1873-74: The Victorian Big Three

Join us on a journey through time as we explore the early days of English football! Delve into the formation of the Football Association in 1863 and the rise of amateurism in the sport. Get a glimpse of the thrilling 1873-74 Football Association Challenge Cup, a key event that showcased the growing popularity of football in England. Make sure to subscribe to our channel to stay updated on all things football history!

[@SheffieldTheHomeofFootball]

Hi, love your videos but you start this one by starting that the 1873 to 1874 seasons was the third season of competitive football in England. Of course it was the 5th oldest after 1867, 1868 and then the start of the FA cup in 1871. The 1867 date being the oldest association cup tournament the the world, the Youdan Cup and the second oldest the Cromwell Cup.

[@BritanniaFootball]

I should have explained it better in this video. The Youdan Cup and the Cromwell Cup were played under Sheffield rules. I should have explained the distinction in the video better. The FA Cup was the first competition played under Association rules, making 1873-74 the third season of competitive Association football in England.

[@SheffieldTheHomeofFootball]

@@BritanniaFootball Hi it's now widely accepted that the Sheffield Rules are the earliest form of association rules since both codes unified in 1877 & Sheffield's were written in 1858. Further more, they influenced the FA code in Nov 1863 to remove handling and hacking. The FA would have collapsed without Sheffield's influence in early 1867 and given way to rugby. Also, 2 thirds of all rules changes made to FA rules came from Sheffield anyway between 1863 & 1877. If you take free kicks, goals kicks, indirect kicks, throw ins, penalties, the D, 90 mins, 11 a side, the ball size, crossbars, referees, corner kicks, passing, heading, captains & formational tactics out of the game you don't have association football. All of those rules and features of modern football came from the Sheffield Rules. The game called association football started in Sheffield. It does not take it's name from the "FA" that s too simplistic and ignores the real history of the games development.

[@BritanniaFootball]

This is fascinating stuff. I will certainly be doing a lot more research on the Sheffield rules, and I will aim to do a video all about the influence it has had on the modern game. You seem a very knowledgeable person. Thank you for taking the time to explain. I always love to learn something that I did not know. 🙂👍

[@SheffieldTheHomeofFootball]

@@BritanniaFootball I would recommend Adrian Harvey's First 100 Years or Graham Curry's Early Football Professionalism in Sheffield. I have just co-written a Children's Illustrated History of Sheffield Football which can be obtained from the Sheffield Home of Football web site SHOP link. Keep up the good work!!

[@BritanniaFootball]

Thank you, I will take a look at these

[@SheffieldTheHomeofFootball]

Also, sorry but you next state that association football in 1863 was played mainly by public schools or similar then jump to the 1873 date. Please remember that by 1863 20 clubs existed in Sheffield playing the rules that became modern football. By the early 187o's nearly 200 clubs existed in Sheffield (nearly half of all the clubs in the world). None of these clubs came from public schools.

[@BritanniaFootball]

Sheffield rules football was a separate code from Association rules football, which was played mainly by public schools. What we call football today is Association Football, which is where the word soccer comes from, the 'soc' in the word association.

[@SheffieldTheHomeofFootball]

@@BritanniaFootball The game we play today is not just the code formed by the FA. It's an amalgamation of 2 codes. Please see my other reply for a fuller explanation. Most clubs played by Sheffield Rules. Pre 1870 very few clubs were playing the FA code. 188 clubs existed in Sheffield playing Sheffield rules by mid 1875 (2 years after this video is covering). There were only just short of 400 known clubs in the world. Half the football being played on the planet 2 years after 1873 was being played in Sheffield. If you include there clubs playing Sheffield rules then the FA code becomes insignificant during the first 20 years of the game.