The rule book, published in 1858, is expected to raise more than £1m
It may have been buried down the sport agenda this weekend in the light of Sheffield United’s ignominious relegation, but one story was a remarkable reminder of how this city was, and forever will be, the cradle of the national game.
The news that Sotheby’s will be auctioning off the first handwritten pamphlet on the rules of club football dating from 1858, raising in the region of £1 million for the world’s oldest club, Sheffield FC, was a refreshing break from the woes of the United and Wednesday, condemned to face one another in the third tier for the first time in three decades.
As was Monday’s commemorative fixture between Hallam FC and Sheffield FC to mark the 150th anniversary of the world’s very first football match.
The landscape of the city may have changed irrevocably over the last century-and-a-half, and those enthusiastic pioneers of the modern game may have been usurped on the local football scene to struggle courageously on in the depths of non-league, but their proud heritage and stubborn longevity can never be disputed.
It begs the questions: What institution of our modern times can seriously hope to endure for another 150 years? And what would have become of our celebrated sport had those diligent forerunners not codified its rules?
Unique document
The foresight of this unique document, estimated to fetch between £800,000 and £1.2 million and safeguard the Dronfield-based club’s future for decades to comes, is astonishing. It innovates the indirect free-kick, the corner kick and the solid (wooden) crossbar – novelties at the time but still key components of the game today.
And while the clause stating “no hacking or tripping is fair under any circumstances whatsoever” has proven a little too idealistic, we can’t fault the efforts of those involved in trying to forge a pure game unfettered by physicality.
Integral role
The pages may have faded over the years, the staples rusted and the original handwriting crossed out and amended, but this document illustrates Sheffield’s integral role in the genesis of the game. The pamphlet was published in 1858, one year after Sheffield FC’s foundation. This club, Hallam (founded in 1860) and the other clubs, many long defunct, which sprouted up in the Sheffield area nurtured a glorious game, refined it and took it to the world.
This proud tradition was on show on Bank Holiday Monday. On a sun-drenched afternoon and in the highest spirit, the two oldest clubs in the world played a match in doubt right until the final whistle on the oldest ground in the world. For one afternoon only, United and Wednesday were put in the shade, and in one of England’s most picturesque football settings, a game unfolded which gave optimism that these clubs, and the game they invented, will still be around in another 150 years.
