User:Grover cleveland/Comparison of Sheffield football and association football

A comparison of association football and Sheffield football

Association football refers to the laws of football promulgated by the Football Association from 1863 onwards.

Sheffield rules football refers to:

This article compares the two codes during the period in which they coexisted (1863 to 1877).
 * The laws of football created by Sheffield Football Club, and adopted by many other clubs, from 1858 to 1867
 * The laws of football promulgated by the Sheffield Football Association (which included Sheffield Football Club) from 1867 to 1877, at which time Sheffield clubs adopted Football Association rules.

Offside
The offside law was considered at the time to be the most important difference between the two codes.

The original Sheffield laws of 1858 were distinctive in having no offside restriction at all, while the original FA rules of 1863 were more typical of the era in having a strict rugby-style offside rule, whereby any player ahead of the ball was in an offside position.

At the first revision its rules, in 1866, the FA's offside rule was relaxed to allow a player to be onside when there were three opponents between him and the goal, adopting the rule already in force at the public schools of Westminster and Charterhouse. During the FA meeting to discuss this change, "many [thought] with Mr Morley that it would be better to do away with the off side [law] altogether, especially as the Sheffield clubs had none", but since the total abolition of offside had not been formally proposed and advertised in advance of the FA's meeting, it could not be carried out.

For the next revision of the FA rules, in February 1867, Sheffield FC submitted a proposal for a relaxed offside law, whereby a player would be onside unless closer to the opponent's goal than all opposing players. This so-called "rule of one", along with a similar proposal from Barnes FC to abolish offside altogether, was "negatived" at the FA's meeting. In response, the Sheffield Football Association, at its inaugural meeting the very next month, incorporated the "rule of one" into its own laws.

The two codes' offside rules remained broadly unchanged during the remainder of this period, despite almost constant attempts at revision. A report on the Sheffield Association's 1871 annual general meeting described the offside rule as the "only [remaining] material point of difference" between the two codes, adding that the FA's rule of three was "characterised by the meeting as ridiculous". Proposals for the FA to adopt Sheffield's "rule of one" were reintroduced and rejected in 1872, 1873 ("the voice of the meeting was entirely against [the proposal]") and 1874. . A proposal for the Sheffield Association to adopt the FA's offside rule was introduced in 1875, but rejected, with a contemporary report stating that "[w]e do not doubt that if the Londoners [i.e. the FA] had shown a more conciliatory spirit [with respect to the throw-in rule -- see below], the off-side rule would have been accepted". A similar proposal was also rejected by the Sheffield Association in 1876, with opponents citing the rough nature of the grounds played on by the Sheffield teams, and claiming that "the strong defence it [the FA's offside rule] admits of would in many instances prevent any likelihood of a score being made".

Despite this resistance to FA's offside rule, the Sheffield clubs adopted the FA laws in 1877. A Sheffield Association meeting noted in 1878 that "the [FA] off-side rule so much condemned at first seems now to be understood and appreciated".

Throw in / kick in
The question of how to restart the game after the ball went into touch was of great importance in the history of the FA and Sheffield codes.

The earliest versions of both codes were very similar; they featured a throw-in taken by the player or team who first touched the ball after it went out of play. This throw-in was similar to that of present-day rugby union: it could be thrown with one hand, but had to be at right-angles with the touch-line ("straight out" in the language of the original Sheffield rules).

The Sheffield Football Association's rules of 1867 modernized the throw-in by awarding it against the team who kicked the ball out of play (as in modern association football). In 1868, the Sheffield rules changed significantly further by awarding a kick-in (in any direction) rather than a throw-in.

The FA's rules were comparatively slow to evolve. The first major change came in 1873, when Nottingham Forest FC proposed a change which would have made the FA's rules more similar to those of Sheffield by allowing the choice of a throw-in or a kick-in, awarded against the team who kicked out of play. The kick-in proposal was rejected, but the change in the award of the throw-in was accepted by the FA. Two years later, in 1875, the Sheffield Football Association, with support of Royal Engineers FC, proposed the full Sheffield rule of kick-ins to the FA. After "a very long discussion", the "Sheffield rule was negatived by a bare majority of two votes", even though it was "very warmly advocated by the officers of the London Association". At the next annual meeting of the FA, in 1876, Sheffield FC and Royal Engineers both again proposed versions of the Sheffield kick-in rule, but were again defeated.

Matters came to a head in 1877. At the regular meeting of the FA, in February, the Sheffield FA again proposed its kick-in rule, while Clydesdale FC proposed a compromise rule which retained the throw-in but allowed it to go in any direction. The Sheffield FA agreed to withdraw its own proposal in favour of Clydesdale FC's compromise. However, the compromise proposal was rejected, "to the instant regret of those who desired one common code of rules". This rejection prompted the publication of a pseudonymous letter in The Sportsman decrying the "hearty, ill-judged decision ... bringing the Football Association into disrepute", and denying that it represented "the general body of Association players -- even of those in London". A subsequent extraodrinary general meeting of the FA was held on the 17th of April, at which the Clydesdale amendment was reconsidered and passed.

As a result of this change in the FA laws, the Sheffield FA held a meeting one week later at which it agreed to abandon its own rules and accept the FA laws.

Note: from September 1867 to 1868, the Sheffield Rules also awarded a throw-in when the ball went out of play behind the goal-line to the side of the goal and rouge-flags. The throw-in was awarded against the team kicking the ball out of play, was taken from the spot on the goal-line where the ball went ouf of play, and had to be thrown at least 10 yards in the direction of the opposite goal.

Goal
The original FA rules of 1863 specified goal-posts 8 yards apart, but with no crossbar (goals could be scored at any height, as in Australian rules football). In 1866, a tape was added to the FA goals at a height of 8 feet, which remains the height of the crossbar to this day.

The Sheffield rules of 1862, by contrast, specified a narrow goal width of only 4 yards, but a higher crossbar at 9 feet. In 1868, the width of the goal was doubled to 8 yards, to be the same as the FA rules. In 1875, the Sheffield crossbar was lowered to be 8 feet, the same height as the FA.

Additional method of scoring during match
The Sheffield rules of 1862 defined the "rouge", a concept borrowed from the Eton field game, as a tiebreaker to be used when the two teams had scored an equal number goals. Under the 1862 Sheffield rules, a rouge was scored when the ball was kicked outside the goal, but within two "rouge flags" planted three yards either side of each goal post, and was then subsequently touched down behind the goal-line by an attacking player. The Sheffield laws of 1867 eliminated the requirement for a touch-down: a rouge was scored whenever the ball was kicked between the goal-post and the rouge flags under the crossbar. The Sheffield rules of 1868 eliminated the rouge entirely.

The FA rules introduced a similar tie-breaker, called a "touch down", in 1866. A "touch down" was scored whenever a member of the attacking team touched the ball down behind the opponent's goal line without a goal being scored. The "touch down" was eliminated from the FA laws in 1867.

Handling
What handling is permitted during play?

Goal kick
A kick by the defending team from near the goal or goal line (excluding the corner flag) is awarded when the ball goes out of play over the goal line and a goal is not scored:

Defensive corner kick
A kick by the defending team from the corner flag is awarded when the ball goes out of play over the goal line and a goal is not scored:

Offensive corner kick
A kick by the attacking team from the corner flag is awarded when the ball goes out of play over the goal line and a goal is not scored:

Free kick
When is a free kick awarded (excluding goal kick, corner kick and kick-in as described above):