The following are events in the 1830s decade which are relevant to the development of
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
. All events happened in
English football
Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...
unless specified otherwise.
Events
* 1835 – Section 72 of the
Highway Act 1835
The Highway Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will 4 c 50) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the Highway Acts 1835 to 1885.
Parish boards
The Highway Act 1835 placed highways under the direction of parish surveyors, and allowed t ...
expressly forbade any person playing at football (or any other game) on any part of the defined highways to the annoyance of passengers. Anyone guilty to be fined a sum not exceeding forty
shillings (two
pounds sterling
Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and ...
).
* 1838 – A pupil at
Rugby School
Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England.
Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...
called
Jem Mackie (1821–1867) became 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.
* 1839 – A former Rugby School pupil,
Albert Pell
Albert Pell (12 March 1820 – 7 April 1907) was an English solicitor and Conservative Party politician.
Early life
Pell was born in 1820, the eldest son of Sir Albert Pell, a judge of the Bankruptcy Courts and Margaret Letitia Matilda St John, ...
(1820–1907), began to organise football matches at
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
and is credited with introducing the game of
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
, which was then simply called football. Pell describes in his autobiography the difficulties of setting up a team.
* 1839 – It is claimed that the foundation of
Barnes Rugby Football Club
Barnes Rugby Football Club (formerly Harrodians Rugby Football Club) is a rugby union club based in Barnes, London. The club currently play in the fourth tier of the English league system, National League 2 East, following an increase of four ...
was in 1839 but without actual evidence. If the claim is true, Barnes is the world’s oldest football club (all codes).
Births
* 15 November 1831 –
Alexander Morten
Alexander Morten (some sources say "Alec Morten") (15 November 1831 – 24 February 1900) was a footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He captained the England team in its second official international, played against Scotland on 8 March 1873. ...
(d. 1900), England international
captain and
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
.
References
Bibliography
*
Association football by decade
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