Winchester College Football - History

History

Winchester Football was originally played down the length of Kingsgate Street, with each team attempting to move a football from one end of the road to the other with few or no rules, and little regulation, to spoil this most primal version of the game. The only tribute the modern game bears to this earliest form of the game are the measurements of a modern canvas (ie. pitch), fitted to a particular section of Kingsgate Street.

Most likely after one broken window too many the game was moved a safe twenty minutes' walk away from the College to the flat, grassy top of St. Catherine's Hill. The game persisted with few rules, but now required a long line of junior men to keep the ball from rolling down the slope and disappearing into the canal below.

The first addition that remains almost unadulterated in the modern game was made when the lines of kickers-in became depleted due to injuries caused by overenthusiastic players colliding with them whilst in the pursuit of rogue balls: ropes were erected down each side of the pitch, supported by nine solid posts.

In the early 19th century, the necessary changes to the rules were standardised to create the relatively cultured, civilised affair that it is today. The fundamental rules of "dribble" and "tag" were added at this stage, presumably followed by the other rules. The game was also moved from the top of St Catherine's Hill to where it is played now, on Meads, as well as in Palmer Swamp. At the same time as this move, the lines of kickers-in were finally replaced by canvas sheets, and very soon afterwards by netting, in order to allow others to appreciate the game without the aid of a ladder.

The earliest evidence of coloured shirts used to identify football teams comes from Winchester football: an image from before 1840 is entitled "The commoners have red and the college boys blue jerseys". The use of coloured shirts at Winchester college is confirmed again in 1859: "Precisely at twelve o'clock, according to good old custom, the blue jerseys of college and the red of commoners mingled in the grand commencing "hot". At soccer, Winchester wear dark blue shirts to signify their connection with the University of Oxford and especially with New College, Oxford.