The World's First Football Club (1824): John Hope and the Edinburgh Footballers: a Story of Sport, Education and Philanthropy

Description

This is the story of the world's very first club dedicated to football, founded in Scotland in 1824. Football was played from medieval times in schools and villages throughout Britain and took on many forms before the Victorians embarked on the process of codification. There were attempts in the 1840s to write down rules at Rugby School, Eton College and Cambridge University. When footballers got together they formed organisations and a club was founded at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1854, while Scotland's oldest is now the Academical Football Club in Edinburgh, established in 1857. Sheffield, also dating from 1857, makes a strong claim to be the oldest existing club now playing association football. Yet to find the world's first football club one has to go back to 1824, when an Edinburgh student called John Hope established what he simply called The Foot-Ball Club. No other contemporary football clubs are known to have existed, but this one thrived for almost 17 years, giving an outlet for organised football to a generation of young sportsmen. The club's extraordinarily detailed records have survived intact, including membership lists, accounts, letters and personal reminiscences. Many of these priceless items are reproduced in the book. Thanks to this unique archive, we know the names of almost 300 men who played for the club. The founding members might have been expected to leave football behind when they left school but by persisting with their juvenile activities and continuing to play this vigorous contact sport into adulthood, they were ahead of their time. The authors show in this book that the Foot-Ball Club fitted perfectly into the vibrant sporting culture which existed among a particular social class in Edinburgh. The city already had a wide range of clubs and societies devoted to physical exercise: Edinburgh sportsmen had already formed the world's first archery club, first golf club and first gymnastic club; they had written the first rules for golf, bowls and curling, and presented the first trophies for golf and bowls. The Foot-Ball Club continued in the same pioneering spirit, and the club's members went on to have an indelible influence on the ongoing development of football, in all its forms, far beyond their time and place. They had an impact on the game's future progress by passing on their enthusiasm and experiences to their sons, younger brothers and relatives. This is the story of how Edinburgh can lay claim to a number of football 'world firsts': the first club (1824), first written rules (1833), first medal (1851), first inter-school match (1858) and first organised games for girls (1861). There were Edinburgh-educated men at the founding meeting of the Football Association in 1863, and the city hosted the first rugby international match in 1871, in which the Scotland team was captained by the son of a Foot-Ball Club member. In writing the definitive history of the Foot-Ball Club, John Hutchinson and Andy Mitchell reveal who the club members were, how they played and what motivated them. They have uncovered a fascinating picture of sport and society in the city of Edinburgh, the people who lived in it and their social networks. They also tell the life story of the club's energetic founder, John Hope, who remained a passionate advocate of football throughout his long life, and was also a controversial character in other fields - philanthropy, education, religion, politics and temperance - which will resonate with historians of the period.

Get the book

Amazon.com

Search the book

eBay.com

Search the book

Similar books

• 

  James Louis Petigru: Southern Conservative, Southern Dissenter

  By William H. Pease, Jane H. Pease

  The Rise of the Planter Class in the South Carolina Backcountry , 1760-1808 ( Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press , 1990 ) ; William W. Freehling , Prelude to Civil War . The Nullification Controversy in South Carolina ...

• 

  American Lawyers

  By Richard L. Abel

  Trebilcock, Michael J., Carolyn J. Tuohy, and Allan D. Wolfson. 1979. Professional Regulation: A Staff Study of Accountancy, Architecture, Engineering and Law in Ontario. Toronto: Province of Ontario, Professional Organizations ...

• 

  The Best Lawyers in America

  By Steven Naifeh

  716-849-1333 Thomas Allan Palmer · 10 · Fiorella , Palmer & Zakia · 155 Summer Street · Buffalo , NY 14222 · 716-882-3365 Paul D. Pearson . 10 . Sullivan , Oliverio & Gioia · 600 Main Place Tower · Buffalo , NY 14202 · 716-854-5300 John ...

• 

  Gaslight Lawyers: Criminal Trials and Exploits in Gilded Age New York

  By Richard H. Underwood

  The New York City of those days is not just the venue of the intriguing true stories told in this book, it is also a supporting actor in them.

• 

  Stop the Presses: The Crisis and Litigation PR Desk Reference

  By Larry Smith, Richard S. Levick

  The Crisis and Litigation PR Desk Reference Richard S. Levick, Larry Smith. ThE sEars crisis Plan in acTion Two things set Sears, Roebuck and Co. apart from most companies: One, a crisis plan has existed since 2000 that allows for ...

• 

  Lawyers' Skills

  By Caroline Maughan, Mike Maughan, Marcus Keppel-Palmer

  Parties Johnrose Ltd; H & B Hauliers Ltd; Barsetshire Harbour Authority; Savage Investments Ltd. Or would the following be more helpful? Johnrose Ltd—company; client; mortgagor; lender of money secured on a ship.

• 

  Reflections on the International Practice of Law: Liber Amicorum for the 35th Anniversary of Bär & Karrer

  By Nedim Peter Vogt

  Reflections on the International Practice of Law: Liber Amicorum for the 35th Anniversary of Bär & Karrer

• 

  Verdicts on Lawyers

  By Mark J. Green

  ... 17 ment to ( 1967 ) , 135 Ford , Gerald R. , 167 equal rights amendment , 6 Ford Foundation , 22 , 26 , 158 , 161 , 168 estate planning , 125 Forman , William , 12 Ethical Considerations , ABA , 27–28 , 49– Fortas , Abe , 37 , 86 50 ...

• 

  Richard West Nash in Western Australia, 1839-1849: A Biographical Sketch

  By M. A. White

  Richard West Nash in Western Australia, 1839-1849: A Biographical Sketch

• 

  Lawyers in Conflict: Australian Lawyers and Legal Aid

  By Mary Anne Noone, Stephen Tomsen

  106 Neal, "Ten Years After - the Victorian Centres", 1 984, p 6. 107 Chesterman, 1996, p 26; Greenwood, K, 1994, It seemed like a good idea at the time - A history of the Springvale Legal Service 1973-1993, Springvale Legal Service, ...