Hobart 1870: The Rules of The Game

Line by Line

Was the game of football played by High School and the 18^th Regiment soccer?

For the same of clarity, let us call the rule modifications printed in the Tasmanian Times the ‘High School rules’.

The first step, as onerous as it is, is to look at the High School Rules and compare them with those of the Football Association.

And if FA Rules are missing from the Hobart Rules, do they exist in the “general game”?

The Football Association Rules were drawn up in London in December 1863 and tinkered with regularly throughout the decade on their slow march toward the modern game.

It is noticeable the High School rules are not written in the same official format of those of the Football Association or Rugby, but given these are modifiers, not base rules, such formality may not have been required.

So, let the comparison begin.

To avoid confusion, the High School rules will be in bold, and the FA rules will be italicised.

Rule 1: The ball to be kicked (any height) between two goal posts.

In one succinct sentence the High School rules define the how and the where of scoring. These stipulations are covered between of the FA Rules of 1863:

 “1. The maximum length of the ground shall be 200 yards, the maximum breadth shall be 100 yards, the length and breadth shall be marked off with flags; and the goals shall be defined by two upright posts, 8 yards apart, without any tape or bar across them.”

 and

“4. A goal shall be won when the ball passes between the goal posts or over the space between the goal posts (at whatever height), not being thrown, knocked on, or carried.”

Football Association, December 1863

It is clear the High School rules are a simplified, if not comprehensive, version of these FA Rules. 

Where High School explicitly states a goal is scored by kicking, the FA Rules instead rule out any involvement of the hands. By implication the FA Rules allows goals to be kicked.

Both sets of rules also explicitly state the ball can pass the posts at any height.

(We should note the FA introduced a height restriction in the form of tape in the first major modification to its rules in 1866.  We will discuss the feasibility of these changes making it to Australia later.)

The major deviation between these two sets of rules is the definition of the size of the ground. We don’t know if High School played on an oval or a defined rectangle, and can only assume such considerations were covered by the “general rules” or the limitations of the ground availability.

2. No running with the ball except dribbling.

While dribbling is never mentioned in the original FA Rules, there is a ban on running with the ball:

“9. No player shall carry the ball.”

As carrying is running with the ball in hand, the two rules are equivalent.

3. No holding, hacking, tripping or throwing of the ball.

Here is another direct correlation between the High School and FA Rules:

“10. Neither tripping nor hacking shall be allowed and no player shall use his hands to hold or push an adversary.”

and

“11. A player shall not throw the ball or pass it to another.”

We can already see a large correlation between the High School and FA Rules.

We can also note that if High School’s “general game” had been Rugby, the last two modifications would have completely re-written the game.

4. The ball not to be handled except in the case of catch.

As with scoring a goal above, the correlation of this rule with those of the FA is partly a process of elimination.

We’ve already seen both throwing and carrying the ball is explicitly banned under both sets of rules.

The FA Rules goes further on restricting the use of the hands:

“12. No player shall take the ball from the ground with his hands while it is in play under any pretence whatever.”

This leaves the catch and the knock-on.

Both sets of rules allow a catch, which the FA described in the following.

“8. If a player makes a fair catch he shall be entitled to a free kick, provided he claims it by making a mark with his heel at once; and in order to take such a kick he may go back as far as he pleases, and no player on the opposite side shall advance beyond his mark until he has kicked.”

This leaves the knock-on, banned by implication by the High School, and allowed by the 1863 FA Rules by a different set of implications.

The FA would change their tune in 1867, when they explicitly removed the knock on:

“8. No player shall carry or knock on the ball.”

So, we are back at the question of which version of the FA Rules could have been known in Tasmania in 1870, something we will be looking at in time.

Suffice it to say, the knock on is the only point of difference between the High School and original FA Rules regarding this rule.

5. The ball when kicked out of bounds to be thrown in at the place it went out of play.

Again, the High School rules seems a simplified but not comprehensive version of the FA Rules.

“6. When the ball is in touch the first player who touches it shall throw it from the point on the boundary line where it left the ground, in a direction at right angles with the boundary line.”

The only difference here is the FA Rules defines the ball be thrown out at right angles. But, so did the Rugby Rules, with the exact wording,  as printed in Cassell’s Out Door Games, as reprinted in a newspaper in Fremantle in 1868 . 

And so did the Melbourne Rules of 1866, though with different wording.

If the High School rules are a modifier for a “general game” there is a high chance the “general game” already specifies right-angled throw-ins.

6. A free kick to be the penalty of violation of rules 2 and 3.

Under the High School rules, a free-kick is given if there is tripping, hacking, throwing and carrying.

Here we find our first major deviation between the two sets of rules, but only because the FA Rules do not explicitly state what happens when one of these banned actions is undertaken.

The free-kick itself is mentioned in the FA Rules, both in rule 8 above, and rule 7:

“7. In case the ball goes behind the goal line, if a player on the side to whom the goal belongs first touches the ball, one of his side shall be entitled to a free kick from the goal line at the point opposite the place where the ball shall be touched. If a player of the opposite side first touches the ball, one of his side shall be entitled to a free kick (but at the goal only) from a point 15 yards from the goal line opposite the place where the ball is touched. The opposing side shall stand behind their goal line until he has had his kick.”

The FA’s seventh rule details what happens when a ball goes behind the goal. This situation is not mentioned at all in the High School rules, the only game-play rule substantially missing.

All three major codes mention free-kicks when the ball goes behind, and though there is some variation in terms of placement. Both the FA and Rugby rules are almost word for word, though the Soccerites are told an attaching free-kick must be towards goal.

If Rugby is the “general game” then the FA Rules would equate with those of High School.

Melbourne Rules only gave a free-kick in this situation to the defending side, so only partially match those of the FA. If Melbourne Rules were the “general game” then the resolution to a ball going behind the goals partially would see the High School rules partially equate with those of the FA in this matter.

This leaves three FA Rules which are completely absent from the High School version:

“2. The winner of the toss shall have the choice of goals. The game shall be commenced by a place kick from the centre of the ground by the side losing the toss, the other side shall not approach within 10 yards of the ball until it is kicked off.”,

“3. After a goal is won the losing side shall kick off and the goals shall be changed.”

And

“13. No player shall wear projecting nails, iron plates, or gutta percha on the soles or heels of his boots.”

The FA rule on footwear is word for word the same as those from Rugby but is not mentioned at all in the Melbourne game, perhaps a case of not needing to state the obvious in term of player safety.

Changing sides after a goal is consistent with both the contemporary Melbourne and Rugby rules, as was the toss. While the FA Rules stipulate a place kick to start the game, Rugby and Melbourne Rules simply ask for a kick-off, which might not be inconsistent.

Considering the generality of these FA Rules missing in the High School list, there would have been no reason to explicitly state them in the Tasmanian Times. All of these rules could have been assumed to have come under the “general game” which the readers were expected to be familiar.

If “general game” could have been Melbourne Rules or Rugby, then the High School modifiers align the game being at the Domain that Saturday afternoon towards the original Football Association Rules of 1863, with only a small number of variations or uncertainties, including the knock-on and behind.

Can we identify the “general game”? Both Rugby and Melbourne Rules in the newspapers of the 1860s had the catch and mark. They differed in terms of the behind rule, but not the throw-in. And the High School modifiers so completely change the way the game is played – no handling except the catch, no holding etc, as to make the “general game” possible unrecognisable.

And this is if the “general game” was either of these codes. We shall see later there was no obvious agreement on the rules in Tasmania in 1870, which may have been the reason the High School rules were printed.

It should be noted the Melbourne Rules were known in 1866, and, as mentioned, were adopted by the Launceston club in a modified form in 1868.

The Tasmanian newspapers do not seem to indicate any games were played under Rugby Rules during the 1860s, though a 1869 edition the Cornwall Chronicle claimed the only rugby ball in the colony had just arrived in Launceston.

But the case for Rugby as the "general game" is strong in terms of the written rules. 

Firstly the rules for the behind between the FA and Rugby Rules are almost identical. 

And there is the rule on throwing. Throwing was already banned in Melbourne Rules, so why should High School need to ban it. Conversely, throwing was allowed in Rugby, so a rule modification would have been required. 

And finally, as we shall see later, the three leaders of High School came from the UK, one of which is involved in this game, and a certain military force seems to have been more at ease with Rugby. We shall cover these issues later in regards to how the FA Rules may have come to Tasmania in 1870. 

We can also speculate the "general game" may have been an existing Tasmanian Rules, but this is likely to have been a hybrid of Rugby or Melbourne Rules anyway. 

With an emphasis on dribbling, no carrying and a strong similarity to the original FA Rules, an argument could be made the Tasmanian Times had printed rules which gave the necessary modifications to allow a Melbourne Rules or Rugby-literate playing group enough information to learn original 1863 rules of association football.

But Hang On?

The catch and mark had disappeared from the FA Rule book in 1866.

A height restriction came in the same year. 

Did the High School know about these changes the FA made before May 1870?

Surely, if the High School banned the knock-on were they aware the knock on was only banned in 1867?

But are these fair criticisms?

Had, indeed, those at High School even see the FA Rules written down? 

Or was there some dodgy memory at play? 

We'll explore how the rules may have gotten to Tasmania next. 

Which set of FA rules had made it to Tasmania in 1870, and how did they get there?

Part 1: Introduction - Australia's Earliest Known Soccer Game?
Part 2: The Rules of the Game
Part 3: When Did The FA Rules Reach Australia?
Part 4: Game Day
Part 5: The Military Men and the "Upmire"
Part 6: Final Thought and Conclusions