1871 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
The history of rugby union follows from various football games long before the 19th century, but it was not until the middle of that century that the rules were formulated and codified. The code of football later known as rugby union can be traced to three events: the first set of written rules in 1845, the Blackheath Club's decision to leave the Football Association in 1863 and the formation of the Rugby Football Union in 1871. The code was originally known simply as "rugby football". It was not until a schism in 1895, over the payment of players, which resulted in the formation of the separate code of rugby league, that the name "rugby union" was used to differentiate the original rugby code. For most of its history, rugby was a strictly amateur football code, and the sport's administrators frequently imposed bans and restrictions on players who they viewed as professional. It was not until 1995 that rugby union was declared an "open" game, and thus professionalism was sanctioned by the code's governing body, World Rugby—then known as the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB).
Blackheath Football Club is a rugby union club based in Well Hall, Eltham in south-east London.
West of Scotland Football Club is a rugby union club based in Milngavie, Scotland. Founded in 1865, West of Scotland are one of the oldest rugby clubs in the world, and one of the founding members of the Scottish Rugby Union. West have enjoyed a long and successful history, winning numerous Scottish Championships and producing an incredible number of international players, and a strong contingent of British and Irish Lions.
Raeburn Place is the main street of the suburb of Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland, and the name of the playing fields there.
Rugby union in Scotland is a popular team sport. Scotland's national side today competes in the annual Six Nations Championship and the Rugby World Cup. The first ever international rugby match was played on 27 March 1871, at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh, when Scotland defeated England in front of 4,000 people. Professional clubs compete in the United Rugby Championship, European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup, while the Scottish League Championship exists for over 200 amateur and semi-professional clubs, as does a knock-out competition, the Scottish Cup. The governing body, the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU), is one of the ten first-tier member nations of World Rugby.
The history of association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, stretches back at least to medieval times. Some predecessors of football may date back to ancient Greece and Rome, and similar games were played in ancient China and Japan. The history of football in Britain dates at least to the eighth century CE.
The Combination Game was a style of association football based around teamwork and cooperation. It would gradually favour the passing of the ball between players over individual dribbling skills which had been a notable feature of early Association games. It developed from "scientific" football and is considered to be the predecessor of the modern passing game of football. It originated in Britain and its origins are associated with early clubs: Sheffield FC, The Royal Engineers AFC, Queen's Park FC and Cambridge University AFC. Each of these claimants is supported by retrospective accounts from men who were notable in the early history of football. They are considered below in the order of earliest contemporary evidence of "scientific" football playing styles.
The sport of association football has a long history in England.
The 1884 FA Cup final was a football match between Blackburn Rovers and Queen's Park contested on 29 March 1884 at the Kennington Oval. It was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, it was the 13th Cup final. It was the first time that a Scottish team reached the final of the tournament, with Queen's Park knocking out the previous holders of the trophy en route.
This article details the history of football in Scotland.
The 1872 association football match between the national teams of Scotland and England is officially recognised by FIFA as the first international. It took place on 30 November 1872 at Hamilton Crescent, the West of Scotland Cricket Club's ground in Partick, Glasgow. The match was watched by 4,000 spectators and finished as a 0–0 draw.
The 1888 Home Nations Championship was the sixth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Three matches were played between 4 February and 10 March. It was contested by Ireland, Scotland and Wales. England were excluded from the Championship due to their refusal to join the International Rugby Football Board.
Rugby union in Scotland in its modern form has existed since the mid-19th century. Scotland has one of the oldest rugby union traditions and has introduced various innovations including rugby sevens.
Frederick Stokes was the first captain of the England national rugby union team, who played for and captained the team in the first three rugby internationals, all between England and Scotland. He was also the youngest president of the Rugby Football Union.
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word football normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly called football include association football ; Australian rules football; Gaelic football; gridiron football ; International rules football; rugby league football; and rugby union football. These various forms of football share, to varying degrees, common origins and are known as "football codes".
William Cross was a Scotland international rugby union player.
The 1876 association football match between the national teams representing Scotland and Wales was the first game played by the Welsh side. It took place on 25 March 1876 at Hamilton Crescent, Partick, the home ground of the West of Scotland Cricket Club. The match was also the first time that Scotland had played against a team other than England.
A comparison of Gaelic football and rugby union is possible because of certain similarities between the codes, as well as the numerous dissimilarities.
Comparison of association football (football/soccer) and rugby union is possible because of the games' similarities and shared origins.
