The Football Act 1424 was passed by the

Parliament of Scotland The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...

in the reign of

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

. It became law on 26 May 1424, one of a set of

statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

s passed that day; it is recorded as ''James I. 1424 (May 26) c.18'' in the Record Edition of the statutes, and ''James I. Parl. 1-1424 c.17'' in the Duodecimo Edition. The title of the Act was "Of playing at the fut ball". The Act stated that ''it is statut and the king forbiddis that na man play at the fut ball under the payne of iiij d'' – in other words, playing

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

was forbidden by the King, and punishable by a fine of four

pence A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...

. The Act remained in force for several centuries, although somewhat unsurprisingly, it fell into disuse. It was finally repealed by the Statute Law Revision (Scotland) Act 1906. Three further 15th century Acts (in 1457, 1470 and 1490) explicitly prohibit both football and golf (see

Golf in Scotland Golf in Scotland was first recorded in the Scottish late Middle Ages, and the modern game of golf was first developed and established in the country. The game plays a key role in the national sporting consciousness. The Royal and Ancient Golf ...

) during ''wappenschaws'' ( en, musterings) for

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

practice.Parliamentary Register
/ref>

References

Sources

Gordon Donaldson Gordon Donaldson, (13 April 1913 – 16 March 1993) was a Scottish historian. Life He was born in a tenement at 140 McDonald RoadEdinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory, 1912 off Leith Walk in northern Edinburgh on 13 April 1913 the so ...

, ''Scottish Historical Documents.'' Scottish Academic Press, 1970. Reprinted 1974. * ''Chronological Table of the Statutes 1235–1991'', HMSO, 1993.

Citations

1420s in law 1424 in Scotland 15th century in sports Acts of the Parliament of Scotland Sports law Association football law Traditional football Repealed Scottish legislation Medieval Scots law Scottish society in the Middle Ages History of football in Scotland {{Scotland-law-stub

See also

References

Sources

Citations