The following are events in the 1820s decade which are relevant to the development of football.

Events

1820

* By this time, some form of order was beginning to be imposed on what had for centuries been a chaotic pastime played not so much by teams as by mobs. This form of football, known more politely as "

folk football Mob football is a modern term used for a wide variety of the localised informal football games which were invented and played in England during the Middle Ages. Alternative names include folk football, medieval football and Shrovetide football ...

", was essentially a public holiday event,

Shrove Tuesday Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), observed in many Christian countries through participating in confession and absolution, the ritual burning of the previous year's Holy Week palms, finalizing one's Lenten ...

being a traditional day for games across the country. The games were free-for-alls with no holds barred and extremely violent. As for kicking and handling of the ball, it is certain that both means of moving the ball towards the goals were in use. * The public schools (e.g.,

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

, Harrow,

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

, Winchester) began to devise their own versions of football, rules of which were verbally agreed and handed down over many years until the first codifications in the 1840s.

1823

* The traditional date of the

William Webb Ellis William Webb Ellis (24 November 1806 – 24 January 1872) was an English Anglican clergyman who, by tradition, has been credited as the inventor of rugby football while a pupil at Rugby School. According to legend, Webb Ellis picked up the ba ...

legend. He was the Rugby School pupil who, it was said later, "with a fine disregard for the rules of football, took the ball in his hands and ran with it". Even if the tale is true, the game was a version of folk football with rules that were verbally agreed by the Rugby School pupils. Such rules were always open to challenge and it may be that an incident like this occurred with the result that a dribbling game became primarily a handling one. * Evidence exists of local games being played within certain limits (field and team sizes) which were similar to modern football in that goalposts, either erected or simulated, were in use as targets. There is a reference to players in East Anglia using their jackets for goalposts.

1824

* Foundation of the Foot-Ball Club, in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, thought to have been the first club to have played football of any kind, anywhere in the world.

Births

* 12 March 1820 –

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, ...

(d. 1907), an early influence on the rules of football. * 18 May 1821 – Jem Mackie (d. 1867), an early influence on the rules of football.

References

Bibliography

* {{Association football chronology Association football by decade