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The Origins of Football Debate: The Evidence Mounts, 1841–1851

2014; Routledge; Volume: 32; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09523367.2014.970636

1743-9035

Peter Swain,

Sports Analytics and Performance

AbstractIn response to recent articles by Eric Dunning and Graham Curry, this article presents a wide range of new material from the period 1841 to 1851 in the ‘Origins of Football Debate’, using evidence gleaned from the British Library's digitisation of nineteenth-century newspapers. It responds to the charge that the works of ‘revisionist historians’, John Goulstone, Adrian Harvey and Peter Swain, are misleading and have led to hasty conclusions, and rejects their analysis that argues they are part of an academic community seemingly frantic for working-class influence to the detriment of public schoolboys. The article adds extensive evidence that records a much broader footballing culture across the country in mid-century than previously thought. In so doing, it addresses concerns, which have troubled many scholars, of the alleged disappearance of football in the wider community in the mid-nineteenth century, not least because of the sport's rapid expansion amongst the working and middle classes in the 1870s. The evidence presented does suggest that many forms of football other than folk football or games under the influence of public schools or public schoolboys were played, challenging ‘orthodox’ historian's views surrounding the influence of public schools and public schoolboys on the development of the game.Em resposta aos recentes artigos de Eric Dunning e Graham Curry, este artigo apresenta uma ampla variedade de novos materiais do período entre 1841 e 1851, no “Debate Sobre as Origens do Futebol”, utilizando evidências coletadas com a digitalização de jornais do século XIX da Biblioteca Britânica. Ele responde a acusação de que os trabalhos dos “historiadores revisionistas” John Goulstone, Adrian Harvey e Peter Swain são enganosos e levaram a conclusões apressadas, e rejeita as análises apresentadas por aqueles, que argumentam que estes são parte de uma comunidade acadêmica aparentemente frenética pela influência da classe trabalhadora, em detrimento dos rapazes das public schools. O artigo adiciona evidências extensivas que registram uma cultura futebolística muito mais ampla por todo o país, em meados do século XIX, do que era anteriormente pensado. Ao fazê-lo, ele aborda questões que incomodam muitos estudiosos, de um alegado desaparecimento do futebol da comunidade em geral em meados do século XIX, também por conta da rápida expansão do esporte entre as classes trabalhadoras e médias nos anos 1870. A evidência apresentada sugere que muitas formas de futebol, além do futebol popular ou de jogos sob a influência das public schools ou de seus jovens, foram jogadas, desafiando a visão de historiadores “ortodoxos” acerca da influência das public schools e de seus jovens no desenvolvimento do jogo.En respuesta a los artículos de Eric Dunning y de Graham Curry publicados recientemente, este trabajo presenta una amplia variedad de nuevos materiales correspondientes al periodo 1841-1851 relevantes para el “debate sobre los orígenes del fútbol”, obtenidos de periódicos del siglo XIX digitalizados por la British Library. Responde a las acusaciones de que los trabajos de los “historiadores revisionistas” John Goulstone, Adrian Harvey y Peter Swain son engañosos y contienen conclusiones precipitadas, y que forman parte de una comunidad académica presuntamente obsesionada con las influencias de la clase trabajadora en detrimento de los alumnos de las public schools. El artículo presenta numerosas pruebas de la existencia a mediados de siglo de una cultura futbolística mucho más amplia en todo el país de lo que se creía hasta ahora. De esta manera aborda la cuestión, que ha preocupado a muchos estudiosos, de la presunta desaparición del fútbol como práctica popular a mediados del siglo XIX, entre otras razones por la rápida expansión de este deporte entre las clases media y trabajadora en los años 70. La investigación revela que se practicaban muchas modalidades de fútbol además del fútbol popular o de los partidos disputados bajo la influencia de las public schools o de sus alumnos, poniendo en cuestión la visión de los historiadores “ortodoxos” en relación con la influencia de las public schools y de sus alumnos en el desarrollo de este deporte.En réponse aux récents articles d'Eric Dunning et Graham Curry, cet article présente un large éventail de nouveaux éléments datant de la période 1841-51 dans le débat sur les origines du football. Il est étayé par des preuves glanées dans des journaux du XIXe siècle digitalisés par la British Library. Il répond à l'accusation selon laquelle les travaux des ‘historiens révisionnistes’, John Goulstone, Adrian Harvey and Peter Swain, seraient trompeurs et auraient entraîné des conclusions hâtives, suite à quoi leurs analyses ont été rejetées sous prétexte qu'ils faisaient partie d'une communauté académique apparemment surexcitée par l'influence des classes ouvrières au détriment des élèves des public schools. Cet article ajoute de nombreux témoignages d'une culture du football beaucoup plus vaste que ce que l'on a pu croire jusqu'à présent, à travers tout le pays, au milieu du XIXe siècle. Ce faisant, il répond à la question qui a troublé de nombreux chercheurs à propos de la disparition présumée du football dans l'ensemble de la communauté au milieu du XIXe siècle, principalement du fait de l'expansion rapide de ce sport parmi la classe moyenne et la classe ouvrière dans les années 1870. Les preuves présentées suggèrent effectivement que plusieurs formes de football autres que le football folklorique ou les jeux sous l'influence des public schools ou de leurs élèves ont été pratiquées, remettant en cause le point de vue des historiens ‘orthodoxes’ sur l'influence des public schools et de leurs élèves sur le développement de ce sport.In Reaktion auf die jüngsten Artikel Eric Dunnings und Graham Currys stellt dieser Beitrag eine breite Palette neuen Materials aus der Zeit von 1841 bis 1851 in der ”Ursprünge des Fußballs“-Debatte dar und nutzt Belege, die den digitalisierten Zeitungen des 19. Jahrhunderts der British Library entnommen wurden. Es reagiert auf den Vorwurf, die Werke der “revisionistischen“ Historiker, John Goulstone, Adrian Harvey und Peter Swain, seien irreführend und hätten zu voreiligen Schlüssen geführt und lehnt ihre Analyse ab, dass sie Teil einer akademischen Gemeinschaft sind, die scheinbar wild den Einfluss der Arbeiterklasse zu Lasten der öffentlichen Schüler geltend macht. Der Artikel fügt umfangreiche Beweise an, die eine viel breitere Fußballkultur Mitte des Jahrhunderts quer durch das Land registriert als bisher angenommen wurde. Dabei spricht er die Bedenken an, die viele Wissenschaftler bezüglich des angeblichen Verschwindens des Fußballs in der größeren Gemeinschaft Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts beunruhigt haben, nicht zuletzt wegen der schnellen Expansion des Sports in der Arbeiter- und Mittelschicht in den 1870er Jahren. Die vorgestellten Belege legen nahe, dass viele Formen des Fußballs, andere als Volksfußball oder Spiele, unter dem Einfluss der öffentlichen Schulen oder öffentlichen Schuljungen gespielt wurden, die den Blick “orthodoxer” Historiker rund um den Einfluss der öffentlichen Schulen und öffentlichen Schuljungen auf die Entwicklung des Spiels infrage stellen.Best, Sandra本稿は、エリック・ダニングやグラハム・カリーによる最近の論考に対する返答である。これは「フットボールの起源論争」に関して、１８４１年から１８５１年にかけての時期の様々な新資料を提示するものである。このために、英国図書館がデジタル化した１９世紀の新聞から集めた資料を用いる。これは、ジョン・ゴルストン、エイドリアン・ハーヴェイ、ピーター・スウェインといった「修正主義歴史家」たちの研究がミスリーディングであり、性急な結論を導いているとする批判に答え、また彼らがパブリックスクール学生を軽視し代わりに労働者階層の影響力を無闇やたらに強調しようとする研究者集団の一部である、という分析を否定するものである。本稿は、世紀中葉のイギリス全土においてこれまで考えられてきたよりもより広範なフットボール文化が存在したことに、さらなる論拠を与えるものである。この中で、１９世紀中葉の広範なコミュニティにおけるフットボールの消滅という、多くの研究者たちを困らせてきた学説に対して反論を行う。とりわけ、１８７０年代に労働者及びミドルクラスの間でフットボールが急速に広がったことを示す。本稿で提示される資料によれば、パブリックスクールやその学生の影響下で行われるフットボール、あるいは民衆フットボール以外にも、数多くの形式のフットボールが間違いなく行われていた。これは、パブリックスクールやその学生がフットボールの発展に与えた影響に関する「オーソドックスな」歴史家たちの見方に対抗するものである。作为对艾瑞克·邓宁和格雷汉姆·卡瑞最近发表的一篇文章的回应，本文通过运用大英图书馆有关十九世纪报纸的数字化技术，展示了在1841至1851期间有关足球起源辩论方面的大量新证据。本文回应了认为修正主义历史学家约翰·古尔斯通、阿德里·安哈维和彼得·斯维因的作品是误导和已经导致轻率结论的论断。此外，本文还增加了大量较之前更广泛的跨国足球文化方面的材料，解决了一直困扰许多学者的忧虑——据称足球在十九世纪中期消失在更广泛的利益群体中，其中一个重要原因，是其在19世纪70年代在工人和中产阶层中的快速扩张。本文所提供的证据认为，受公立学校和公立学校男生的影响，除了民俗足球或比赛外，还有许多形式的足球广泛流行。这种观点挑战了“正统”的历史学家关于公立学校和公立男生在发展此项运动方面的观点。Keywords:: orthodoxrevisionistfootballdigitisationculture Notes 1.CitationCurry and Dunning, “The Problem with Revisionism”; CitationCurry, “The Origins of Football Debate.” 2.CitationTaylor, The Association Game. 3.CitationRussell, Football and the English. 4.CitationShearman, Athletics and Football; CitationAlcock, “Association Football”; CitationGibson and Pickford, Association Football; CitationMagoun, “Football in Medieval England”; CitationMagoun, “Scottish Popular Football”; CitationMagoun, A History of Football from the Beginnings to 1871; CitationGreen, The History of the Football Association, 37–58; CitationMarples, A History of Football; and CitationYoung, A History of British Football. CitationSwain, “The Origins of Football Debate: The Grander Design,” deliberately excludes Francis P. Magoun from his list of ‘orthodox’ historians. 5.CitationCollins, Rugby's Great Split; CitationCollins, A Social History of English Rugby; CitationMason, Association Football and English Society; CitationWalvin, The People's Game; and CitationTaylor, The Association Game. 6.CitationHarvey, Football: The First Hundred Years; CitationGoulstone, Football's Secret History; CitationGoulstone, “A Selection of Victorian Football Notices”; CitationGoulstone, “Surrey F.C.”; CitationGoulstone, “The Working Class Origins of Modern Football”; CitationHarvey, “Football's Missing Link”; CitationHarvey, “An Epoch in the Annals of National Sport”; CitationHarvey, “The Curate's Egg Put Back Together”; and CitationHarvey, “Curate's Egg Pursued by Red Herrings.” 7.CitationSwain, “Cultural Continuity.” 8.CitationSwain and Harvey, “On Bosworth.” 9.CitationSwain, “The Origins of Football Debate: The Grander Design”; CitationSwain, “The Origins of Football Debate: The Continuing Demise.” 10. Ibid. 11.CitationCurry and Dunning, “The Problem with Revisionism.” The foci of their criticisms are CitationLanfranchi et al., 100 Years of Football; CitationSanders, Beastly Fury; CitationHornby, Uppies and Downies; and CitationHay, “A Tale of Two Footballs.” Curry's criticism not only is reserved mainly for Harvey but also includes Goulstone and Swain: CitationCurry, “The Origins of Football Debate.” 12.CitationSwain, “The Origins of Football Debate: The Grander Design.” See also CitationSwain, “The Origins of Football Debate: The Continuing Demise.” I am grateful to Lancashire County Council Library for access to the British Library nineteenth-century newspaper resource used in these articles. 13.CitationHarvey, Football: The First Hundred Years; CitationHarvey, “Football's Missing Link”; CitationHarvey, “An Epoch”; and CitationHarvey, “Curate's Egg: Pursued by Red Herrings.” See also CitationGoulstone, Modern Sport; CitationGoulstone, Football's Secret History; CitationGoulstone, “A Selection of Victorian Football Notices”; CitationGoulstone, “Surrey F.C.”; CitationGoulstone, “The Working Class Origins of Modern Football”; CitationSwain, “Cultural Continuity”; and CitationSwain and Harvey, “On Bosworth.” 14.CitationCurry, “The Origins of Football Debate”; CitationHarvey, “The Emergence of Football in Nineteenth Century England.” 15.CitationCurry, “The Origins of Football Debate,” 3. This is particularly prominent with regard to Gavin Kitching who he describes as a ‘recent’ entrant ‘into proceedings’ which ‘highlighted his lack of in-depth knowledge of the area’ with his references revealing ‘a lack of wider reading and, perhaps, understanding’. 16.CitationCurry, “The Origins of Football Debate,” 1–2. 17. Ibid, 3. 18. Ibid. As regards Curry's ‘Eliasian’ influences, see CitationElias and Dunning, Quest for Excitement; CitationDunning and Sheard, Barbarians, Gentlemen and Players; and CitationElias, The Civilizing Process. 19.CitationSwain, “The Origins of Football Debate: The Grander Design.” 20.Lancaster Gazette and General Advertiser, for Lancashire, Westmoreland, &c., Saturday, March 27, 1841. 21.Preston Chronicle, Saturday, March 27, 1841. 22.CitationSwain, “Cultural Continuity”; CitationSwain, “Modern Football in Formation.” 23. In nearby Eagley Mills in Turton, north Bolton, the Chadwick family had provided a bowling green, cricket field, library and reading room as early as 1837. See CitationCleworth, Cricket at Eagley. 24. See letter from Mr J. Law to the Blackburn Times, May 22, 1920. 25.Preston Chronicle, Saturday, August 28, 1841, quoting the Blackburn Standard. 26.Belfast Newsletter, January 27, 1843. 27.Newcastle Courant etc, Friday, March 3, 1843. 28.Liverpool Mercury, Friday, September 8, 1843. 29.Berrow's Worcester Journal, Thursday, March 14, 1844. 30. For concern over the effects of the Annual Shrove Tuesday Folk Football game, see the Derby Mercury, January 1, 1845. 31.Era, Sunday, March 24, 1844. 32.Sheffield & Rotherham Independent, Saturday, March 25, 1843, 6. 33.The Leeds Mercury, Saturday, April 20, 1844. 34. For a much less optimistic view of the effects of the factory system on the working class, the classic text is CitationEngels'The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 which influenced historians such as Arnold Toynbee, Sidney and Beatrice Webb, John and Barbara Hammond, Eric Hobsbawm, E.P. Thompson, Walt Rostow, Phyllis Deane and W.A. Cole. Recently, some historians have started to question traditional interpretations of the effects of industrialisation – see CitationGriffin, Liberty's Dawn. 35.Sheffield & Rotherham Independent, Saturday, May 11, 1844. 36.Freeman's Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser, Tuesday, March 12, 1844. 37.Liverpool Mercury, Friday, December 22, 1843. 38.Preston Chronicle, December 30, 1843. 39.Morning Chronicle (London, England), Thursday, April 4, 1833. 40.Hull Packet and East Riding Times, Friday, September 20, 1844. 41.Times, July 7, 1859, Edward Maltby Obituary. 42. For mass games that survived into the twentieth century, see CitationHornby, Uppies and Downies. 43.Morning Post, Thursday, February 22, 1844. 44.Leicester Chronicle: Or Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser, Saturday, December 28, 1844. 45.Manchester Times and Gazette, Saturday, 28, 1844. 46.Ipswich Journal, Saturday, July 26, 1845. 47.Bristol Mercury, Saturday, August 30, 1845. 48.Morning Post, Tuesday, August 12, 1845, quoting the Birmingham Gazette. 49.Morning Post, Thursday, August 29, 1845. 50.Preston Guardian etc, Saturday, September 13, 1845. 51.Morning Post, Monday, November 10, 1845, 5. 52.Preston Guardian etc, Saturday, January 17, 1846. 53.Era, Sunday, March 2, 1845, quoting the Kelso Chronicle. 54.Morning Post, Thursday, February 6, 1845, 5. 55. See CitationDelves, “Popular Recreation and Social Conflict in Derby.” 56.Leeds Mercury, Saturday, March 7, 1846. 57. Orthography is the study of established correct spellings. 58.Berrow's Worcester Journal, Thursday, March 26, 1846. 59.Berrow's Worcester Journal, Thursday, April 16, 1846. 60.Sheffield & Rotherham Independent, Saturday, May 9, 1846, 2. 61.Derby Mercury, Wednesday, September 16, 1846. 62.Caledonian Mercury, Thursday, November 19, 1846. 63.Cornwall Royal Gazette, Falmouth Packet and Plymouth Journal, Friday, August 21, 1846. 64.Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle etc, Saturday, August 19, 1848. 65.Bradford Observer; and Halifax, Huddersfield and Keighley Reporter, Thursday, January 1, 1846. 66.Leeds Mercury, Saturday, November 28, 1846. 67.Bradford & Wakefield Observer; and Halifax, Huddersfield, and Keighley Reporter, Thursday, February 11, 1847, 8. 68.Berrow's Worcester Journal, Thursday, March 25, 1847. 69.Leicester Chronicle: Or, Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser, Saturday 13, 1847, 1. 70.Leicester Chronicle: Or, Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser, February 20, 1847. 71. Ibid. 72.Morning Chronicle, Tuesday, April 6, 1847. 73.Leicester Chronicle: Or, Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser, Saturday, July 3, 1847. 74.Freeman's Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser, Wednesday, August 11, 1847. 75.Standard, Wednesday, August 18, 1847, 1. 76.Glasgow Herald, Monday, March 1, 1847, quoting the Kelso Chronicle. 77.Preston Guardian, Saturday, January 8, 1848. 78.Morning Chronicle, Wednesday, August 2, 1848. 79.Era, Sunday, December 10, 1848. 80.Preston Guardian, Saturday, October 7, 1848. 81.Essex Standard, and General Advertiser for the Eastern Counties, Friday, July 20, 1849. 82. Ibid. Presumably ‘a, r and p’ refer to acres, roods and perch. 83.Bradford Observer, Thursday, January 4, 1849, 5. 84.Blackburn Standard, Wednesday, January 10, 1849. 85.Preston Guardian etc, Saturday, May 5, 1849. 86.Leeds Mercury, Saturday, December 29, 1849. 87. Ibid. 88.Freeman's Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser, Saturday, March 2, 1850. 89.Leeds Mercury, Saturday, August 10, 1850. 90.Nottinghamshire Guardian, Thursday, August 22, 1850, 4. 91.Liverpool Mercury, Friday, September 20, 1850. 92.Daily News, Wednesday, October 31, 1849. 93.Huddersfield Chronicle and West Yorkshire Advertiser, Saturday, December 28, 1850, 8. 94.Huddersfield Chronicle and West Yorkshire Advertiser, Saturday, January 11, 1851, 8. 95. Ibid. 96.Preston Guardian, Saturday, November 9, 1850. 97.Manchester Times, Saturday, May 25, 1850. 98.Liverpool Mercury, Friday, July 12, 1850. 99.Essex Standard, and General Advertiser for the Eastern Counties, Friday, August 2, 1850.100.Morning Chronicle, Thursday, August 8, 1850. For a report of the 1851 Fete, see also Manchester Times, Wednesday, August 20, 1851.101.Dundee Courier, Wednesday, August 21, 1850.102.Royal Cornwall Gazette, Falmouth Packet, and General Advertiser, Friday, September 6, 1850, 5.103.Morning Post, Monday, March 17, 1851, 4, quoting the Preston Pilot.104.Preston Guardian, Saturday, June 14, 1851.105.Leeds Mercury, Saturday, June 7, 1851.106.Preston Guardian, Saturday, June 14, 1851.107.Essex Standard, and General Advertiser for the Eastern Counties, Friday, July 25, 1851.108.Essex Standard, and General Advertiser for the Eastern Counties, Friday, August 8, 1851.109.CitationHarvey, Football: The First Hundred Years, 57. I take it Harvey means by this the working classes and middle class.110. Indeed, in similar fashion, Roy Hay makes the case that a football culture existed in Australia across the period 1820–1860, beyond the public schools and universities, with predominantly small-sided games being played by migrants to Australia drawing upon their British heritage.111.CitationGriffin, A Short History of the British Industrial Revolution.112. See CitationWalton, Lancashire: A Social History.Additional informationNotes on contributorsPeter SwainPeter Swain completed his PhD on ‘Modern Football in Formation’ in 2009 at the University of Bolton. He has since published a number of articles on the history of football, the history of pedestrianism and the history of bowls. He is awaiting publication of his book The Golden-Age of Cinema-Going in Bolton and has recently completed a short history of the University of Bolton for their forthcoming 190th year celebration.