History of Football

mgarbowski

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We've occasionally talked about the origins and history of the games worldwide that share the name football, and while it's not a constant topic I think it deserves a thread. I also didn't know where else to put this story about America's First Football team in Boston in the early 1860s. This predates the famous Rutgers - Princeton game in 1869 which is often called the first American football game, but most accounts agree that contest involved some sort of hybrid that probably was as much soccer as gridiron football.
Similarly, Oneida F.C. in Boston played some sort of hybrid. Details in the linked article. I can't get enough of stuff like this.
 
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Great stuff. I will check out that article.

Worth noting that the 1869 game between Princeton & Rutgers was only 6 years after the Laws of the Game were adopted by the Football Association in England, essentially creating soccer, and a year before the Rugby Football Union standardized the laws of that game. Point being, it was at a time when “football” meant a lot of different things and rarely with much precision.

The 1869 game is celebrated both as the first American Football game and the first collegiate soccer game. Whatever it was is unclear - either soccer, rugby or something in between. The American Football reference doesn’t reflect anything that could have happened on the field that day; rather, it recognizes the game as the first step in the development of American Football, which developed incrementally over the late 1800s at northeastern colleges and universities.
 
Great stuff. I will check out that article.

Worth noting that the 1869 game between Princeton & Rutgers was only 6 years after the Laws of the Game were adopted by the Football Association in England, essentially creating soccer, and a year before the Rugby Football Union standardized the laws of that game. Point being, it was at a time when “football” meant a lot of different things and rarely with much precision.

The 1869 game is celebrated both as the first American Football game and the first collegiate soccer game. Whatever it was is unclear - either soccer, rugby or something in between. The American Football reference doesn’t reflect anything that could have happened on the field that day; rather, it recognizes the game as the first step in the development of American Football, which developed incrementally over the late 1800s at northeastern colleges and universities.
The 1869 game is neither the first US gridiron football game or first US soccer game, because of Oneida FC and probably countless less organized games from the same period and earlier. But it arguably is the founding game for the expansion and development of both sports in this country.
I would like to learn more about why soccer generally remained soccer all over the world, even in places like the US where it never grew as much, while rugby often spawned multiple completely separate variants, eg US football, Canadian football (which is not just US gridiron football in Canada), Gaelic football, Australian rules football, etc. Association Football (soccer) did have a few years head start with formalized rules over Rugby, but it was less than a decade and it seems unlikely that was the entire reason.
 
Worth researching the growth of soccer in the United States in the 1920s, when teams sponsored by local businesses would draw large crowds. These teams were even upsetting FIFA by going into Europe and signing players away from teams over there and bringing them to the states. The whole thing collapsed during the depression - somehow baseball and football managed to survive, but soccer did not. Worth noting too our performance at the 1930 World Cup. That wasn't just because it was a new tournament with less than full participation. It's also because we had a thriving soccer culture with strong professional leagues.
 
I guess because I'm an old dinosaur who followed the original NASL I found this a bit interesting.
TIL Sonny Werblin (NYC legend) who owned the Washington Diplomats back in 1980 wanted to move the team to Shea Stadium.
When the Cosmos asked for $12 million for infringing on their territory he said "eff' that" and folded the team.

A second team in the city would've been great. Especially so back in those days, because people didn't give a fat rats ass about baseball stadiums or 70 yard wide pitches. :D