Which Sport Was Invented in Britain?

The thing we know for certain is that ‘association football’ was born in Britain. This, along with the fact that Sheffield FC is the oldest surviving independent club, means that ostensibly the sport of ‘football’ was invented in England. The Football Association was founded in England in 1863. Both England and Scotland had great influence on how we play the game today.

Football as we know it today - sometimes known as association football or soccer - began in England, with the laying down of rules by the Football Association in 1863. Since then, while the rules of the sport have gradually evolved (to the point where VAR is now used, for example), football has more or less retained the same overall constitution and objectives. Various football games existed prior to that point in England and were played on the lawns of public schools, but with no standardised set of rules, the games were rather chaotic. That meeting, which took place on October 26, 1863 at the Freemasons' Tavern on Great Queen Street in London, involved representatives from 12 clubs and the game of football was soon codified. The IFAB (International Football Association Board) is the so-called 'guardian' of the Laws of the Game and is run by FIFA as well as the four British associations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).