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The Shared Origins of Football, Rugby, and Soccer

Christopher Rowley

In today’s hypercompetitive world, contact sports bring about fierce rivalries between fans, between players, and even between countries. From the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines in grid iron football, to the Australian Wallabies and the New Zealand All Blacks in rugby, to Real Madrid and Barcelona in association football (soccer), contact sports incite a passion few other games can replicate. Though these modern contests of brawn might vary in ways both subtle and significant, they draw on a common history that dates back centuries. Overcoming rulers, conquerors, and religious leaders, the games of ancient times survived and flourished to become the sports we know and love today.

In The Shared Origins of Football, Rugby, and Soccer, Christopher Rowley reveals how ball games arose and took shape into seven distinct forms: American football, association football, Australian rules football, Canadian football, Gaelic football, rugby league football, and rugby union football. Rowley traces ball games back to the Mayans in Meso-America and the Han Dynasty in China, through ancient Egypt and Greece, and on through the Cradle of football in England and Scotland. His narrative includes the relatively recent development of rules, codes, and leagues and concludes with the current state of football around the world.

The Shared Origins of Football, Rugby, and Soccer takes the reader through this unique odyssey in world history by bringing to life the little-known games of the past. Rowley recreates ancient games from around the world based on surviving documents and illustrations, and relates first-hand accounts of fossil games still played today. Through careful research, the common ancestry of our modern seven codes of football is finally pieced together to create a fascinating history of the world of football that we know today.
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Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 260 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼
978-1-4422-4618-8 • Hardback • September 2015 • $51.00 • (£39.00)
978-1-4422-4619-5 • eBook • September 2015 • $48.50 • (£37.00)
Subjects: Sports & Recreation / History, Sports & Recreation / Football, Sports & Recreation / Soccer, Sports & Recreation / Rugby, History / World
Christopher Rowley is a journalist and reporter for a local newspaper in the Catskills region of New York. He is the author of twenty-three science fiction and fantasy novels.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter One: Ancient Games
Chapter Two: From Greece to the Cradle
Chapter Three: The Cradle of Football
Chapter Four: The Middle Ages
Chapter Five: The End of the Middle Ages
Chapter Six: The Age of Rules, Part I
Chapter Seven: The Age of Rules, Part II
Chapter Eight: Around the World
Chapter Nine: The Football Association and Football League
Chapter Ten: Rugby Union - Rugby League - Gaelic Football
Chapter Eleven: Soccer Goes Global
Chapter Twelve: America—The Exception and the Rule
Chapter Thirteen: On to the Modern World
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
In this self-proclaimed nonacademic work, Rowley traces the origins of seven contemporary ball games—all variants of American football, soccer, and rugby—to a common beginning. He organizes the book chronologically but frequently digresses as he covers the history of these games from ancient to modern times. This span allows only a cursory description of the material, but Rowley's purpose is to provide not a detailed analysis of the history and significance of each game but rather a descriptive history that will give the fan a better understanding of each. Rowley is a journalist and novelist, and that background is evident in the writing style. He often places the reader as a spectator at a ‘re-creation’ of the historical games, embellishing generally acknowledged facts into snapshots of history. . . .Rowley's account of commonalities of the games is entertaining.
— Choice Reviews


The book is a rampage through history, pulling from Greek versions of ball games and earlier, before leaping oceans to chart Mayan and ancient Han Chinese games, then settling into the various versions of today's games involving inflated balls, or differing shapes, kicked or passed or somehow driven by teams across goal lines or into protected nets. Rowley explains the wild rural British and French variations of what we now see, involving entire villages, as well as the rule origins of American football, Canadian football, rugby, Australian rugby and associated football (soccer).
— Woodstock Times


For football (or rugby or soccer) fans who [are] unfamiliar with the history of their favorite sports prior to the mid-19th century, the book is a quick and engaging read that offers a broad-strokes look at the history that led to the variety of modern football codes.
— Sport in American History


The Shared Origins of Football, Rugby, and Soccer

Cover Image
Hardback
eBook
Summary
Summary
  • In today’s hypercompetitive world, contact sports bring about fierce rivalries between fans, between players, and even between countries. From the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines in grid iron football, to the Australian Wallabies and the New Zealand All Blacks in rugby, to Real Madrid and Barcelona in association football (soccer), contact sports incite a passion few other games can replicate. Though these modern contests of brawn might vary in ways both subtle and significant, they draw on a common history that dates back centuries. Overcoming rulers, conquerors, and religious leaders, the games of ancient times survived and flourished to become the sports we know and love today.

    In The Shared Origins of Football, Rugby, and Soccer, Christopher Rowley reveals how ball games arose and took shape into seven distinct forms: American football, association football, Australian rules football, Canadian football, Gaelic football, rugby league football, and rugby union football. Rowley traces ball games back to the Mayans in Meso-America and the Han Dynasty in China, through ancient Egypt and Greece, and on through the Cradle of football in England and Scotland. His narrative includes the relatively recent development of rules, codes, and leagues and concludes with the current state of football around the world.

    The Shared Origins of Football, Rugby, and Soccer takes the reader through this unique odyssey in world history by bringing to life the little-known games of the past. Rowley recreates ancient games from around the world based on surviving documents and illustrations, and relates first-hand accounts of fossil games still played today. Through careful research, the common ancestry of our modern seven codes of football is finally pieced together to create a fascinating history of the world of football that we know today.
Details
Details
  • Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
    Pages: 260 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼
    978-1-4422-4618-8 • Hardback • September 2015 • $51.00 • (£39.00)
    978-1-4422-4619-5 • eBook • September 2015 • $48.50 • (£37.00)
    Subjects: Sports & Recreation / History, Sports & Recreation / Football, Sports & Recreation / Soccer, Sports & Recreation / Rugby, History / World
Author
Author
  • Christopher Rowley is a journalist and reporter for a local newspaper in the Catskills region of New York. He is the author of twenty-three science fiction and fantasy novels.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
  • Acknowledgments
    Introduction
    Chapter One: Ancient Games
    Chapter Two: From Greece to the Cradle
    Chapter Three: The Cradle of Football
    Chapter Four: The Middle Ages
    Chapter Five: The End of the Middle Ages
    Chapter Six: The Age of Rules, Part I
    Chapter Seven: The Age of Rules, Part II
    Chapter Eight: Around the World
    Chapter Nine: The Football Association and Football League
    Chapter Ten: Rugby Union - Rugby League - Gaelic Football
    Chapter Eleven: Soccer Goes Global
    Chapter Twelve: America—The Exception and the Rule
    Chapter Thirteen: On to the Modern World
    Bibliography
    Index
    About the Author
Reviews
Reviews
  • In this self-proclaimed nonacademic work, Rowley traces the origins of seven contemporary ball games—all variants of American football, soccer, and rugby—to a common beginning. He organizes the book chronologically but frequently digresses as he covers the history of these games from ancient to modern times. This span allows only a cursory description of the material, but Rowley's purpose is to provide not a detailed analysis of the history and significance of each game but rather a descriptive history that will give the fan a better understanding of each. Rowley is a journalist and novelist, and that background is evident in the writing style. He often places the reader as a spectator at a ‘re-creation’ of the historical games, embellishing generally acknowledged facts into snapshots of history. . . .Rowley's account of commonalities of the games is entertaining.
    — Choice Reviews


    The book is a rampage through history, pulling from Greek versions of ball games and earlier, before leaping oceans to chart Mayan and ancient Han Chinese games, then settling into the various versions of today's games involving inflated balls, or differing shapes, kicked or passed or somehow driven by teams across goal lines or into protected nets. Rowley explains the wild rural British and French variations of what we now see, involving entire villages, as well as the rule origins of American football, Canadian football, rugby, Australian rugby and associated football (soccer).
    — Woodstock Times


    For football (or rugby or soccer) fans who [are] unfamiliar with the history of their favorite sports prior to the mid-19th century, the book is a quick and engaging read that offers a broad-strokes look at the history that led to the variety of modern football codes.
    — Sport in American History


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