Original game . Re-creation . Rules . Tactics
On 21st February 1872, Reading Football Club played their first ever game, a 0-0 draw with Reading Grammar School at King's Meadow. Click here to read more about that game.
On Sunday 19th October 2003, STAR and Reading
School are re-creating that first match. If you want to print off
a poster and display it, then you can download the following file:
1872 re-match poster (117K)
To read it or print it off, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader,
which you can get here:
Acrobat Reader ®
The text of STAR's press release is:
STAR are pleased to announce the re-enactment of Reading FC’s first ever game, played on 21st February 1872.
The game will take place at the original venue, a pitch on King’s Meadow, against the original opponents, Reading School and to as near as possible the rules to which that game was played in 1872. Reading FC will be represented by a number of ex-Reading FC players and members of STAR.
A special commemorative kit and a brown leather football have been commissioned to mark the event. A souvenir programme is available for £1.It contains fascinating insights into ‘foot-ball’ of that period and debates the question of when, actually, was Reading FC founded.
The programme also makes the case for Reading’s forgotten England international, Edward Haygarth. In part, the match is being staged to highlight the injustice done to Reading FC by the record books which state that Haygarth, Reading’s captain and first star, was a player for Swifts. If the records were changed this would increase the number of Reading players to have played for England by 50% (from 2 to 3, in other words).
It is also being staged as part of STAR’s contribution to Reading Museum’s Homes of Football Exhibition season.
And for the sheer fun of it, seeing how easy or difficult it is for today’s players to play to by yesterday’s rules. The original match ended 0-0 as did so many games of that era.
The re-match takes place on Sunday 19th October, kicking off about 2pm in the presence of the Mayor of Reading.
The following is taken from the souvenir match programme.
We do not know exactly what rules were used for the first game. The Football Association laid down a set of laws in 1863, made a change in 1865 to introduce a tape between the goalposts, and then made major revisions in 1870. However, neither Reading FC nor Reading Grammar School were members of the FA in 1872, and so there is no particular reason why they should have adopted their laws.
A match report from the return match in March 1872 refers to "touch-downs", which existed in the 1863 FA laws but not in the 1870 version. We also know that in late 1872 Reading FC played a game under FA laws and were criticised for not being familiar with them. The most likely scenario seems to be that Reading's first game was played under something like the 1863 laws, with the addition of the use of a tape between the goal-posts. We will therefore do the same. Although it's not mentioned in the laws, we know that the first ever game lasted for 90 minutes and that each team had 13 players. One change we will make is to allow unlimited substitutions.
A summary of the 1863 laws:
All pitch markings are to be ignored
except the touchlines, goal lines, centre spot and centre
circle (the last two would not have been there but they
do reflect the 1863 laws).
The match will start with a coin-toss
between the two captains - the winner chooses ends, the
loser kicks off.
There are two umpires, one from each
side, who will be on the field of play but will make no
decisions unless an appeal is made.
Teams will change ends after each goal is
scored. They will also change ends at half-time if there
is no score at that stage of the game.
When the ball goes over a touchline, the
first player (from either side) to touch the ball down
with the hand will take the throw-in from the point on
the touchline where the ball left the field. The throw-in
will be one-handed, and delivered at right-angles to the
touchline. No player can touch the ball until it has hit
the ground. The thrower can throw it to himself.
When the ball crosses the goal-line other
than through the goal, the first player (from either side)
to touch the ball down with the hand will gain a free
kick for his side. If it is the defending side, the kick
will be a goal kick at the point on the goal-line
opposite from where the ball was touched down. If it is
the attacking side, the kick will be a free kick at goal
from a point 15 yards in from the goal-line and opposite
to where the ball was touched down. All defenders must
stand on the goal-line until the kick is taken.
Any player in front of the ball when it
is kicked is offside and can take no part in play.
However, no player is offside from a goal kick.
A player can catch a ball in flight - if
he does so and immediately makes a mark with his heel,
then he gains a free kick. He can take this from anywhere
behind the mark, and opponents cannot advance in front of
the mark until the kick is taken.
No tripping, no hacking, no holding, no pushing, and definitely no picking up the ball and running. Note that this also means no use of the hands by a goalkeeper other than to make a catch.
This is a list of suggested tactics sent to the teams:
This is a 13-a-side game - the formation
should probably be 1-2-10 (i.e. one back, two half-backs
and ten forwards).
The back effectively takes the place of a
goalkeeper - his normal tactic is to kick the ball
upfield into the opponents half of play as quickly as
possible, so playing a strong kicker in that position
would seem a sensible plan.
The half-backs should be the good
dribblers in the team.
Two of the forwards should be designated
as "sides" - their main job would be to try to
touch the ball down when it goes over the touchline so
that their own team gains a throw-in when the ball leaves
the field of play. Note that the player who touches the
ball down also takes the throw-in, so these players
should have a good arm.
The normal attacking role of the
remaining forwards is to form a close pack and to back up
the player with the ball and so attempt to move it
forwards. Sides and half-backs could join in, but at the
risk of leaving space open to exploit elsewhere on the
pitch.
Because of the offside rule, there is no
point attempting to pass the ball much. Instead players
should try to gain ground by dribbling with the ball most
of the time.
If the ball goes behind the goal and a
forward touches it down, then the attacking side gets a
free kick at goal (and they must kick for goal as opposed
to dribbling or passing from the free kick). However
because the defending side can just pack the goal-line,
and because the tape is only eight feet off the ground
there seems little chance of a goal. I think however,
that the side taking the kick should be able to create a
goalmouth scrimmage from the play, so there is an
advantage to be had.
If the ball goes behind the goal and a
defender touches it down, then there will be a goal kick
similar to that in modern football apart from the fact
that it is taken from the line. This is another good
chance to gain ground as it is the only time that players
can be in front of the ball but not in an offside
position.
The process of making a fair catch and
calling for a mark is essentially that used in Australian
Rules football. It may seem odd, but it is a good way of
gaining ground quickly and may occasionally also lead to
a shot at goal. The defending side needs to compromise
between spreading out to avoid leaving a gap to kick the
ball into, and allowing a quick charge from massed ranks
of the attacking forwards. The best example I can think
of is the way a rugby league team defends a kick-off.
Unless I get better information in the
next day or so, the penalty for an infringement of the
laws will be that the other side gets a free kick similar
to if they had caught the ball and made a mark at the
point of infringement.
The throw-in resembles a rugby union line-out.
The team could do with a simple system of calls to
indicate whether the ball is to be thrown short or long.
Players are allowed to head the ball, but
it was unheard of in 1872.
If a member of the crowd interferes with
a ball that leaves the field of play before it is touched
down, then the umpires will make a call based on what
they think would have happened. This was a common problem
in the 1870s.
Because we cannot dismantle the Council's crossbars, if a ball does hit a crossbar and rebound into play, then the defending side will have a goal kick from the centre of the goal. If a ball hits the bar and continues out of the field of play by going over the bar, then it will be the same as if it had not hit the bar.
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