Thomas Arnold was appointed headmaster of Rugby in 1828. He had a great profound and lasting effect on the development of public school education in England. Arnold introduced mathematics, modern history and modern languages and instituted the form system and introduced the prefect system to keep discipline. He modernized the teaching of Classics by directing attention to literary, moral or historical questions. Although Arnold held strong views, he made it clear to his students they were not expected to accept those views, but to examine the evidence and to think for themselves.
Arnold also emphasized the importance of sport in young men's education. Like most headteachers in public schools, Arnold believed that sport was a good method for "encouraging senior boys to exercise responsible authority on behalf of the staff". He also argued that games like football provided a "formidable vehicle for character building".
Each school had its own set of rules and style of game. In some schools the ball could be caught, if kicked below the hand or knee. If the ball was caught near the opposing goal, the catcher had the opportunity of scoring, by carrying it through the goal in three standing jumps.
In 1871, Charles W. Alcock, the Secretary of the Football Association, announced the introduction of the Football Association Challenge Cup. It was the first knockout competition of its type in the world. Only 12 clubs took part in the competition: Wanderers, Royal Engineers, Hitchin, Queens Park, Barnes, Civil Service, Crystal Palace, Hampstead Heathens, Great Marlow, Upton Park, Maidenhead and Clapham Rovers.
Many clubs did not enter for financial reasons. All ties had to be played in London. Clubs based in places such as Nottingham and Sheffield found it difficult to find the money to travel to the capital. Each club also had to contribute one guinea towards the cost of the £20 silver trophy.
The Wanderers won the 1872 final. They also won it the following season with with Arthur Kinnaird getting one of the goals. Other winners of the competition included Oxford University (1874), Royal Engineers (1875), Old Etonians (1879 and 1882) and Old Carthusians (1881).
Charles W. Alcock, the Secretary of the Football Association,that was the dominant figure in the early days of the game. As he pointed out: "What was ten or fifteen years ago the recreation of a few has now become the pursuit of thousands. An athletic exercise carried on under a strict system and in many cases by an enforced term of training, almost magnified into a profession."
According to Frederick Wall, the Royal Engineers pioneered the passing game at a time when most clubs placed an emphasis on the long-ball or dribbling. To popularize football, the club toured the industrial areas of England. This included playing games in Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield.
In the early part of the 19th century footballs were leather-covered bladders. There were experiments with balls made of natural rubber but they bounced too high to be used in football matches. In 1830 Charles Macintosh discovered a way of producing thin rubber sheets. This enabled the production of inflatable rubber bladders for leather footballs.
During this period footballers wore any pair of leather boots in their possession. Some players nailed bits of leather to their soles to give them a better grip during games. In 1863 the Football Association introduced Rule 13 that stated: "No one wearing projecting nails, iron plates or gutta percha on the soles of his boots is allowed to play."
The Football Association decided in 1872 that the football should be spherical with a circumference of 68 centimetres. It also had to be cased in leather and had to be weighed between 453 and 396 grams at the start of a game. As pointed out by The Encyclopedia of British Football: "On wet days the ball grew increasingly heavy as the leather soaked up large amounts of liquid. This, together with the lacing that protected the valve of the bladder, made heading the ball not only unpleasant but also painful and dangerous."
The 1870s saw several changes to Football Association rules. In 1870 eleven-a-side games were introduced with the addition of a goalkeeper. In 1872 the FA published an updated set of laws. This made it clear that "a goal shall be won when the ball passes between the goal posts under the tape, not being thrown, knocked on, or carried." The new rules clearly distinguished between goalkeepers and other players: "A player shall not throw the ball nor pass it to another except in the case of the goalkeeper, who shall be allowed to use his hands for the protection of his goal... No player shall carry or knock on the ball; nor shall any player handle the ball under any pretence whatever."
The FA continued to adapt the rules of the game. In 1881 the Football Association introduced a law that stated that if a player was "guilty of ungentlemanly behaviour the referee could rule offending players out of play and order them off the ground." If a player was sent off they were usually suspended for a month without pay.
In 1882 all clubs had to provide crossbars. Ten years later goal nets became compulsory. This reduced the number of disputes as to whether the ball had crossed the goal-line or passed between the posts.
Law 8 of the Football Association stated: "The goalkeeper may, within his own half of the field of play, use his hands, but shall not carry the ball." Leigh Roose, who began playing for Aberystwyth Town in the North Wales Combination League, in 1894, developed a strategy that was within the law but greatly increased the effectiveness of the goalkeeper. Roose began to bounce the ball up to the half-way line before launching an attack with a long kick or a good throw. As Spencer Vignes points out in his book on Roose: "This was perfectly within the letter of the law, though few goalkeepers risked doing it for fear of either leaving their goal unattended or being streamrollered by a centre-forward. It became a highly effective, direct way of launching attacks and Leigh used it to his side's advantage whenever possible."
Leigh Roose, who went on to play for Stoke City, Everton, Sunderland, Celtic, Huddersfield Town, Aston Villa and Arsenal, influenced a whole generation of goalkeepers. For example, Tommy Moore, who played for West Ham United, between 1898 to 1901, often moved up field and started an attack by punching the ball into the opposition half. In a game against Chesham, the game was so one-sided that Moore spent most of the game on the offensive. As the local newspaper reported: "Moore had so little to do that he often left his goal unprotected and played up with the forwards."
It was the railways that eventually provided cheap and fast travel for football supporters. Over 114,000 people watched Tottenham Hotspur play Sheffield United in the 1901 FA Cup. It has been estimated that a large percentage of the crowd travelled to Crystal Palace Stadium via the London & Brighton Railway and Great Northern Railway.
