A New School Game
In the Nineteenth Century
football began to be played in English public schools. The
public schools were very expensive private schools attended
by the sons of the rich and powerful.
The headmasters of three
schools - Rugby, Eton and Harrow – began to develop
new versions of football. The game became less
violent, less dangerous and easier to control. It
became a game for young gentlemen.
First cup?
Each public school divided its
pupils into clubs or ‘houses’. The houses played football
matches against each other, with each house wearing a
particular colour. The first football clubs were organised
in the same way as the house teams. Later the house
competitions were used as a model for the FA Cup.
At Eton two different types of football started. One was
called the wall game and the other the field game.
In the wall game you played on a narrow pitch alongside a
wall - something like playing football in a narrow corridor
in a house. In the field game the pitch was outside and
there were goal posts.
