A brief study of football in London from 1800 to the founding of the Football Association in 1863

Abstract

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to examine football-related events in London from 1800 to the early years of the Football Association (FA), following its foundation in 1863. The focus will fall to the latter part of that period, simply because there are more resources available, with a greater number of reports and references to football in the press. In saying ‘football’, this covers a broad spectrum of activities that would have the key elements of what we now call, and recognize as, association football, although, of course, some of these activities would include practices that would later find themselves in the realm of the game of rugby. This article will also give an idea of how football was part of London life, and will necessarily include components of local history as a way of illustrating this.