Joshua is one big sports aficionado. He loves the thrill offered by watching as well as playing games. However, football, soccer and rugby are his most favorite sports.
But Joshua is not aware that all three are in a way related to each other. Both soccer and football can trace their roots in rugby.
Origin of football
Many historians believe that the inspiration of football can be found in rugby. The game was mostly played by colonists who had migrated from Europe and had settled in America.
However, the football that we know today has its origin in a game called ballown, which was played by the students of Princeton University. The players aimed at advancing the ball past the members of the opposing team. They would often make use of their fists and hands.
The Harvard University students too played a game that closely resembled football. The game was played between freshman and sophomore classes on the first Monday of each school year. This particular sporting event soon earned the moniker ‘Bloody Monday’ because the roughness of the game definitely caused injuries to the players.
The end of the American Civil War saw more colleges organizing football games. The year 1867 saw Princeton College come up with rules for football. The same year also saw Rutgers College coming out with its own football rules.
First football match
Since, Princeton and Rutgers were located within the same vicinity, they decided to play a football match. This match was played on November 6th, 1869. Rutgers won the match by 6-4. This was the first official inter-collegiate match. The match made heavy use of soccer rules.
Later in 1873, representatives from Columbia, Rutgers, Princeton, and Yale gathered in New York City to formulate a set of common rules for football. They also formed the Intercollegiate Football Association. Thus, football acquired its first set of definite rules.
Walter Camp
The game of football as we know it can be definitely credited to Walter Camp. He was the coach of Yale and it was during his tenure that many of the rules were established. He cut down the number of players in a team from fifteen to eleven. He also set the size of the playing field at 110 yards. Walter Camp is also credited for establishing the system of downs. Initially, the game provided the players with three attempts to forward the ball past five yards, which was then changed to ten yards. Later, in 1912, fourth down was added. Walter Camp is also known as the father of football.
Thus, the roots of football can be traced to the English games of rugby and soccer. However, the seeds of the football that we know were sown in the campuses of famous universities.
