Attempts to ban football games
Encyclopedia
Numerous attempts have been made throughout history to ban various kinds of football games
, particularly the most rowdy and disruptive forms. These attempts were most common in Medieval
and early modern Europe
, especially in England
, where a multitude of forms of folk or mob football were popular, among and between villages and urban districts.
Between 1314 and 1667, football was officially banned in England
alone by more than 30 royal and local laws. King Edward II
was so troubled by the unruliness of football in London
that on April 13, 1314 he issued a proclamation banning it:
The reasons for the ban by Edward III
, on June 12, 1349, were explicit: football and other recreations distracted the populace from practicing archery
, which was necessary for war, and after the great loss of life that had occurred during the Black Death
, England needed as many archers as possible.
Football featured in similar attempts by monarch
s to ban recreational sport across Europe. In France
it was banned by Phillippe V
in 1319, and again by Charles V
in 1369. In England, the outlawing of sport was attempted by Richard II
in 1389 and Henry IV
in 1401. In Scotland
, football was banned by James I
in 1424
and by James II
in 1457. Despite evidence that Henry VIII of England
played the game — in 1526, he ordered the first known pair of football boots — in 1540 Henry also attempted a ban. All of these attempts failed to curb the people's desire to play the game.
By 1608, the local authorities in Manchester
were complaining that:
That same year, the modern spelling of the word "football" is first recorded, when it was used disapprovingly by William Shakespeare
. Shakespeare's play King Lear (which was first published in 1608) contains the line: "Nor tripped neither, you base football player" (Act I Scene 4).
Shakespeare also mentions the game in A Comedy of Errors (Act II Scene 1):
("Spurn" literally means to kick away, thus implying that the game involved kicking a ball between players.)
In the period following the English Civil War
, Oliver Cromwell
had some success in suppressing football games, although they became even more popular following the Restoration
, in 1660. Charles II of England
gave the game royal approval in 1681 when he attended a fixture between the Royal Household and the Duke of Albemarle
's servants.
During the 18th century, football was used as a political weapon by the lower classes. In 1740, "a match of futtball was cried at Kettering
, of 500 men a side, but the design was to Pull Down Lady Betey Jesmaine's Mill's." And when a landowner enclosed
the communal lands of peasants, they could retaliate by playing football on the enclosed lands. In 1764, 2000 acres (8.1 km²) of land was enclosed at West Haddon
, Northamptonshire. A game of football was called and after the kick off the mob set about tearing down and burning the fences amounting to £1,500 worth of damage. Dragoon
s drafted to halt the match were helpless.
Even in England's early modern era, efforts were made to ban football at a local level, and force it off the streets. In 1827, the annual Alnwick
Shrove Tuesday game proceeded only after the Duke of Northumberland
provided a field for the game to be played on. (The Duke also presented the ball before the match — a ritual that continues to this day.) In 1835, the British Highways Act banned the playing of football on public highways, with a maximum penalty of forty shillings. The very popular English women's football
matches began in 1895 and were banned from FA grounds in 1921, stifling the game there for the following 40 years.
Football
Football may refer to one of a number of team sports which all involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...
, particularly the most rowdy and disruptive forms. These attempts were most common in Medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and early modern Europe
Early modern Europe
Early modern Europe is the term used by historians to refer to a period in the history of Europe which spanned the centuries between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, roughly the late 15th century to the late 18th century...
, especially in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where a multitude of forms of folk or mob football were popular, among and between villages and urban districts.
Between 1314 and 1667, football was officially banned in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
alone by more than 30 royal and local laws. King Edward II
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
was so troubled by the unruliness of football in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
that on April 13, 1314 he issued a proclamation banning it:
- Forasmuch as there is great noise in the city caused by hustling over large balls (grosses pelotes de pee) from which many evils may arise which God forbid; we command and forbid, on behalf of the King, on pain of imprisonment, such game to be used in the city in the future.
The reasons for the ban by Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
, on June 12, 1349, were explicit: football and other recreations distracted the populace from practicing archery
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
, which was necessary for war, and after the great loss of life that had occurred during the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
, England needed as many archers as possible.
Football featured in similar attempts by monarch
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
s to ban recreational sport across Europe. In France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
it was banned by Phillippe V
Philip V of France
Philip the Tall was King of France as Philip V and, as Philip II, King of Navarre and Count of Champagne. He reigned from 1316 to his death and was the penultimate monarch of the House of Capet. Considered a wise and politically astute ruler, Philip took the throne under questionable...
in 1319, and again by Charles V
Charles V of France
Charles V , called the Wise, was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380 and a member of the House of Valois...
in 1369. In England, the outlawing of sport was attempted by Richard II
Richard II of England
Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
in 1389 and Henry IV
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
in 1401. In Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, football was banned by James I
James I of Scotland
James I, King of Scots , was the son of Robert III and Annabella Drummond. He was probably born in late July 1394 in Dunfermline as youngest of three sons...
in 1424
Football Act 1424
The Football Act 1424 was passed by the Parliament of Scotland in the reign of James I. It became law on 26 May 1424, one of a set of statutes passed that day; it is recorded as James I. 1424 c.18 in the Record Edition of the statutes, and James I. Parl. 1-1424 c.17 in the Duodecimo Edition...
and by James II
James II of Scotland
James II reigned as King of Scots from 1437 to his death.He was the son of James I, King of Scots, and Joan Beaufort...
in 1457. Despite evidence that Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
played the game — in 1526, he ordered the first known pair of football boots — in 1540 Henry also attempted a ban. All of these attempts failed to curb the people's desire to play the game.
By 1608, the local authorities in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
were complaining that:
- With the ffotebale...[there] hath beene greate disorder in our towne of Manchester we are told, and glasse windowes broken yearlye and spoyled by a companie of lewd and disordered persons using that unlawful exercise of playing with the ffotebale in ye streets of the said towne, breaking many men's windows and glasse at their pleasure and other great inormyties.http://www.sport.gov.gr/2/24/243/2431/24314/243144/paper20.html
That same year, the modern spelling of the word "football" is first recorded, when it was used disapprovingly by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
. Shakespeare's play King Lear (which was first published in 1608) contains the line: "Nor tripped neither, you base football player" (Act I Scene 4).
Shakespeare also mentions the game in A Comedy of Errors (Act II Scene 1):
- Am I so round with you as you with me,
- That like a football you do spurn me thus?
- You spurn me hence, and he will spurn me hither:
- If I last in this service, you must case me in leather.
("Spurn" literally means to kick away, thus implying that the game involved kicking a ball between players.)
In the period following the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
had some success in suppressing football games, although they became even more popular following the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
, in 1660. Charles II of England
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
gave the game royal approval in 1681 when he attended a fixture between the Royal Household and the Duke of Albemarle
George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle
George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, KG was an English soldier and politician and a key figure in the restoration of Charles II.-Early life and career:...
's servants.
During the 18th century, football was used as a political weapon by the lower classes. In 1740, "a match of futtball was cried at Kettering
Kettering
Kettering is a market town in the Borough of Kettering, Northamptonshire, England. It is situated about from London. Kettering is mainly situated on the west side of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene which meets at Wellingborough...
, of 500 men a side, but the design was to Pull Down Lady Betey Jesmaine's Mill's." And when a landowner enclosed
Enclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
the communal lands of peasants, they could retaliate by playing football on the enclosed lands. In 1764, 2000 acres (8.1 km²) of land was enclosed at West Haddon
West Haddon
West Haddon is a village in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire, England about north-west of Northampton and east of Rugby and just off the A428 road which by-passes the village...
, Northamptonshire. A game of football was called and after the kick off the mob set about tearing down and burning the fences amounting to £1,500 worth of damage. Dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
s drafted to halt the match were helpless.
Even in England's early modern era, efforts were made to ban football at a local level, and force it off the streets. In 1827, the annual Alnwick
Alnwick
Alnwick is a small market town in north Northumberland, England. The town's population was just over 8000 at the time of the 2001 census and Alnwick's district population was 31,029....
Shrove Tuesday game proceeded only after the Duke of Northumberland
Hugh Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland
Hugh Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland KG, PC , styled Earl Percy until 1817, was a British aristocrat and Tory politician who served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland under the Duke of Wellington from 1829 to 1830....
provided a field for the game to be played on. (The Duke also presented the ball before the match — a ritual that continues to this day.) In 1835, the British Highways Act banned the playing of football on public highways, with a maximum penalty of forty shillings. The very popular English women's football
Women's football (soccer)
Women's association football has been played for many decades, but was associated with charity games and physical exercise in the past before the breakthrough of organized women's association football came in the 1970s. Before the 1970s, football was basically seen as a men's game...
matches began in 1895 and were banned from FA grounds in 1921, stifling the game there for the following 40 years.