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, with responsibility for the laws passing to the Sheffield Football Association upon that body's creation in 1867. The rules 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.
In 1863, the newly formed London-based Football Association (FA) published its own laws of football. Between 1863 and 1877, the FA and Sheffield laws co-existed, with each code at times influencing the other. Several games were played between Sheffield and London teams, using both sets of rules. After several disputes, the two codes were unified in 1877 when the Sheffield FA voted to adopt the FA laws, following the adoption of a compromise throw-in law by the FA.
The Sheffield rules had a major influence on how the modern game of football developed. Among other things they introduced were the concepts of corners, and free kicks for fouls. Games played under the rules are also credited with the development of heading, following the abolition of the fair catch, and the origins of the goalkeeper and forward positions.Murphy, pp. 82–83. In 1867, the world's first competitive football tournament was played under Sheffield Rules.
Background The oldest recorded football match in Sheffield occurred in 1794 when a game of mob football was played between Sheffield and Norton (at the time a Derbyshire village) that took place at Bents Green. The game lasted three days, which was not unusual for matches at the time. It was noted that although there were some injuries no-one was killed during the match.Farnsworth (Sheffield Football: A History), pp. 16–17. The Clarkehouse Road Fencing Club had been playing football since 1852.Murphy, p. 39. The city was home to a number of sports clubs and the popularity of cricket had led to the chairman of Sheffield Cricket Club to suggest the construction of Bramall Lane.Young, pp. 15–17.
By the 1850s there were several versions of football played in public schools and clubs throughout England.Mangan, pp. 95–96. Their rules were generally inaccessible outside of the schools. There the football tended to be unorganised and fairly lawless games known as mob football. Although there were matches between small, equal numbered teams it remained a minority sport until the 1860s.
During the winter months in 1855 the players of Sheffield Cricket Club organised informal football matches in order to retain fitness until the start of the new season. Two of the players were Nathaniel Creswick (1826–1917) and William Prest (1832–1885), both of whom were born in Yorkshire. Creswick came from a Sheffield family of silver plate manufacturers that dated back several centuries. After being educated at the city's Collegiate School he became a solicitor. Prest's family had moved from York while he was a child. His father bought a wine merchants that William subsequently took over. Both men were keen sportsmen. Creswick enjoyed a number of sports including cricket and running. Prest played cricket for the All England XI and also captained Yorkshire on several occasions.Murphy, pp. 38–39. The inaugural meeting of Sheffield F.C. took place on 24 October 1857 at Parkfield House in the suburb of Highfield.Farnsworth (Sheffield Football: A History), pp. 21–22. The original headquarters would become a greenhouse on East Bank Road. The adjacent field was used as their first playing ground.Hutton, Curry & Goodman, p. 50.
History of the laws Laws of Sheffield Football Club (1858)
The first laws of Sheffield Football Club were approved at a general meeting at the Adelphi Hotel on 28 October 1858. The club's minutes book is still available, and records changes made during the laws' development.Murphy, pp. 41–43. Notable features of the rules included:Curry and Dunning (2015), p. 49.
Handling was forbidden, with the exception of "pushing" or "hitting" the ball with the hands, and a fair catch (defined as a catch from another player without the ball touching the ground). "Hacking" (kicking), tripping, and holding opponents were all forbidden, but pushing and charging were allowed. A free kick was awarded for a fair catch, but a goal could not be scored from such a free kick. A goal could be scored only by kicking (the 1858 laws do not specify the dimensions or type of the goal in further detail). The throw-in was awarded to the first team to touch the ball after it went out of play. The ball had to be thrown in at right-angles to the touchline. When the ball went out of play over the goal-line, there was a "kick-out" from 25 yards. There was no offside law. Like many rules of that era, the Sheffield rules did not dictate the numbers on each side.Murphy, p. 47.
The origin of the 1858 Sheffield rules has been the subject of some academic debate. Adrian Harvey denies any public school influence, arguing that the rules were derived from "ideas generally current in the wider society".Harvey (2005), pp. 95–100. In response, prominent football historian Tony Collins has demonstrated that there is a substantial similarity in wording between many of the Sheffield rules and the older Rugby School rules. Sheffield Rules (1858) (first draft) Rugby School Rules (1851) 1. Kick off from Middle must be a place kick. i: Kick off from Middle must be a place-kick. 2. Kick out must not be from more than twenty five yards out of goal. ii: Kick out must not be from more than 25 yards out of goal, nor from more than 10 yards if a place-kick. 3. Fair Catch is a Catch direct from the foot of the opposite side and entitles a free kick. iii. Fair Catch is a catch direct from the foot. 4. Charging is fair in case of a place kick (with the exception of a kick off) as soon as the player offers to kick, but he may always draw back unless he has actually touched the Ball with his foot. iv: Charging is fair, in case of a place-kick, as soon as a ball has touched the ground; in case of a kick from a catch, as soon as the player offers to kick, but he may always draw back, unless he has actually touched the ball with his foot. 6. Knocking or pushing on the Ball is altogether disallowed. The side breaking this Rule forfeits a free kick to the opposite side. vii: Knocking on, as distinguished from throwing on, is altogether disallowed under any circumstances whatsoever.—In case of this rule being broken, a catch from such a knock on, shall be equivalent to a fair catch. 7. No player may be held or pulled over. xii: No player out of a maul may be held, or pulled over, unless he is himself holding the ball. 8. It is not lawful to take the Ball off the ground (except in touch) for any purpose whatever. viii: It is not lawful to take the ball off the ground, except in touch, either for a kick or throw on. 10. No Goal may be kicked from touch nor by a free kick from a catch. xx: No goal may be kicked from touch. 11. A ball in touch is dead. Consequently the side that touches it down, must bring it to the edge of the touch, & throw it straight out at least six yards from touch. xxi: Touch — A ball in touch is dead; consequently the first player on his side must in any case touch it down, bring it to the edge of touch, and throw it straight out. Local influences may also have played a role: many of the original members of Sheffield FC were from the local Collegiate School, which favoured the kicking style of the game, rather than handling the ball. The kicking game was also prevalent in the local villages of Penistone and Thurlstone.
The club rules also dictated that any disputes on the field would be resolved by any committee members present — an early reference to the position now occupied by the referee.Murphy, p. 44.
At the club's next annual general meeting in October 1859, a committee was appointed to revise the laws and prepare them for publication. The laws were subsequently published later that year with only minor revisions.
Amendment of 1860 On 31 January 1860, a meeting was held where it was resolved that Law 8 should be expunged and replaced with "Holding the ball (except in the case of a free kick) or knocking or pushing it on is altogether disallowed".Sheffield City Archives FCR/2; see also Murphy, p. 46. This left the fair catch as the only form of handling permitted by the laws.
Amendments of 1861 At the annual general meeting of Sheffield FC held in October 1861, the following amendments were made to the rules:
The kick-out [roughly equivalent to a goal-kick] had to be taken from within 10 yards of the goal (rather than the previous 25 yards). It was clarified that the kick-out should take place whenever the ball went behind the line of the goal-posts without going into goal. Two flags were placed in line with the goal-posts, each flag being four yards to the side of one of the posts. The throw-in had to touch the ground before coming into contact with a player. It was clarified that the throw-in had to be taken from the place where the ball went into touch.
Proposals to ban pushing and to introduce "rouges" were rejected.
Laws of Sheffield FC (1862)
On 31 January 1862, Sheffield FC held a meeting at which a new set of rules was considered. The rules were confirmed one week later, and published later the same year as Sheffield FC's second formal set of laws. The major changes made in the 1862 rules were:
A change of ends at half-time was introduced, but only if no goal was scored in the first half. The dimensions of the goal were specified, with two "goal sticks" 12 feet (4 yards) apart, and a crossbar 9 feet from the ground. The "rouge" was introduced as a tiebreaker.
The rouge A contemporary newspaper report of the 1862 Sheffield FC meeting reported that the 'most important alteration is the adoption of "rouges which will have the effect of preventing matches to result in "draws'
The rouge originated in the Eton Field Game, where it was awarded when a player touched the ball down behind the opponents' goal-line in a somewhat similar manner to today's "try" in rugby.
Sheffield FC encountered the rouge in a match of 17 December 1860, when the club played against the 58th Regiment, winning by one goal and 10 rouges to one goal and 5 rouges. Reports of later Sheffield FC games during 1860 and 1861, however, do not mention rouges.e.g. At the club's annual meeting in October 1861, Sheffield FC specifically rejected a proposal to add rouges to its own code.