Hacking is the name of a tactic in the early forms of football that involved tripping an opposing player by kicking their shins. A dispute among clubs over whether to ban the tactic eventually led to the split between the sports 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 ...
and
rugby football
Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league.
Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...
. Despite this split, rugby clubs banned the tactic soon after.
History
The practice of hacking in English football games had been around for many years and was not exclusive to rugby. Hacking was used as a way to get the ball carrier to the ground, where it was also legal to hack the first player into a
ruck Ruck may refer to:
* Ruck (rugby union), a contesting for the ball in Rugby Union from a grounded player
* Ruck (Australian rules football), an aerial contest in Australian rules football between rival ruckmen
* Ruck (rugby league), the area sur ...
.
Before the introduction of
referees
A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...
, hacking was also used as a method to punish players who were
offside.
Because each club and school had its own rules for football, a series of six meetings were held in 1863 at The Freemasons' Tavern to agree on a unified set of rules.
A main disagreement arose when hacking was attempted to be prohibited from these unified rules following complaints about the violence of hacking in newspapers.
Francis Maule Campbell of
Blackheath F.C. argued that hacking was part of the game and character-building, remarking that it "...would do away with all the courage and pluck of the game" and declared that he would "bring over a lot of Frenchmen" to beat the other clubs with a week's training. Campbell proposed amendments aiming at retaining two draft rules, the first of which allowed for running with the ball in hand and the second permitted obstructing such a run by hacking, tripping, or holding.
As a result of his amendments being rejected, he withdrew Blackheath from the meetings of
The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...
, thus creating the split between rugby and association football.
Abolition
Despite Campbell's strong support for hacking to remain part of rugby, numerous clubs abolished it in the following years, with Blackheath and
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, Californi ...
banning it in 1865 and 1866 respectively.
In 1871, rugby clubs formed the
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...
and all mention of hacking permitted in the rules was eventually removed.
Some rugby clubs insisted on maintaining the tactic of hacking after the formation of the RFU. As a result,
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. ...
where the game was invented could not join the RFU until 1890 because they refused to ban hacking in their games.
Under the current
laws of rugby union
The laws of Rugby Union are defined by World Rugby (originally the International Rugby Football Board, and later International Rugby Board) and dictate how the game should be played. They are enforced by a referee, generally with the help of two ...
, section 10.4.d prohibits hacking in modern rugby matches.
See also
*
Shin-kicking
Shin-kicking, also known as shin diggings or purring, is a combat sport that involves two contestants attempting to kick each other on the shin in order to force their opponent to the ground. It has been described as an English martial art, an ...
References
{{reflist, 30em
History of rugby union
Rugby football culture
Banned sports tactics
History of association football