The myth of the public schools as the inventors of modern soccer: the ultimate revisionism

Abstract

The article maintains that professional association football, far from being the descendant of games played at public schools in Britain, were substantially speaking created despite them. In the first place, while many of the rules constituting modern soccer were created in the public schools, essentially they were not popular, only obtaining mass appeal when they were applied and refined by forces outside the public schools, notably the football culture of Sheffield. Secondly, whereas until the late 1820s there was a great deal of sport conducted in Britain for stakes, the ethos promoted in the public schools disapproved of commercial sport consequently sapping its vitality. The growth and use of the financial element, especially the use of professional players, stemmed from outside the public schools, especially from areas of Lancashire.