The 1850s in the development of soccer
Year |
Event |
1850 |
The Factory Act (or ‘The 'Compromise Act') was passed by Parliament. A key provision of the Act was that all work had to stop by two o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, enabling workers to spend more time with their families, and playing or watching sport. In many cases football was seen as the ‘winter game’ for those involved with their local cricket clubs. |
1857 |
Sheffield Football Club was founded by Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest – ‘old boys’ from the private Sheffield Collegiate School in 1857. The club was the first to develop a much wider football culture beyond those playing on the pitch, in creating Britain’s first footballing city. The club is officially recognised as the oldest surviving independent football club in the world. |
1858 |
The Sheffield Rules was a code of football devised and played in the English city of Sheffield between 1858 and 1877. The Rules were initially created and revised by Sheffield Football Club and spread beyond the city boundaries to other clubs and associations in the North and Midlands of England, making them one of the most popular forms of football during the 1860s and 1870s. The Rules were unified with London (FA) Rules in April 1877 for the FA Cup to be played as a national competition. |
1859 |
Wanderers Football Club was founded as Forest Football Club in Leytonstone. East London. The club was made up former English public school pupils - especially from Harrow School - including C. W. Alcock, the so-called "father of modern sport." In 1864, it changed its name to 'Wanderers' given that it never had a home ground, playing instead at various locations in London and the surrounding area. The club was dissolved in 1887. |