Foundation
See also: Cambridge Rules, Oldest football club, and Parkers PieceVarieties of football have been played for many centuries, but until the mid-19th century, none of the modern codes of football existed. Many different games were played at English Public schools and all of these were known simply as "football". Naturally, children who had learnt these games at school now sought to play them at university, but this was problematic because they were used to so many different sets of rules.
Eton, Harrow and Winchester, in particular, developed codes which revolved around a roughly spherical ball being kicked along the ground (Weir, 2004). In 1846, H.C. Malden of Trinity combined these and other football games in the Cambridge Rules, one of the first codes of football, posting them on the trees around Parker's Piece. Debate on the rules continued, and in 1846, a revised set of Cambridge Rules were created. Some records (see Harvey) cite this as the foundation date of the club.
The foundation date of 1856 is based upon the 1856 copy of the Cambridge Rules held by Shrewsbury School which is entitled: "The Laws of the University Foot Ball Club". The Club history probably goes back even further: for example, Harvey states: "Salopians formed a club of their own in the late 1830s/early 1840s but that was presumably absorbed by the Cambridge University Football Club that they were so influential in creating in 1846" Certainly in the early 1840s Charles Astor Bristed confirms that at Cambridge there were games played between football clubs from different colleges and houses Similarly, other sources show that an Arthur Pell established a football club at Cambridge in 1839. This may have been the origin of the Cambridge AFC.
Colin Weir asserted in his history of CUAFC that: "it would be hard to exaggerate the influence that the University footballers of Cambridge have had on the game in England and subsequently all over the world". This is borne out by the fact that the Cambridge Rules were the main reference point for the initial rules of The Football Association (FA) in October 1863, the first code for Association football.
Cambridge graduates set up many early football clubs, such as Hallam FC in the north and the Forest Club in Essex.
Read more about this topic: Cambridge University A.F.C.
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