User:Grover cleveland/History of the laws of the game/London v Sheffield (1866)

London v. Sheffield was an association football game played on 31 March 1866. According to C.W. Alcock, it was the "first match of any importance played under the rules of the Association".

Origin
The match was suggested in a letter from William Chesterman, secretary of Sheffield F.C., sent to the Football Association in February of 1866. Chesterman stated that the Sheffield rules of the time were "nearly the same as those of the [Football] association", and went on to suggest the "advisability of the clubs in Sheffield playing a picked team from London, composed of the clubs playing under association rules". In fact, the team representing Sheffield consisted entirely of players from Sheffield FC, while the London team was dominated by players from Barnes F.C., Wanderers F.C. and N.N. Club, the leading Association clubs at that time.

Rules
The match was played under the 1866 revision of the FA's Laws of the Game, which had been adopted less than six weeks earlier. This set of rules introduced the "touch down" (similar to a try in present-day rugby) as a tie-breaker for games where each side scored an equal number of goals. Other notable features of the laws included:


 * Any player was allowed to catch or knock the ball with his hands (but throwing the ball and running with the ball was forbidden)
 * The throw-in could be taken with one hand and had to be at right-angles to the touch-line (similar to present-day rugby union). It was awarded to the first team to touch the ball after it went out of play.
 * There was no corner-kick; a goal-kick was awarded whenever the ball went behind the goal-line (regardless of which team had touched the ball).
 * There was no punishment for infringements of the rules (and thus no free-kick or penalty-kick).
 * Teams changed ends after each goal was scored.
 * There was no break for half-time.
 * The offside law required three opponents between a player and the opponents' goal

Preparation
Sheffield FC held a training match one week prior to the game to "practice the Rules of the Football Association". Among the most prominent differences between the codes were the complete absence of an offside law in the Sheffield FC laws (as opposed to a fairly strict offside law in the FA's code requiring three opponents between an attacker and the goal), and the smaller width of the Sheffield goal (four yards, as opposed to the FA's eight yards).

Summary
Sheffield won the toss, and chose the western end of the ground in order to take advantage of the wind. Arthur Pember kicked off for London. After 10 to 15 minutes of play, Ebenezer Morley kicked a goal for London. Under the rules, this meant that the teams changed ends for the ensuing kick-off. After a further period of play (ranging from a "few minutes" to "half an hour" in the reports), Barnes scored a touch down for London. After good play from Martin, Charles Alcock then kicked a goal for London, but it was disallowed for offside by the umpire.

The sources differ on the details of much of the remainder of the match. There is consensus that London's second goal was kicked by Martin, and that Tebbut and Barnes scored touches down. The identity of the scorer of London's final touch down is disputed, with two sources crediting Martin and a third Baker. The sources agree that the game ended in a torrent of rain and driving hail. Sheffield refused to finish the game early, despite the terrible conditions.

Post-match
The teams dined together at The Albion Tavern, Russell Street, Covent Garden, where toasts were exchanged. A return match under Sheffield rules was proposed, but the FA, reasoning that its own code of rules was supposed to be universal, declined the offer. The next match between London and Sheffield would not take place until 1871, at Bramall Lane in Sheffield.