It’s finally out! Origin Stories: The Pioneers Who Took Football to the World is out via Pitch Publishing now! Listen to the podcast to learn all about the book and how football started. Where did it succeed and why? Why didn’t it become the major footballing code in quite a few countries? Check out the podcast above for more info and/or read on and/or watch the video…
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The book follows the country-by-country origins of Association football in most major footballing nations and regions in rough chronological order from the very first kick until the inaugural FIFA World Cup in Uruguay in 1930, at which point Association football had gone global.
The book is not a debate about who invented football; there was a kicking game of some description pretty much everywhere at various points in time. It’s about how the Association game ascended in the territories I focus on and explores the people, clubs, sponsors, and associations that introduced and promoted it locally.
It’s taken four years of research, but if you’ve been following my Pioneers series of blog posts and podcasts over the last few years, you’ll see I’ve been road-testing some of the stories here.
I’ve sought out the expertise of local football historians and experts in each country to get as close to the source material as possible. I also had the privilege to speak to three descendants of pioneering players or club founders.
Some of the first matches, clubs and pioneer stories are relatively well-known but I have also uncovered some stories that haven’t really been told in English before.
A brief overview of Origin Stories
The book starts in England, with a little on the formulation of the Football Association rulebook in 1863 and how it was built on previous rules at Cambridge and Sheffield FC, among others. We then look at the formulation of competitions – chiefly the FA Cup and Football League, the transition from the gentlemen’s game to the working-class sport and professionalisation.
We also cover the women’s game, whose rapid ascent was hampered for half a century by an FA ban in 1921. We also meet the Association game’s early evangelists, such as Corinthian FC, which helped promote the game at home and abroad.
We then move onto Scotland, whose contribution to the early Association game is huge, and Scottish pioneers are dotted throughout the book. In the Scotland chapter, we look at Queen’s Park FC, early internationals against England, stadium architect Archibald Leitch, and how the lure of professionalism helped export the Scottish passing game south of the border.
The story moves onto Wales and examines the struggle for football code supremacy versus the Rugby rules. The Wales chapter also focuses on football’s first superstar, Billy Meredith, a controversial man who also pioneered players’ rights. Women’s football aside, the British chapters major on the Victorian era, as Brits appear in other countries’ stories in the early 20th century.
The book then moves onto Ireland, where – as a British import – Association football quickly becomes seen by nationalists as a ‘garrison game’. How did the game develop in both Belfast and Dublin before and after the partition of the island?
Football hits the continent
The British and Irish chapters make up about a fifth of the book, but then the next few chapters look at how football gets a toehold in mainland Europe. The French chapter was fascinating to research, as France’s contribution is massive, especially in helping the game’s internationalisation.
France’s first football club, Le Havre Athletic Club, was founded as early as 1872 and even visited England to play a mixed code game. Pierre de Coubertin launched the modern Olympics, which included a very basic football tournament at the second edition in Paris in 1900 – won by amateurs Upton Park FC of East London representing Great Britain. Journalist Robert Guérin formed FIFA in 1904, while Jules Rimet and Henri Delaunay led the creation of the first World Cup.
The Swiss were instrumental in establishing early tournaments and clubs around the world, including FC Barcelona, Torino, Inter Milan, Fluminense, and more. The Scandinavians were also early adopters, with the Danish FA (DBU) being the first national football association to be established outside Britain or Ireland.
The Belgian and Dutch chapters demonstrate the growth of the game there and the role of early visiting English clubs, such as Clapton’s match with (Royal) Antwerp in 1890, the first foray by an English club to the continent. I look at how the Dutch ‘big three’ emerged and the role of the First World War in galvinising the Dutch game.
Football in the Americas
By the late 1860s, the ‘Crazy English’ had exported the Association game to the Americas. I decided to major on Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and North America (US and Canada). Buenos Aires and Montevideo were the spearheads for the game in South America, with the local-born criollos taking to the game so quickly that they were redefining fan culture and creating teams that could beat the world within a generation.
In Brazil, I explore the role of class and race, as well as the famous Corinthians tour. The US and Canada chapter was possibly the most exciting to research, as I knew absolutely nothing going into it. Soccer and rugby both had a decent shot of becoming the premier code in the US, especially with the collegiate game (gridiron) causing so many injuries. The American Soccer League (ASL) briefly shone during the 1920s, with 40,000+ crowds for visiting European clubs. Now, a century on, there’s also something of a revival going on, and I spoke to a couple of clubs spearheading that movement.
Central and Southern Europe
Chronologically, the story moves back to central Europe, with chapters on Germany, Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic and Slovakia. There was a huge cultural exchange between these countries, and once again British touring sides and coaches – such as Johnny Madden and Jimmy Hogan – left a huge legacy.
Comparative late-starters Spain, Portugal and Italy get going in the 1890s. I learned some incredible stories of how the game flourished in Portugal despite a diplomatic dispute with Britain, and how one Lisbon orphanage, in particular, helped the game spread among the Portuguese working class.
In Spain, the role of foreigners was key to getting the game going in the main cities, as was the approval of King Alfonso XIII. In Italy, we’ll see how the Mussolini dictatorship reshaped calcio in a way that still has ramifications today.
Further afield
After Europe and the Americas, I move onto the Middle East and Africa, majoring on Turkey, Egypt and South Africa. Learn about the role that football played in the national awakening of Egypt and Turkey, in particular. Egypt was a key early participant on the global stage, and I look at Hussein Hegazi, the first Egyptian to play in England more than a century before Mo Salah.
Also, did you know that – despite a regime of racial segregation – a black South African football team toured Britain and France in 1899, long before a white South African team?
The book winds up in Asia-Pacific, where kicking games such as Cuju in China and Kemari in Japan have existed for centuries. I look at the early game in India, too, where again football was key to stirring the cause of independence. India is also home to some of the world’s oldest football trophies. I finish with a look at the Association game’s struggle to establish itself against more popular football codes in Australia and New Zealand.
Interviewees and thanks
I’ve been lucky to speak to some incredible individuals during the writing process. Thanks to the following experts, who are interviewed in the book:
UK and Ireland:
- Dr. Kevin Moore, former CEO, National Football Museum
- Richard Tims, chairman, Sheffield FC
- Andy Mitchell, football historian
- Paul Brown, football historian
- John Forrest, community manager at Corinthian-Casuals
- Belinda Scarlett, curator, National Football Museum
- Clint Jones from Welsh football site the94thminute.com
- Alan McLean, founder member of the Patrick O’Connell Memorial Fund
- Gerard Farrell, football historian
Belgium and Netherlands:
- Stéphane Lievens, Belgian groundhopper
- Jeroen Smakman, former amateur footballer
- Jurryt van Vooren, Dutch football historian
- Bert Vermeer from Koninklijke HFC
Scandinavia:
- David Berg, Swedish football journalist
- Claus Bermann, Danish football expert, VisitFootball.dk
The Americas:
- Juan Carlos Luzuriaga, Uruguayan football historian
- Vadim Furmanov, football writer
- Esteban Bekerman, Argentinian football historian
- Brian D. Bunk, US football historian
- James Brown, vice president of the Society for American Soccer History (SASH)
- Stephen C. Brandt, US football writer and podcaster
- Ryan Moniz, president, Fall River FC
- André Ruette, president, Fall River Marksmen FC
Central Europe:
- Christoph Wagner, German football historian
- Alexander Juraske, Austrian football historian
- Péter Szegedi, Hungarian football historian
- Dominic Bliss, biographer of Ernö Egri Erbstein and organiser of the Egri Erbstein Tournament
- Mojmir Staško, Slovakian football historian
Iberia:
- Alejandro López-Pérez, Recreativo de Huelva historian
- Charlotte Mackay, Recreativo de Huelva ambassador
- Andrew Gillan, Spanish football blogger
- Ricardo Serrado, Portuguese football historian
- Filipe d’Avillez, Portuguese journalist
Italy:
- Robert Nieri, writer and producer, The Lord of Milan
Middle East and Africa:
- Mehmet Yuce, Turkish football historian
- James Montague, journalist
- Chris Bolsmann, African football historian
Big shouts out to other people who helped with information or helped me make connections: Llew Walker at Corinthian-Casuals FC, Rob Francis in Belgium, Marije and Jeroen in the Netherlands, Dan Parry and Colin Millar in Spain, Chris Hough in Japan, Peter Alegi and John McManus in the Middle East and Africa, and Jack McInroy, biographer of Hussein Hegazi. I am hoping to add a couple more interviews before the final copy deadline.
Casa Pia Atlético Club, Cascais Municipality, Genoa CFC, FC Barcelona, Royal Antwerp, Koninklijke HFC, the National Football Museum, Queen’s Park FC, the National Archive and Le Havre Athletic Club were also really helpful for sourcing information and photos. Apologies if I missed anyone out.
The British Newspaper Archive and RSSSF.com were invaluable.
Finally, thanks to Paul, Jane and the team at Pitch Publishing, and all my friends who volunteered to read chapters and feedback.
If you have a podcast and you’d like me to come on to talk through the book, or if you run a blog/website and would welcome a guest post from me with a topic on the book, please get in touch.
Origin Stories: The Pioneers Who Took Football to the World is out via Pitch Publishing on 19 April 2021.