Laws of the Game (association football)

The extant Laws date back to 1863 where a ruleset was formally adopted by the newly formed Football Association (FA) and written by its first secretary, Ebenezer Cobb Morley.

The Laws permit some variation for youth, veterans, disability and grassroots football, such as shortening the length of the game and the use of temporary dismissals.

[6] In the nineteenth century, the word "football" could signify a wide variety of games in which players attempted to move a ball into an opponent's goal.

Between the 1830s and 1850s, a number of sets of rules were created for use at Cambridge University – but they were generally not published at the time, and many have subsequently been lost.

By the time the Football Association met in late 1863, many different sets of rules had been published, varying widely on such questions as the extent to which the ball could be handled, the treatment of offside, the amount of physical contact allowed with opponents, and the height at which a goal could be scored.

During the meeting, however, the FA's secretary Ebenezer Cobb Morley brought the delegates' attention to a recently published set of football laws from Cambridge University which banned carrying and hacking.

[9][10] A number of representatives who supported rugby-style football did not attend this additional meeting,[11] resulting in hacking and carrying being banned.

[10] Francis Campbell of Blackheath F.C., the most prominent "hacking" club, accused FA President Arthur Pember, Morley, and their allies of managing 24 November meeting improperly in order to prevent the "pro-hacking" laws from being adopted.

Some notable differences from the modern game are listed below: At its meeting on 8 December 1863, the FA agreed that, as reported in Bell's Life in London, John Lillywhite would publish the Laws.

Additionally, in preference for hacking as well as handling of the ball, several clubs, such as Blackheath, decided against being part of the FA in its early years and would later form the Rugby Football Union in 1871.

[16] Minor variations between the rules used in England (the jurisdiction of the Football Association) and the other Home Nations of the United Kingdom – Scotland, Wales and Ireland – led to the creation of the International Football Association Board to oversee the rules for all the home nations.