of the game between the years 185o and 187o, it was as nothing to what happened in the following twenty years; for by 1890 Rugby football, together with Association football, had become the great See also:winter amusement of the See also:people, and roused universal See also:interest; while to-day on any See also:fine Saturday afternoon in winter there are tens of See also:thou-sands of people playing football, while those who See also:watch the game can be counted by the See also:hundred thousand.. The causes that led to this great increase in the game and interest taken in it were, undoubtedly, the establishment of the various See also:national Unions and the international matches; and, of course, the See also:local rivalry of various clubs, together with See also:cup or other competitions prevalent in certain districts, was a leading See also:factor. The establishment of the English Union led to a codification of the rules without which development was impossible. In the year 1871 the English Rugby Union was founded in London. This Union was an association of some clubs and schools which joined together and appointed a See also:committee and officials to draw up a code of rules of the game. From this beginning the English Rugby Union has become the governing See also:body of Rugby football in England, and has been joined by practically all the Rugby clubs in England, and deals with all matters connected with Rugby football, notably the choosing of the international teams. In 1873 the Scottish Football Union was founded in See also:Edinburgh on the same lines, and with the same See also:objects, while in 188o the Welsh Football Union, and in 1881 the Irish Rugby Football Union, were established as the national Unions of Wales and Ireland, though in both countries there had been previously Unions not thoroughly representative of the See also:country. All these Unions became the See also:chief governing body within their own country, and one of their functions was to make the rules and laws of the game; but as this had been done to start with by the English Union, the others adopted the English rules, with amendments to them from time to time. This See also:state of affairs had one See also:element of weakness—viz. that since all the Unions made their own rules, if ever a dispute should arise between any of them, a dead-See also:lock was almost certain to ensue. Such a dispute did occur in 1884 between the English and Scottish Unions. This dispute eventually turned on the question of the right of the English Union to make and interpret the rules of the game, and to be the See also:paramount authority in the game, and See also:superior to the other Unions. Scotland, Ireland and Wales resisted this claim, and finally, in 1889, See also:Lord Kingsburgh and See also:Major Marindin were appointed as a See also:commission to See also:settle the dispute. The result was the establishment of the International See also:Board, which consists of representatives from each Union—six from England, two from each of the others—whose duties were to settle any question that might arise between the different Unions, and to settle the rules under which international matches were to be played, these rules being invariably adopted by the various Unions as the rules of the game. With the establishment of the International Board the organization of the game was See also:complete. Still See also:harmony did not prevail, and in 1895 occurred a definite disruption. A number of leading clubs in Yorkshire and Lancashire See also:broke off from the English Union and formed the Northern Union, which since that date has had many accessions, and has become the leading body in the See also:north of England. The question in dispute was the See also:payment of players. Football was originally played by men for the sheer love of the game, and by men who were comparatively well-to-do, and who could give the time to play it; but with the increasing popularity of the game it became the pastime of all classes of the people, and clubs began to grow See also:rich by " See also:drawing big See also:gates,"—that is, large See also:numbers of spectators, frequently many thousands in number, paid for the See also:privilege of witnessing the match. In these circumstances the temptation arose to reimburse the player for any out-of-See also:pocket expenses he might be put to for playing the game, and thus it became universally recognized as legitimate to pay a player's expenses to and from a match. But in the See also:case of working men it often meant that they lost part of their weekly wage when they had to go a distance to play a match, or to go on tour with their club—that is, go off for a few days and play one or two matches in different parts of the country—and consequently the claim was made on their behalf to recoup them for their loss of wage; while at the same time rich clubs began to be willing to offer inducements to See also:good players to join their club, and these inducements were generally most acceptable in the form of See also:money. In Association football (see below) professionalism—i.e. the See also:hiring and paying of a player for his services—had been openly recognized. A large See also:section of the English Union—the See also:amateur party—would not tolerate anything that savoured of professionalism, and regarded payments made to a player for broken time as illegitimate. The result was the formation of the Northern Union, which allowed such payments, and has practically recognized professionalism. This body has also somewhat altered the laws of the game, and reduced the number of players constituting a team from fifteen to thirteen. In Scotland and Ireland Rugby footballers are strongly amateur; but wherever Rugby football is the popular game of the See also:artisan the professional element is strong.
Besides legislation, one of the functions of the Unions is to select international teams. On the 27th of See also: But when to this rivalry there is added the inducement to play for a cup, or See also:prize, the excitement is much more intense. Among Rugby players cup competitions have never been so popular as among Association, but the competition for the Yorkshire Cup was very keen in the days beforethe establishment of the Northern Union, and this undoubtedly was the main cause of the popularity of the game in that See also:county. Similarly the competition for the South Wales Cup from 1878 to 1887 did a great See also:deal to establish the game in that country. The method of carrying on these competitions is, that all the clubs entered are drawn by See also:lot, in pairs, to play together in the first See also:round; the winners of these ties are then similarly drawn in pairs for the next round, until for the final round there is only one pair left, the winner of which takes the cup. An elaboration of this competition is the " See also:League See also:system " of the Association game. This, likewise, has not been popular with Rugby players. Still it exists in some districts, especially where clubs are anxious to draw big gates. In the League system a certain number of clubs form a league to play one another twice each See also:season; two points are counted for a win and one for a draw. The club which at the end of the season comes out with most points wins the competition. The See also:advantage of this system over a cup competition is, that interest is kept up during the whole season, and one defeat does not debar a club from eventually coming out first. It is said that wherever Britons go they take their games with them, and this has certainly been the case with Rugby football; especially in New See also:Zealand, South See also:Africa and See also:Australia. An interchange of football visits between these colonies and the motherland is now an important feature in the game. These See also:tours date from 1888, when an English team visited Australia and New Zealand. In the following season, 1889, a team of New. Zealanders, some of whom were native Maories, came over to England, and by their play even then indicated how well the See also:grammar of the game had been studied in that See also:colony. Subsequently several See also:British teams visited at intervals New Zealand and Australia, and in 1905 New Zealand sent See also:home a team which eclipsed anything previously accomplished. They played altogether thirty-three matches; including See also:fixtures with England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and only sustained one defeat, viz. by a try in their match with Wales, a See also:record which speaks for itself. In 1908 a combined team of English and Welsh players toured in New Zealand and Australia, and also visited See also:Canada on their way home. The team was not so strong as could have been wished, and though they did fairly well in Australia, they lost all three " test matches " against New Zealand. In South Africa the game is followed with equal See also:enthusiasm, and the play is hardly inferior, if at all, to that of the New Zealanders. The first British team to visit the Cape went in 1891 through the generosity of See also:Cecil See also:Rhodes, who guaranteed the undertaking against loss. Teams were also sent out in 1896 and 1903; the result of matches played in each visit showing the steady improvement of the colonists. In 1906 the South Africans paid their first visit to England, and the result of their tour proved them to be equally formidable with the New Zealanders. England managed to draw with them, but Scotland was the only one of the home Unions to gain a victory. The success of these colonial visits, more especially financially, created a development very See also:foreign to the intentions of their organizers. The Northern Union as a professional body had drifted into a somewhat parlous state, through suffering on the one See also:hand from a lack of inter-national matches, and on the other from the competition of Association professional teams. The great See also:financial success resulting from the New Zealand tour of 1905 roused the See also:attention of the Northern Union authorities, and they quickly entered into negotiations with New Zealand players to collect a team who would come over and play the Northern Union clubs, the visiting players themselves taking a See also:share of the See also:gate-money. For this purpose a team of New Zealanders toured the north of England in 1907, and their See also:action caused the introduction of professional or Northern Union football in both New Zealand and Australia. The spread of the game has not, however, been confined to English-speaking races. In See also:France it has found fruitful See also:soil, and numerous clubs exist in that country. Since 1906 inter-national matches have been played between France and England, and the energy of See also:French players, coupled with their national elan, makes them formidable opponents. The Rugby code. has also obtained a See also:firm footing in Canada, See also:India, See also:Ceylon and the See also:Argentine. The game itself is essentially a winter pastime, as two requisite conditions for its enjoyment are a cool See also:atmosphere and a soft though firm See also:turf. The field of play is an oblong, not more than See also:Ito yds. long nor more than 75 yds.' broad, and it usually approximates to these dimensions. The boundaries are marked by lines; called See also:touch-lines, down the sides, and goal-lines along the ends. The touch-lines are continued beyond the goal-lines for a distance of not more than 25 yds.; and parallel to the goal-See also:line and behind it, at a distance of not more than 25 yds., is drawn a line called the dead-ball line, joining the ends of the touch-lines produced. On each goal-line, at anequal:distance fromthe touch-lines, are erected two posts; termed goal-posts, exceeding rr ft. in height, and generally much more—averaging perhaps from 20 to 3o ft. from the ground, and placed i8 ft. 6 in. apart. At a height of to ft. from the ground they are joined by a See also:cross-See also:bar; and the object of the game is to kick the ball over the cross-bar between the upright posts, and so obtain a goal. The ball is See also:egg-shaped (strictly an oblate See also:spheroid), and the See also:official dimensions are-length, 11 to r i 4 in.; length circumference, 30 to 31 in.; width circumference, 252 to 26 in.; See also:weight, 13 to 141 oz. It is made of indiarubber inflated, and covered with a See also:leather case. Halfway between the two goal-lines there is generally drawn the See also:half-way line, but sometimes it is marked by flags on the touch-line; and 25 yds. from each goal-line there is similarly marked the 25-yds. line. In the original game the side that had gained the See also:majority of goals won the match, and if no goal had been scored, or an equal number, the game was said to be left drawn; but a modification was adopted before long. A goal can be kicked from the field in the See also:ordinary course of play; but from the very first a try goal could be obtained by that side one of whose players either carried the ball across his opponents' goal-line and then touched it down (i.e. on the ground), or touched it down after it had been kicked across the goal-line, before any of his opponents. The " try "' is then proceeded with as follows: the ball is taker' out by a member of the side obtaining the try in a straight line from the spot where it was " touched down," and is deposited itt a selected position on the ground in the field of play, the defending side being all confined behind their own goal-line until the moment the ball is so placed on the ground, when' another member of the attacking side endeavours to kick it from the ground (a " place kick ") over the bar and between the goal-posts:' Eretluently a goal is kicked; very often not. The modification first allowed was to See also:count that side the winner which had gained the majority of tries, provided no goal' or an equal number of goals had been scored; but a majority of one goal took See also:precedence of any number of tries. But this, too, was afterwards abolished, and a system of points instituted by which the side with the majority of points wins. The numerical value, however, of goals and tries has undergone several changes, the system in 1908 being as follows:—A try See also:counts 3 points. A goal from a try (in which case the try shall not count) 5 points. A dropped goal (except from a See also:mark or a See also:penalty kick) 4 points; a dropped goal being a goal obtained by a player who drops the ball from his hands and kicks it the moment it rises off the ground, as in the" half-volley" at See also:cricket or See also:tennis. A goal from a mark or penalty kick 3 points. Under the Northern Union code any sort of goal counts points, a try 3 points; but if a try be converted into a goal,' both try and goal count, i.e. 5 points are scored. In the game itself not only may the ball be kicked in the direction of the opponents' goal, but it may also be carried; but it must not be thrown forward or knocked on—that is, in the' direction of the opponents' goal--though it may be thrown back. Thus the game is really a See also:combination of football and handball. The main principle is that any one who is not "offside " is in play. A player is offside if he gets in front of the ball—that is, on the opponents' side of the ball, nearer than a colleague in See also:possession of the ball to the opponents' goal-line; when in this position he must not interfere with an opponent or touch theball under penalty. The leading feature of the game is the ".scrummage." In old days at Rugby school there was practically no limit to the numbers of players on each side, and not infrequently there would be a hundred or more players on one side, This was never prevalent in club football; twenty a-side was the usual number to start with, reduced in.1877 to fifteen a-side, the number still maintained. In the old Rugby big sides the ball got settled amidst a See also:mass of players, and each side attempted to drive it through this mass by shoving, kicking, and otherwise forcing their way through with the ball in front of them. This, was the origin of the scrummage. The game is played usually for one See also:hour, or one hour and ten minutes, sometimes for one hour and a half. Each side defends each goal in turn for half the time of play. Of the fifteen players who compose a side, the usual arrangement is that eight are called " forwards,'? and form the scrummage; two " half-backs " are posted outside the scrummage; and four " three-See also:quarter-backs, a little behind the halves, stretch in a line across the field, their duties being mainly to run and kick and pass the ball to other members of their own side, and to prevent their opponents from doing the same. In See also:recent years, owing to the development of " passing," the field position of the half-backs has undergone a See also:change.. One stands fairly See also:close to the scrummage and is known as the " scrum-half," the other takes a position between the latter and the three-quarters, and is termed the"stand-off half." Behind the three-quarters comes the "full-back" or " back," a single individual to maintain the last line of See also:defence; his duties are entirely defensive, either to tackle " an opponent who has managed to get through, or, more usually, to catch and return long kicks. Play is started by one side kicking the ball off from the centre of the field in the direction of the opponents' goal. The ball is then caught by one of the other side, who either kicks it or runs with it. In See also:running he goes on until he is " tackled," or caught, by one of his opponents, unless he should choose to " pass or throw it to another of his own side, who, provided he be not offside, may either kick, or run, or pass as he chooses. The ball in this way is kept moving until it crosses the touch-line, or goal-line, or is tackled. If the See also:bail crosses the touch-line both sides line up at right angles to the point where it crossed the line, and the ball is thrown in straight either by one of the same side whose player carried the ball across the touch-line, or, if the ball was kicked or thrown out, by. one of the opposite side. If the ball crosses the goal-line either a try is gained, as explained above, or if the defending side touch it down first, the other side retire to the line 25 yds. from the goal-line, and the defending side kick it up the field. If the ball is tackled the player carrying the ball gets up from the ground as soon as possible, and the forwasds at once form the scrummage by putting down their heads and getting ready to shove against one another. They shove as soon as the balll is put down between the two front rows. In the scrummage the object is, by shoving the opponents back or otherwise breaking away with the ball in front, to carry the ball in the direction of the opponents' goal-line by a See also:series of See also:short kicks in which the players run after the ball as fast as possible, while their opponents See also:lie in wait to get the ball, and either by a kick or other See also:device stop the See also:rush. Instead, however, of the forwards breaking` away with the ball, sometimes they let the ball come out of the scrummage to their half-backs, who either kick or run with it, or pass it to the three-quarter-backs, and so the game proceeds until the ball is once more " dead "—that is, brought' to a standstill. The scrummage appears to be. an uninterestinc manoeuvre, and a See also:strange relic of bygone times; but it is not merely a manoeuvre in which weight and strength alone tell--it also needs a lot of dexterity in moving the ball with the feet,, applying the weight to best advantage, and also in outflanking the opposing side, as it were—usually termed wheeling—directing all the force to one side of the scrummage and thus breaking away. As a See also:rule the game is a lively one, for the players are rarely at See also:rest; if there is =eh scrummaging it is called a slow game; but, if much running and passing, a fast or an open game. The spectator, unless he be an See also:expert, prefers the open game; but in any case the game is always a hard and cackling struggle, frequently with the See also:balance of See also:fortune swaying very rapidly from one side to the other, so that it is a See also:matter of no surprise to find the British public so ardently attached to it. (C. J. N. F.; C. J. B. M.) 2. Association.—It is generally supposed that the English game of Association football is the outcome of the game of foot-ball as played at Cambridge University about the middle of the 19th century. In See also:October 1863 a committee, consisting of representatives of the schools of Eton, Harrow, Rugby, See also:Marl-See also:borough, See also:Shrewsbury and See also:Westminster, See also:drew up a code of laws' which settled the fundamental principle of the " Association " game, as distinguished from other forms of the game which permitted of handling and carrying the ball. In Association football the use of the hands or arms, either for the purpose of playing the ball or impeding or holding an opponent, is absolutely prohibited; " dribbling " or kicking the ball with the feet, and propelling it by the See also:head or body, are the methods to be adopted. The Cambridge laws specially provided for " kicking" the ball. Laws 13 and 14 provided that " the ball, when in play, may be stopped by any part of the body, but may not be held or See also:hit by. the hands, arms or shoulders. All charging is fair, but holding,, pushing with the hands, tripping up and shinning are forbidden." The laws of Association football first took See also:practical shape as the outcome of a See also:meeting held on the 26th of October 1863 at the Freemasons' See also:Tavern, London. The clubs which sent delegates were representative of all classes of football then played. The meeting was a momentous one, for mot only was, the See also:foundation laid of the Football Association, the national' association which has since then controlled the game in England, but as the outcome of the See also:differences of See also:opinion which existed as to " hacking " being permissible under the laws, the representatives who favoured the inclusion of the practice, which is now so roundly condemned in both the Association and Rugby games, withdrew and formed the Rugby Union. The Cambridge laws were considered by the committee of the Football Association at their meeting on the 24th of See also:November 1863. They took the view that those laws " embraced the true principles of the game with the greatest simplicity "; the laws ! were " officially " passed on the 1st of See also:December 1863, and the! first publication was made in See also:Bell's See also:Life four days later. These laws have from time to time been modified, but the principles as laid down in 1863 have been adhered to; and the Association' game itself has altered very little since 1880. The usual dimensions for a ground are 120 yds. long by 8o yds. wide, and the goals are 8 yds. in width with a cross-bar from See also:post to post 8 ft. from the ground. The ball is about 14 oz. in weight, and must be a perfect See also:sphere from 27 to 28 in. in circumference, as distinguished from the elliptical or egg-shaped Rugby ball. A rectangular space extending to 18 yds. in front of the goals, and marked with lines on the ground, constitutes the " penalty See also:area "; within which, at a distance of 12 yds. opposite the centre of the goal, is the " penalty kick mark." The boundary Iines' at the sides of the field are called the " touch-lines "; those at the ends (in the centre of which are the goats) being the " goal-lines." The game is started by a place kick from the centre of ! the field of play, and none of the opposite side is allowed to approach within 10 yds. of the ball when it is kicked off. When, the ball passes over the touch line it has to be thrown in by one! of the opposite side, and can be returned into the field of play in any direction. If it passes over the goal-line at any time; without touching one of the defending side, it has to be kicked' out by the goalkeeper or one of the backs from a line marked in front of goal, the spot selected being in front of the post nearest' the point where the ball left the field of play. But should it' touch one of the defending side in its transit over the goal-line the attacking side has the privilege of a See also:free kick from the corner See also:flag (a " corner kick "). This is often a great advantage, but such free kick does not produce a goal unless the ball touches one of the other players on its way to the post. Ordinarily a goal is scored when the ball goes between the goal-posts and under the' cross-bar, not being thrown, knocked on or carried, The See also:regula- See also:Lion duration of a game is an hour and !a half, and ends are changed at See also:forty-five minutes. The side winning the toss has the choice of ends or kick-off, and the one obtaining the majority of goals wins. A goal cannot be scored from a free kick except when the free kick has been allowed by the See also:referee as a penalty for certain infringements of the rules by the opposite side; and if such infringement, take place within the penalty area on the part of a player on the side then defending the goal, and in the See also:judgment of the referee be intentional, a penalty kick " is awarded to the attacking side. The penalty kick is a free kick from the penalty kick mark, all the players of the defending side being excluded from the penalty area, except the goal-keeper, who is confined to the goal-line; the result, therefore, being an almost certain goal. A player is always in play as long as there are three of the opposite side between him and the opposite goal at the time the ball is kicked. This " offside " rule gives much trouble to the young player, though why it should do so it is not easy to say. The rule is See also:simple if the words in italics are remembered. The ball must not be carried, knocked or wilfully handled under any pretence whatever, save by the goalkeeper, who is allowed to use his hands in defence of his goal, +either by knocking on or throwing, within his own half of the field of play. Thus far he is entitled to go in maintaining his goal, but if he carry the ball the penalty is a free kick. There are other infringements of the rules which also involve the penalty of a free kick, among them the serious offences oftripping, hacking and See also:jumping at a player. Players are not allowed to See also:wear nails in their boots (except such as have their heads driven in dush with the leather), or See also:metal plates or See also:gutta-percha, and any player discovered infringing this rule is liable to be prohibited from taking further part in a match. In the early 'sixties of the 19th century there were probably not more than twenty-five organized clubs playing Association football in the United Kingdom, and these were chiefly confined in the south of England to the universities and public schools. But whilst the game was being established in the south it was making: steady progress in the north, particularly in Yorkshire, where the Sheffield Club had been formed as early as 1854. In 1867 the game had become so well established that it was decided to play an 'inter-county match. The match, which was played " in the wilds of See also:Battersea See also:Park," terminated in a draw, neither side having obtained a goal; and it did much to stimulate the growing popularity of the game. During the season 1870-1871, only three years later, two matches of an international See also:character were played between Englishmen and Scotsmen in membership with the Football Association; they were not, however, recognized as " international " matches. The first real international match, England v. Scotland, was played on the 3oth of November 1872 at See also:Partick, See also:Glasgow; the first international match between England and Wales was played at See also:Kennington See also:Oval in 1879; and that between England and Ireland at See also:Belfast in 1882. In 1896 amateur international matches were inaugurated with See also:Germany, See also:Austria and Bohemia; and games are now annually played with Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, See also:Belgium, Germany, See also: The first winners of the cup were the Wanderers, who defeated the Royal See also:Engineers in the final tie by one goal to nothing. For the first ten years the competition was mostly limited to the See also:southern clubs, but in the season of 1881—1882 the See also:Blackburn Rovers were only defeated in the final tie by the Old Etonians by one goal to nothing. Professionalism was then unknown in the game, and comparatively little interest was taken in it except by the players themselves. In the following season of 1882—1883 the cup was for the first time taken north by the Blackburn Olympic Club, and it remained in the north for the next nineteen years, until in the season of 1900 1901 it was again brought south by the See also:Tottenham Hotspur Club, who defeated the Sheffield United Club at See also:Bolton by three goals to one. In the following season the cup was again taken north by the See also:Bury Club. In the early days of the competition a few hundred people only attended the final tie, which for many years was played at Kennington Oval in London. In the course of time, however, the interest of the public so largely increased that it became necessary to seek a ground of greater capacity; accordingly in 1893 the final was played at Fallowfield, See also:Manchester, where it was watched by forty thousand people; in 1894 it was played at Everton and in 1895 at the Crystal See also:Palace. The attendance during the following ten years averaged 8o,0oo people. The record attendance was in the season of 1900—1901, when the south were contesting with the north, the spectators then being upwards of 113,000. In the season of 1908—1909 356 clubs entered the competition; in 1910—11 the number had increased to 404. The great development of the game necessitated many changes in the system of control. About the year 188o (although contrary to the rules) a practice of making payment to players crept into the game in the north of England and slowly developed. After some years of debate as to the best method of dealing with this development the Football Association decided in 1885 to legalize and control the payment of players. The rules define a professional player as one who receives remuneration of any sort above his necessary hotel and travelling expenses actually paid, or is registered as a professional. They further provide that training expenses not paid by the players themselves will be considered as remuneration beyond necessary travelling and hotel expenses. Players competing for any money prizes in football contests are also considered professionals. In 1888 the Football League, a combination of professional dubs of the north and midlands of England, was formed; and a new See also:scheme was inaugurated for the playing of matches on what is known as the " League " principle, the essential advantage of which is that the dubs in membership of a league agree to play with each other " home and home " matches each season, and also bind themselves under certain penalties to play their best team in all league matches. Six years later the Southern League. came into existence, primarily with the object of increasing the interest in the game in the south and See also:west of England. The Football League and the Southern League very soon had their imitators, and in 1909 there were upwards of six hundred league competitions playing under the See also:sanction and control of the Foot-ball Association. The league system also found favour in Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and has extended to most of the colonies where Association football is played. In the season of 1893—1894 the Amateur Cup Competition, restricted to amateur clubs in membership with the Football Association, was inaugurated. In the first season 32 dubs entered, and the growing popularity of the competition is shown by the fact that in the season of 1908—1909 there were 229 entries. The Football Association, founded in 1863 with its eleven dubs, directly affiliated 52 county, district and colonial associations, and indirectly in membership a large number of See also:minor associations which are affiliated through the county and district associations. The See also:Army Association includes 316 army clubs in Great Britain and Ireland, together with clubs formed by the various battalions in India, South Africa, See also:Gibraltar and other army stations; and the Royal See also:Navy Football Association comprises all See also:ships afloat having Association football clubs. The regulations of the Football Association, which is the recognized administrative and legislative body for the game in England, make See also:provision for the sanction and control of leagues and competitions; and its rules, regulations, principles and practices very largely prevail in all national associations. The See also: Combined play gradually came to be regarded as the keynote to success. Instead'of one full back, as was originally the case, and one half-back, the defence gradually developed by the addition first of a second half, then of a second full back, and still later of a third half-back, until it came to show, in addition to the goalkeeper of course, two full backs and three half-backs. The eight forwards who used to constitute the attack in the earliest days of the Association have been reduced by degrees, as the See also:science of the game became understood, until they now number only five. The effect of the transition has been to put the attack and defence on a more equal footing, and as a natural consequence to make the game more open and thereby generally more interesting and attractive. Association football is indeed, from the standpoint of the spectator, a much brighter game than it was in its See also:infancy, the result of the new methods bringing every one of the eleven players into full See also:relief throughtout the game. The players who, as a rule, make or See also:mar the success of a side in modern football are the centre forward and the centre half-back. They are the See also:pivot on which the attack and the defence respectively turn. Instead of close dribbling and following up, the new formation makes for accuracy of passing among the forwards, with intelligent support from the half-backs. The See also:net result is practically the effective combination of the whole side. To do his part as it ought to be done every member of an eleven must See also:work in harmony with the rest, and on a definite system, in all cases subordinating his own methods and See also:personal interests to promote the See also:general well-being of the side. (C. W. A.; F. J. W.) The literature of British football is very extensive, but the following See also:works are among the best: Football in the " Badminton Library'' (London, 1904), where the different games played at Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester and other public schools are thoroughly de-scribed; Rev. F. See also:Marshall, Football; the Rugby Game (London, Cassells) ; J. E. See also:Vincent, Football; its History for Five Centuries (London, 1885) ; C. J. B. Marriott and C. W. See also:Alcock, Football (" Oval Series "); " Football," in the See also:Encyclopaedia of Sport; The Rugby Football Union Handbook, See also:Richardson, See also:Greenwich, Official See also:Annual; and The Football Annual, See also:Merritt and Hatcher (Association Game), London. United States.—In See also:America the game of football has been elaborated far more than elsewhere, and involves more complications than in England. From colonial times until 1871 a kind of football generally resembling the English Association game was played on the See also:village greens and by the students of colleges and See also:academies. There was no running with the ball, but dribbling, called " babying," was See also:common. In 1871 a code of rules was drawn up, but they were unsatisfactory and not in-variably observed. " Batting the ball," i.e. striking the ball forward with the fists, was allowed. There were two backs, sixteen rushers or forwards, and two rovers or " See also:pea-nutters," who lurked near the opponents' goal. During this See also:period the first international foot-ball game was played at Yale between the college team and one made up of old Etonians, the rules being a See also:compromise between the See also:American and the English. English Rugby, introduced from Canada, was first played at Harvard University, and in 1875 a match under a compromise set of rules, taken partly from the Rugby Union and partly from the existing American game, was played with Yale. The following year Yale adopted the regular Rugby Union rules, and played Harvard under these. Later, several other colleges adopted these English rules. See also:Absence of tradition necessitated expansion of these laws, and a See also:convention of colleges was assembled. Thenceforward annual conventions were held, which from time to time altered and amplified the rules. A college association was formed, and the game See also:grew in popularity. Public See also:criticism of the roughness shown in the play early threatened its existence; indeed at one time the university authorities compelled Harvard to abstain from the annual game with Yale. Changes in the rules were introduced, and the game has been characterized by less roughness and by increased skill. It has become the most popular autumn game in the United States, the See also:principal university matches often attracting crowds of 35,000 and even 40,000 spectators. The association subsequently disbanded, but a Rules Committee, invited by the University Athletic Club of New See also:York, made the necessary changes in the rules from time to time, and these have been accepted by the country at large. In the West associations were formed; but the game in the East is played principally under See also:separate agreements between the contesting universities, all using, however, one code of rules. Later this Rules Committee amalgamated with a new committee of wider See also:representation. Amateur athletic clubs as well as public and private schools have also taken up the game. The American football season lasts from the middle of See also:September to the first of December only, owing to the severity of the American winter. Professional football is not played in America. The American Rugby game is played by teams of eleven men on a field of 330 ft. long and 16o ft. wide, divided by See also:chalk lines into squares with sides 5 yds. long, leaving a See also:strip 5 ft. wide on each side of the field. Until 1903 the field was divided bylatitudinal lines only and was therefore popularly called the " gridiron "; subsequently it was called the " checkerboard. The end lines are called " goal-lines," the side " touch-lines." The two lines 25 yds. from each goal-line, and the middle line, or 55 yard-line, are made broader than the rest. In the middle of each goal-line is a goal, consisting of two uprights exceeding 20 ft. in length, set 18 ft. 6 in. apart with a crossbar ro ft. from the ground. The ball is in shape and material of the English Rugby type. A match game consists of two periods (halves) of thirty-five minutes with an See also:interval of fifteen minutes. Practice games usually have shorter halves. There are four officials: the See also:umpire, whose See also:duty it is to watch the conduct of the players and decide regarding fouls; the referee, who decides questions regarding the progress of the ball and of play; the field See also:judge who assists the referee and keeps the time; and the linesman, who (with two assistants, one representing each eleven) marks the distance gained or lost in each play. In scoring, a "touchdown " (the English Rugby "try ") counts 5 points, a goal from a touchdown 6 (or one added to the 5 for the touchdown), a " goal from the field," whether from placement or drop-kick, 4, and a " safety " (the English Rugby " touchdown ") 2. Mutatis mutandis, these are made as in English Rugby. American Rugby differs from the English game, because in the scrimmage the men are lined up opposite each other,'and, although separated by the length of the ball, are engaged in a See also:constant See also:man-to-man contest, and also in that a system of " interference " is allowed. Furthermore, a player in the American game is put " on side " when a kicked ball strikes the ground; and forward passing, i.e. throwing the ball toward the opponents' goal, is permissible under certain restrictions. The See also:costume usually consists of a close-fitting See also:jersey with shoulders and elbows padded and reinforced with leather; short See also:trousers with padded thighs and knees, heavy stockings and shoes with leather cleats. In the early period of the game caps were worn, but, as they were impossible to keep on, they were discarded in favour of the wearing of long See also:hair, and the " chrysanthemum head " became the distinguishing mark of the football player. This, however, Yds. 5 10 IS 20 26 80 J6 40 46 60 60 45 40 35 30 !6 20 16 10 5 Yds. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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