The Same Old Game

Although the Football Association was founded in 1863 to draw up simple rules for a game to unite the football community, a unified code was never to be. In the second of two volumes on the origins of football, Mike Roberts tells the story of how and why so many different versions of the same game came into existence. For a start, in Melbourne, Australia, the local footballers had already agreed to their own rules before the FA was even formed, and the game they created is still played today - arguably the oldest and most 'authentic' member of the football family. Back in Britain, the clubs that preferred a more physical game in which the ball could be carried were not convinced by FA's kicking game. Instead, they formed their own association and developed the rival code of rugby. And there was yet more division to come with the infamous schism between rugby union and what became rugby league. But neither soccer nor rugby were always welcomed in Ireland, which was fighting to preserve its own separate identity. In defiance against these foreign games, the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded and devised its own set of rules. The story also takes us to North America, and shows how and why rugby was adopted in the United States but was soon changed into the different sport of American football. And not forgetting Canada, whose own game developed in a similar fashion to the American one, but never quite entirely. Each of these sports have built up their own histories and traditions. But although these are now usually told separately, by treating them all as The Same Old Game, Mike Roberts reveals how each of the codes share a common ancestry. Visit The Same Old Game website for full details and also to learn about The Same Old Game Volume One: Before Codification